Media & Politics (one section only today)
30-Mar-09
Permanent link to MTA daily media news
Photo of the Day (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
America the Tarnished (by Paul Krugman)
[A]n article in [Saturday’s] Times about the response President Obama will receive in Europe was titled “English-Speaking Capitalism on Trial.” Now, in fairness we have to say that the United States was far from being the only nation in which banks ran wild. Many European leaders are still in denial about the continent’s economic and financial troubles, which arguably run as deep as our own — although their nations’ much stronger social safety nets mean that we’re likely to experience far more human suffering. Still, it’s a fact that the crisis has cost America much of its credibility, and with it much of its ability to lead. And that’s a very bad thing.
The financial crisis has had many costs. And one of those costs is the damage to America’s reputation, an asset we’ve lost just when we, and the world, need it most.
No Givens As Obama Steps Onto World Stage (Washington Post)
[I]f the U.S. president thought his popularity would cause foreign governments to fall quickly into line behind a new American leadership, experts warn, he could be in for a rude awakening. The German government has resisted calls to deploy more combat troops to Afghanistan. Russia is pushing back against a NATO missile defense system in Poland. And the Czech prime minister last week described the U.S. plans for global economic recovery as the “road to hell.”
Rising Powers Challenge U.S. on Role in I.M.F. (New York Times)
The Obama administration has made fortifying the I.M.F. one of its primary goals for the meeting of the Group of 20, which includes leading industrial and developing countries and the European Union. But China, India and other rising powers seem to believe that the made-in-America crisis has curtailed the ability of the United States to set the agenda. They view the Western-dominated fund as a place to begin staking their claim to a greater voice in global economic affairs.
UN backs new new global currency reserve (The Sunday Telegraph, U.K.)
A UNITED Nations panel of economists has proposed a new global currency reserve that would take over the US dollar-based system used for decades by international banks. The proposal follows the controversial call by China’s central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, to create a new world currency reserve to replace the greenback as part of an overhaul of global finance. China and many developing countries blame the global crisis on US mishandling of over-extended mortgage loans and investments in them.
With the US also borrowing trillions of dollars, it risks hyperinflation, which would considerably weaken the dollar. An independently administered reserve currency could operate without conflicts posed by the US dollar and keep commodity prices more stable.
London protesters march in 1st of many G20 rallies (AP)
Thousands of people marched through European cities Saturday to demand jobs, economic justice and environmental accountability, kicking off six days of protest and action planned in the run-up to the G20 summit… In London, more than 150 groups threw their backing behind the “Put People First” march. Police said around 35,000 attended the demonstration, snaking their way across the city toward Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. Protest organizers said they wanted leaders from the world’s top 20 economies to adopt a more transparent and democratic economic recovery plan.
I’m mad as hell, and I’m gonna… talk about it (by Michael J. Smith at Stop Me Before I Vote Again)
The New York Times today published some ruminations – by a professor — of sociology! — at Columbia – on the absence of insurrection in America today. The sense of a sweaty brow relievedly wiped was palpable… “Fury, after all, can manifest itself in more productive ways than urban rioting or cable-TV ranting. Fury can inspire real protest, nonviolent civil disobedience, even good old-fashioned, town-hall meetings. That’s how we’ll recover our public life and perhaps help one another through this crisis — storming angrily into the streets and then, once we’re out there, actually talking to one another.”
People might get mad. They might even go out into the street! — It’s been known to happen. But with any luck at all, maybe they’ll just… talk.
Here’s someone willing to do more than just talk:
Huffington Site Starts Project to Investigate the Economy (AP)
The new group would have an initial budget of $1.75 million, estimated to be enough for 10 staff journalists who would coordinate coverage with freelancers.
Is Obama wrong? (by Joan Walsh, Salon)
I’ve had [a feeling] for a while, that the Democrats can’t get us out from under this mess until they are forced to reckon with their role in creating it. Every time I see Chuck Schumer on television pretending to be a populist scourge of Wall Street, I remember his role in blocking higher taxes for hedge fund managers and repealing Glass-Steagall. I can’t help thinking that Tim Geithner is too close to the industry that took over — and took down — the economy to tame it. A large part of the Democrats’ resurgence in the last four years, ironically, has been its success raising money from Wall Street, which undermines its populist street cred at a time like this. Fortunately for the party, Republicans are just as compromised, so it’s not too late to for Democrats to take leadership in bucking the financial oligarchy and develop real solutions to the financial crisis.
Salon could take a lead role, too, Joan.
And these folks are more than just talk, too:
Our plan: Real structural change of Wall Street (A New Way Forward)
DECENTRALIZE: Any bank that’s “too big to fail” means that it’s too big for a free market to function. The financial corporations that caused this mess must be broken up and sold back to the private market with new antitrust rules in place — new banks, managed by new people. As Wall St. corporations grew bigger and bigger until they were “too big to fail,” they also became so politically powerful that they led to distorted and unfair policies that served companies, not citizens. Its not enough to try to patch up the current system. We demand serious reform that fixes the root problems in our political and economic system: excessive influence of banks, dangerous compensation systems, and massive consolidation. And we demand that the reform happen in an open and transparent manner.
Some of the sponsors are Joe Trippi and William Greider.
What to Watch For In Obama’s Financial Sector Reforms (by Ian Welsh)
Is Obama going to regulate Collateralized Debt Swaps like insurance, meaning that you can’t insure something if you can’t pay it back and you have to use government mandated tables, make sure there’s insurable interest, not allow over-insurance and so on?… He may do some of it, but I doubt he’ll do all of it.
Is he going to limit leverage properly, by which I mean not just not allowing leverage rations above 10:1, for anyone, but not allowing leverage on leverage – not allowing someone to use a leveraged asset to leverage off of… Maybe, maybe not.
Is he going to properly regulate securitization? By which I mean not allowing securitization of already securitized assets, full reform of the ratings agencies so they have no incentive to over-rate securities, not allowing collateralized assets to have higher ratings than the underlying securities, and not allowing financial innovation which is not approved by regulators? Will Obama do this? We’ll see.
Move to highly progressive taxation. If he doesn’t do this executives will always have an incentive to create bubbles because they will be able to make so much money in a few years that it doesn’t matter what happens to their companies in the long term. Will Obama do this? No…
Is he going to break up the “too big to fail” banks and other financial firms so that in the future failed financial firms can just be put into receivership and can’t hold the economy bankrupt?… Don’t make me laugh.
Click through for much, much more.
So what do you do when you don’t want to do what makes sense to un-bought economists? Why, exaggerate, of course!
8000 banks (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
[T]he Newsweek piece on Paul Krugman … irked me: “Krugman’s suggestion that the government could take over the banking system is deeply impractical, Obama aides say. Krugman points to the example of Sweden, which nationalized its banks in the 1990s. But Sweden is tiny. The United States, with 8,000 banks, has a vastly more complex financial system. What’s more, the federal government does not have anywhere near the manpower or resources to take over the banking system.” Has anyone talked about taking over 8000 banks? In point of fact, the FDIC has put an awful lot of smaller banks in receivership. Somehow, it has found the manpower.
In case you can’t read the blurb at the bottom, it says,
“But still big enough to fund a bailout.”
William Greider on the Geithner Plan (Bill Moyers Journal, PBS)
Greider worries the Obama administration won’t seize the chance for change without pressure from citizens. Referring to the stimulus package and Secretary Geithner’s new bailout proposal, Greider tells Bill Moyers on THE JOURNAL, that President Obama “does seem absolutely committed to restoration of the old order.”
Krugman and Newsweek (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
The Times’ liberal columnist is on the cover this week, with a provocative story headlined: “OBAMA IS WRONG: The Loyal Opposition of Paul Krugman.” It’s about Krugman’s criticism of Obama’s economic policies made from the left… During the Bush years, Krugman, from his same perch on the pages of Times’ opinion pages, waged about as vocal a campaign as humanly possible to warn readers and the country about what he considered to be the perilous policy decisions the Bush administration was embracing, and what the disastrous results for America would be…
But now a Democrat is in the Oval Office, Krugman is still hitting the president from the left, and suddenly the Beltway press thinks Krugman’s work is fascinating and newsworthy. Trust us, it is. (For years he’s been our pick as the country’s premier columnist.) We just think everyone would have been better off if the press had paid this much attention to Krugman’s work between, say, 2002 and 2006.
The magazine cover effect (by Paul Krugman)
I’ve long been a believer in the magazine cover indicator: when you see a corporate chieftain on the cover of a glossy magazine, short the stock. Or as I once put it (I’d actually forgotten I’d said that), “Whom the Gods would destroy, they first put on the cover of Business Week.” There’s even empirical evidence supporting the proposition that celebrity ruins the performance of previously good chief executives. Presumably the same effect applies to, say, economists. You have been warned.
Obama Officials Think Krugman Is Naive: Newsweek’s Evan Thomas (by Sam Stein at the Huffington Post)
Newsweek’s Evan Thomas, who has the big cover story on the rather prickly relationship between the White House and Paul Krugman, offered a rather surprising insight into the relationship between the two. Speaking to MSNBC on Monday, the longtime magazine scribe said that the Obama administration is not “too crazy about Krugman”… “You know, I think the administration is trying to ignore Krugman, quite frankly,” Thomas went on. “But they can’t entirely because he has a big voice…” This is telling, not least because Krugman, a Nobel Prize winning economist, was more prescient about some of the current financial and economic woes than key members of the Obama brain-trust.
KRUGMAN OPENS THE OVERTON WINDOW… (by dday at Political Animal, the Washington Monthly)
[Y]ou don’t have to agree with everything Krugman says – I’ve seen some very good critiques of things he’s said recently. But he is a serious thinker and this is his area of expertise, and he performs an important function. It’s an odd quirk of fate that Krugman has as big a megaphone as he does, and so using it to put pressure on the Obama Administration from the left does several things: 1) provides a counter-weight to the conservative critiques of the President, which are usually so nutty that they pale in comparison to reasoned dissent, 2) forces Obama to at least debate the merits of his proposals rather than dismiss all critics, and most important, 3) gives Obama space on the left to put out an more progressive agenda than otherwise.
But those of us trying to pressure Obama from the left are considered the bad guys by many of the so-called progressive blogs.
Uncle Sam’s Hedge Fund (by Robert Samuelson)
Call it Uncle Sam’s hedge fund. The rescue of the American financial system proposed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is, in all but name, a gigantic hedge fund. The government would lend vast sums to private investors to enable them to buy loss-ridden assets at discounts from banks with the prospect of making sizable profits. If that’s not a hedge fund, what would be? The hope is that the $14 trillion U.S. banking system would expand lending if it could get rid of many of the lousy securities and loans already on its books…
[S]ucceed or fail, Geithner’s plan illuminates a fascinating irony. “Leverage” — borrowing — helped create this mess. Now it’s expected to get us out.
Geithner Says Some Banks to Need `Large Amounts’ of Aid, Warns Against Tax (Bloomberg)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said some financial institutions will need substantial government aid, while warning against any attempt to tax investors who join a federal program to buy tainted assets from banks.
Feds declare GM, Chrysler not viable, refuse more aid (McClatchy)
President Barack Obama on Monday will reject requests for almost $22 billion in new taxpayer bailout money for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, saying the car makers have failed to take steps to ensure their viability.
G.M. Chief Forced Out as Chrysler Gets Merger Deadline (New York Times)
The White House asked Rick Wagoner to resign and instructed Chrysler to form a partnership with Fiat as a condition for new aid to be detailed Monday.
White House Asks GM CEO to Quit (by Alegre)
So I guess we can expect the White House to start demanding the resignation of all those Wall Street CEOs in exchange for bailouts and loans then, right? Maybe even demand that those “retention bonuses” be returned to the taxpayers? Or does the White House have a two different sets of rules – one for Main Street, and another for Wall Street?
You know the answer to that question, of course.
Asian Stocks, US Futures Decline Amid Renewed Bank Concerns (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks and U.S. index futures slumped as the Obama administration warned that some banks will need more government aid and bankruptcy may be the best option for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.
Good capitalism, bad capitalism (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
“Industrial capitalism” refers to the manufacture of stuff – cars, shoes, toothbrushes, condoms, TVs, pig iron. Stuff. “Finance capitalism” refers to stocks, bonds, financial instruments. Numbers. Concepts. Abstract intangibles. Anti-stuff, if you will. Financial capitalists got us into our current mess. You can’t blame the industrial capitalists, and you can’t blame labor (unless you’ve been programmed by ideology to do so). Obama, like Bush, clearly loves the financial capitalist and hates the industrial capitalist…
In the 20s, fascist economic theorists such as Gottfried Feder posited a simple argument: Industrial capital is good, finance capital is bad. Today, Obama and Geithner argue the exact reverse: Finance capital is good, industrial capital is bad. Both ideologies are dangerous because neither seeks balance. Fascism could not destroy this country. Obamaism might just manage the trick.
Shutting Detroit Down (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
Billionaire bankers (and their investors) walk away from the table with their pockets stuffed with taxpayer cash while members of the auto workers union are told they’ll have to sacrifice even more – in this case, the Obama administration wants the companies to get rid of “old liabilities” – i.e. retiree pensions. (You know, while bankers complain about having to sell the house in the Hamptons.) No, Obama’s not talking about the insolvent banks. He’s talking about Detroit. Could he make it any more obvious that the wealthy are a protected class?
Obama: bankruptcy for Big Auto makes it easier to clear away “old liabilities” (by lambert at Corrente)
So, it really is about fucking the unions over, isn’t it? “‘Unlike a liquidation, where a company is broken up and sold off, or a conventional bankruptcy, where a company can get mired in litigation for several years, a structured bankruptcy process — if needed here — would be a tool to make it easier for General Motors and Chrysler to clear away old liabilities,’ the government said in a fact sheet [snort] outlining a ‘surgical bankruptcy’ of 30 days or less.” Because we know what those “old liabilities” are, don’t we?
The secret war against American workers (by Robert Eshelman, Salon)
In some cases, under the guise of “recession” pressure, they may be waging a secret war against their own workers, using even the most innocuous transgressions of workplace rules as the trigger for firings — and so, of course, putting the fear of God into those who remain. In this way, company payrolls are not only being reduced by mass layoffs, but workers are being squeezed for ever greater productivity in return for lower wages, worse hours and fewer benefits. The weapon of choice is the specter of unemployment, a kind of death by a thousand (or a million) cuts.
That war has been going on for most of my working life, Mr. Eshelman.
Fox’s Kilmeade begrudgingly admits Japan’s national health care gives their auto companies an advantage. (Think Progress)
This morning on Fox and Friends, host Brian Kilmeade admitted that, despite conservatives’ repeated claims to the contrary, United Auto Workers’ salaries are in line with workers’ salaries at foreign auto plants. The real problem, Kilmeade said, was health care costs. At first, he claimed that Japanese car companies would face those same “legacy costs” in 40 years, but then acknowledged Japan’s “nationalized health care” will spare them those costs.
Click through to watch the video.
Mathmagical Formulas (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)
Bank of America to use bailout money to increase bankster’s salaries by 70% (by lambert at Corrente)
Looks like that meeting with Obama was very productive! “…Bank of America Corp. plans to increase some investment bankers’ salaries by as much as 70 percent following the takeover earlier this year of Merrill Lynch & Co., people familiar with the proposal said… ‘[W]e believe it is responsible, and consistent with the emerging public consensus, that a greater percentage of overall compensation come from fixed base salary.’…” No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You’re not getting it. Here’s the “emerging public consensus”: What we want is for banksters to be paid less money…. PAID LESS MONEY.
Regulators see new role for Fannie, Freddie: report (Reuters)
The regulator of U.S. government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is looking at ways the two firms might help finance small mortgage banks hobbled by a dearth of credit, the Wall Street Journal reported. The WSJ, quoting a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) spokeswoman, said the regulator is exploring options through which the two mortgage finance companies might help revive the market for warehouse loans – a key source of funds to mortgage banks.
Dirty bomb threat looms over G20 meet (Times of India)
[J]ust days before world leaders gather here for the Group of 20 meeting — a warning was given this week that a so-called dirty bomb on a British city is more likely than ever. The government alert accompanied the launch of a major new anti-terrorist strategy that encourages ordinary citizens to offer Britain an additional layer of security. The new approach aims to train some 60,000 retail, hotel, and service industry staff to recognize terrorist threats.
Hey, don’t forget the meter readers and repairmen who go into people’s houses. We want them reporting our neighbors’ pornography preferences, too.
Obama’s domino theory (by Juan Cole, Salon)
President Barack Obama may or may not be doing the right thing in Afghanistan, but the rationale he gave for it on Friday is almost certainly wrong. Obama has presented us with a 21st century version of the domino theory. The U.S. is not, contrary to what the president said, mainly fighting “al-Qaida” in Afghanistan. In blaming everything on al-Qaida, Obama broke with his pledge of straight talk to the public and fell back on Bush-style boogeymen and implausible conspiracy theories.
Tom Hayden on March 27, 2009
Don’t Go There Mr. President! (by Tom Hayden, writing in The Nation)
17,000 or 21,000 more US troops will not protect Americans against Al Qaeda attacks. The Obama plan instead will accelerate any plans Al Qaeda commanders have for attacking targets in the United States or Europe. The alternative for Al Qaeda is to risk complete destruction, an American objective that has not been achieved for eight years. A terrorist attack need not be planned or set in motion from a cave in Waziristan. The cadre could already be underground in Washington or London. The real alternative for President Obama should be to maintain a deterrent posture while immediately accelerating diplomacy to meet legitimate Muslim goals, from a Palestinian state to genuine progress on Kashmir.
Tom Hayden on January 28, 2008:
Endorsing Obama (by Tom Hayden, writing in The Nation)
Barack Obama is giving voice and space to an awakening beyond his wildest expectations, a social force that may lead him far beyond his modest policy agenda. Such movements in the past led the Kennedys and Franklin Roosevelt to achievements they never contemplated. (As Gandhi once said of India’s liberation movement, “There go my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader.”) We are in a precious moment where caution must yield to courage. It is better to fail at the quest for greatness than to accept our planet’s future as only a reliving of the past. So I endorse the movement that Barack Obama has inspired and will support his candidacy in the inevitable storms ahead.
And the betrayals, Tom? How about those?
There’s the betrayal on war:
Major Anti-War Groups Staying Quiet About (Or Supporting) Obama’s Afghan Escalation (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Don’t look now, but President Obama’s announcement today of an escalation in the American presence in Afghanistan is being met with mostly silence — and even some support — from the most influential liberal groups who opposed the Iraq War… The relative silence on the left about Obama’s Afghan strategy is understandable. The politics of Afghanistan are murky because of September 11th. The argument against staying isn’t as clear cut as with Iraq. Liberal groups don’t want to distract from passing Obama’s enormous domestic agenda. Obama’s Afghan moves are part of a larger regional strategy that rests heavily on diplomacy — a major break from the past. And officials with some of these groups don’t want to lose inside influence with the White House. Times do change.
Not Exactly The Straight Dope (by Paul Rosenberg at Open Left, thanks to Lambert at Corrente)
Obama’s blowing off of [the question of pot legalization] question was fundamentally no more egregious than his blowing off of those who challenged his FISA flip-flop… The simple fact is that laws must be rooted in some sort of morality–not moralism. If too many people just think that a law’s absurd, unfair, or out of touch, it will be very difficult to enforce, and it will undermine respect for law in general–it will erode the foundations on which it is supposed to stand. Drug laws–at least as they presently exist–are a danger to our Constitutional order, not just because enforcing them leads to all sorts of Constitutional violations on a daily, even hourly basis, but also because it erodes popular respect for the law in general, and cynicism about the Constitution.
Thus, the question about legalizing pot really was a very serious question on any number of levels. And President Obama bumbled it very badly, in just the way that our clueless overlords heartily approve of.
Lambert asks, “If it’s bad to govern out of anger, why is it good to govern out of snickering?”
There’s the betrayal on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”:
Gates: No change soon on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell‘ (AP)
Don’t expect any change soon to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about gays in the military. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says both he and President Barack Obama have “a lot on our plates right now.” As Gates puts it, “let’s push that one down the road a little bit.” The White House has said Obama has begun consulting with Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on how to lift the ban. Gates says that dialogue has not really progressed very far at this point in the administration.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Patronize Me (by Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors)
Once again, the gay-phobic Carebear throws another campaign promise under the bus, and the perennially (and with California’s Proposition 8, legally-defined) second-class gay and lesbian citizens of the US are short changed by another Democratic administration. But as Warren Beatty says in Bullworth, “what are you going to do? Vote for the Republicans?”
Gay Rights Activists Chagrined at Obama Administration Foot-Dragging on Overturning Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
Gay and lesbian rights advocates expressed chagrin Sunday at the lack of urgency President Obama seems to be giving his campaign promise to overturn the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the armed forces… [Defense Secretary Robert] Gates said the “dialogue” about overturning the ban “has really not progressed very far at this point in the administration. I think the president and I feel like we’ve got a lot on our plates right now, and let’s push that one down the road a little bit.”… Eighty-one percent of the public, according to a December CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, believes openly gay and lesbian Americans should be allowed to serve in the U.S. military.
There’s the betrayal on card check:
DiFi flips on card check, fucks the unions over (by lambert at Corrente)
That’s because, says DiFi, ”feelings are very strong on both sides of the issue.” No doubt.
And we must not, no matter what, tackle any issues where the feelings are very strong on both sides. We must not stand up for what we believe. We absolutely must cower in the corner like the cowards that we are.
There’s the betrayal on the middle class tax cut:
Middle class tax cut will “not likely survive” (by J –SOM at Liberal Rapture)
ABC News: Promised middle class tax cut now up for debate. Obama’s budget chief today indicated that it will “not likely survive”. Now, I must wonder, how will Huffington, MSNBC, The New York Times, and the rest of the Obamamedia excuse this whopper? This would be a broken promise to 95% percent of the population who are not likely to accept the 2 year sunset clause on the cut in the stimulus bill as a “promise kept.” Pretty shady, Barry.
And there’s the betrayal on health care:
Obama’s version of universal health care probably won’t look like Canada’s (Canadian Press, thanks to Lambert at Corrente)
U.S. President Barack Obama is intent on providing affordable health care to every American, he said Thursday, but emulating Canada’s system isn’t necessarily the route he wants to take… “A lot of people think that in order to get universal health care, it means that you have to have what’s called a single-payer system of some sort,” he said. “And so Canada is the classic example. Basically, everybody pays a lot of taxes into the health-care system, but if you’re a Canadian, you’re automatically covered … you go in and you just say ‘I’m sick’ and somebody treats you and that’s it,” he said. Implementing such a system in the U.S., however, would likely present an overwhelming challenge to politicians, employers and working Americans alike, he said.
It’s not that hard. This is the time for it. Americans are not only ready for single payer, they want it. Why is Obama against it? Is it another one of his right-wing hang-ups?
What the Teleprompter Teaches (by Michael Gerson, not my favorite columnist)
For politicians, the teleprompter has always been something of an embarrassing vice… But it is a mistake to argue that the uncrafted is somehow more authentic. Those writers and commentators who prefer the unscripted, who use “rhetoric” as an epithet, who see the teleprompter as a linguistic push-up bra, do not understand the nature of presidential leadership or the importance of writing to the process of thought. Governing is a craft, not merely a talent. It involves the careful sorting of ideas and priorities. And the discipline of writing — expressing ideas clearly and putting them in proper order — is essential to governing… Leaders who prefer to speak from the top of their heads are not more authentic, they are often more shallow — not more “real,” but more undisciplined.
Except that Hillary doesn’t need a teleprompter to speak clearly, concisely, and eloquently. Nor does Bill. Nor does Chelsea, for that matter. Because they care. Because they’re actually engaged in the process and the issues. Obama, on the other hand, is playing at being president. Just like his predecessor.
Poll: More Now Think Obama Is “Partisan Dem” — And His Approval Rating Is Up! (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Not that you needed it, but here’s yet another possible sign that the public doesn’t tend to want our politicians to engage in “bipartisanship” for its own sake. A new Rasmussen Reports poll finds that 50% now think President Obama is “governing as a partisan Democrat,” up seven points from last month and up 11 points from two months ago. So has that shift hurt his approval rating? Nope. If anything, it’s the opposite. Rasmussen’s daily tracking poll finds that Obama’s approval rating is up, at 58%. It finds that the number who “strongly approve” of his performance is also up, to 37%.
If it were only true. If only he WERE turning into a Democrat.
Holder Reaffirms Commitment To Cherished Values (American Constitution Society, where Holder was on the Board of Directors)
In a symbolic swearing-in ceremony today, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder again signaled his intention to lead the department in a new direction. Holder, the 82nd attorney general and a former member of the ACS Board of Directors, said during the ceremony at the Justice Department headquarters that he would strive to be guided by the nation’s cherished principles, such as equality before the law. The Washington Post also reported that Holder tried to “inspire career prosecutors demoralized by political hiring scandals during the Bush years.”
Politicization Charges at DOJ over Brazile Appearance (Washington Wire, Wall Street Journal)
New leadership at the Justice Department is aiming to erase memories of the highly-charged political controversies from the previous administration. But already some of the same “politicization” charges are being flung at the Justice Department, under Attorney General Eric Holder, as the department prepares to host veteran Democratic Party strategist Donna Brazile for a “Women’s History Month” event. Brazile has built a long career as an election campaign strategist for candidates from Walter Mondale to Bill Clinton and Al Gore. A flyer sent to Justice Department employees advising of the March 31 Brazile appearance, says “Supervisors are encouraged to grant official time to employees to attend this event.”
Reid To Critics Of ‘Moderate’ Democrats: You’re ‘Very Unwise And Not Helpful’ (Think Progress)
In recent weeks, a number of progressive groups and commentators have criticized Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) for his attempts to organize his fellow Conservative Democrats into a new Blue Dog-style caucus that will work to “restrain the influence of party liberals in the White House and on Capitol Hill.” Now, however, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is telling the Bayh critics to back off. This morning at a breakfast briefing with reporters, Reid called the critiques “very unwise and not helpful“… Reid’s comments appear to grow out of a fear that progressive criticisms of Bayh and his fellow Conservative Democrats might upset them so much that they would vote against Obama’s agenda out of anger. But some of Bayh’s allies are already indicating that they may be opposed.
Rep. Issa pushing to limit first lady’s power to ‘protect’ her ‘historic role.’ (Think Progress)
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his conservative allies are pushing for legislation that would limit the first lady’s ability to do substantive policy work. Issa had originally proposed the bill last year, in fear of Bill Clinton moving back in to the White House. But he insists the bill is only about ensuring “transparency” for the work of first ladies, adding, “We are trying actually to protect the historic role of the first lady.” Or, as Gawker summed up Issa’s proposal in its headline, “Congressman Wants Michelle Obama To Shut Up And Look Pretty.”
Yeah, he’s just trying to help.
A Prop 8 Crusader Leaves the GOP (by Kathleen Parker, a conservative columnist, interviewing Howard Ahmanson, a crazed, right-wing anti-gay, uh, person, at the Daily Beast)
[Ahmanson, upon switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party:] I’ve been part of the religious right and I don’t go to great lengths to hide that… I expect to do the same things but in a slightly more bipartisan format. In case someone asked, “intelligent design” is neither Republican nor Democrat. And what I expect the Democratic Party to offer me is knowledge of people—admittedly a fringe—who know that. And of course, though Proposition 8 is a sideline, it won with the support of lots and lots of Democrats…
Sarah Palin?… I like her, though I’ll have to confess that I like Bobby Jindal better. I’m now a blue-dog Democrat for Bobby Jindal for 2012…
It’s a bit early for Obama, and he may do well or he may not do well. It’s a bit too early. There were some things I was disappointed about. I was disappointed in his position on abortion and stem cells, but I knew he was going to do that, so I wasn’t surprised. Something I’m pleased with is, if he dares to uphold the voucher program in D.C. and go on from there, that would be a very good thing and I will actually have an opportunity to say something nice about our president…
I think Christians should be environmentalists. According to theology, God is the landlord and we are the responsible tenants. But to believe in environmental stewardship doesn’t mean you have to believe in some of the schemes of elitists to gain control in the name of environmentalism.
Ain’t it great that Obama attracts people like this?
And speaking of blue dogs,
Bayh Household Finance Update (State of the Division, thanks to Susie at Suburban Guerilla)
Mrs. Bayh currently sits on the board of five health care corporations. Add two prior health care directorships and Susan sat on seven health related corporate boards… Susan Bayh’s health care board pay for 2007 equalled $770,000. All board pay roughly totalled $840,000. That’s over four times Evan’s Senatorial pays… With over $1.1 million in potential family holdings, what kind of health care reform can the public expect from Senator Evan Bayh? One that maintains private sector profits and executive pay for performance? Highly likely.
The REAL GOP plan revealed! (by Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors)
McConnell: Bush was a ‘millstone’ around Republicans’ necks. (Think Progress)
[Friday], Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters he is convinced that the public will again embrace conservatives now that President Bush is gone: “President Bush had become extremely unpopular, and politically he was sort of a millstone around our necks in both ‘06 and ‘08. We now have the opportunity to be on offense, offer our own ideas and we will win some.” McConnell hasn’t always rejected Bush. As Matt Yglesias has noted, “It’s McConnell, after all, who was architect of the unorthodox notion that Senate Republicans should respond to losing their majority in 2006 by launching a lot of filibusters in defense of the unpopular incumbent president’s agenda.” So who is the new leader of the party? In the same interview, McConnell said, “Newt Gingrich, for example, has an idea a minute. Many of those are quite good. Many of those become amendments.”
Cornyn: GOP Prepared To Fight ‘World War III’ To Keep Franken Out Of The Senate For ‘Years’ (Think Progress)
Last week, the ongoing legal battle between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman officially became the “the longest recount in Minnesota history.” Though Franken leads Coleman in the current vote tally, according to the Minnesota Supreme Court, he can’t be certified until after election challenges have been decided in the state courts. If Coleman loses in the state courts, he and his Republican backers are indicating that they may seek to bring it to the federal level, which could keep the Senate seat vacant for much longer. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn told Politico recently that the party is willing to keep the seat empty for “years“.
Republicans are scorched-earth fighters. They’ve been scorched-earth fighters for years. Why haven’t Democrats learned to fight back in meaningful ways?
McCain Says Public Financing is Dead (Political Wire)
Sen. John McCain, “an architect of sweeping campaign-finance reform who got walloped by a presidential candidate armed with more than $750 million, predicts that no one will ever again accept federal matching funds to run for the nation’s highest office,” the Washington Times reports. Said McCain: “No Republican in his or her right mind is going to agree to public financing. I mean, that’s dead. That is over. The last candidate for president of the United States from a major party that will take public financing was me.”
Conservative Think Tank Adjusts to Tough Times (Washington Independent, thanks to Susie at Suburban Guerilla)
The details of AEI’s financial picture are private, and spokespeople for the think tank do not discuss fundraising or financial specifics. Much of its donor information is privileged, although some foundations reveal the size and purpose of the grants they have given AEI. But it is clear that the foundation grants and large corporate donations that go to AEI have changed, in ways that have affected the bottom line, overall spending, and individual scholars. Companies that have given generously to AEI in the past, such as General Motors, are facing harder times.
“We’ve contacted AEI,” said Greg Martin, a spokesman for the General Motors Foundation, “and we’ve told them that this is a very tough time for General Motors and we’re either cutting or closely reviewing the contributions we’re giving to think tanks.”
Joe The Plumber To Campaign With Specter’s Conservative Challenger (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Okay, now the pressure on Senator Arlen Specter from his right is really gonna get intense. It turns out that his main conservative primary challenger, Club for Growth president Pat Toomey, is going to get the ultimate in blessings from the right: He’s campaigning alongside Joe the Plumber!… This doesn’t necessarily mean that Mr. Plumber is endorsing Toomey. But you can bet that the last thing Specter wants to see is Toomey and Mr. Plumber, side by side, railing in unison against the Employee Free Choice Act.
They’re keeping the pressure up. It’s what you do when you’re serious about your issues.
Alaska Democrats aim to block Palin’s state Senate pick (McClatchy)
Gov. Sarah Palin has appointed legislative aide Tim Grussendorf to the state Senate seat that opened when Juneau Democrat Kim Elton resigned. It’s a controversial pick that Grussendorf’s own party says it will try to block.
Palin won’t budge on parental-consent abortion bill (McClatchy)
State legislators are talking about compromising on a major abortion battle over parental consent, but Gov. Sarah Palin isn’t interested in the deal… The compromise under discussion would be legislation that requires parental notification but not consent. That means parents would have to be told about their teenager’s plan to have an abortion but wouldn’t have to give their permission for it to happen.
Obama Brings Flush Times for Black News Media
For the nation’s black magazines, newspapers, and television and radio stations, the arrival of the Obama administration has ushered in an era of unprecedented access to the White House. “We have, at last, an equal seat at the table,” said Bryan Monroe, the VP and editorial director of Ebony and Jet.
COMFORT FOOD: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
MSNBC’s cable shows largely exist to serve certain types of canned comfort food, as they did all through the 1990s. There is one obvious differene, of course. In that decade, cynical, overpaid, corporate-picked hosts fed you endless manufactured crap about both Clintons, then Gore. Now, they feed you crap about Palin–and about Blagojevich’s hair. The targets have changed, but the process has not. You’re still inside a house of games, consuming that comfortable drivel. For the record, our increasingly clownish liberal news orgs have become impressively skilled at turning jokes into scandals.
And isn’t that exactly what we’ve objected to all these years in how right-wing media behaves? How pitiful is it that we are now them?
Brzezinski asks: “Is America the Bernie Madoff of all economies?” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
A Very Serious Non-Partisan Voice Speaks (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
Shorter David Broder: Although I didn’t criticize President Bush for running up a huge deficit to give tax cuts to the wealthy, it really, really worries me if Democrats do it.
Let’s Not Argue About Who Killed Who (by Dean Baker)
Sorry, but I couldn’t resist. When a New York Times columnist tells us that we shouldn’t bother to try to assign blame to the millionaires and billionaires who wrecked the world economy and created a situation in which tens of millions of people will go unemployed and hungry, what else can you say?
Biden’s Daughter Targeted (Political Wire)
A “friend” of Vice President Joseph Biden’s daughter, Ashley, is attempting to hawk a videotape that he claims shows her snorting cocaine at a house party this month in Delaware, the New York Post reports. Craig Crawford doesn’t buy it: “The newspaper’s editors act as though they took the high ground by stating ‘the Post refused to pay for the video.’ But then they go on to speculate in print about what’s on it — despite being unable to confirm that Ashley is on the tape.”
There is no excuse for this kind of behavior by the media. None.
WSJ’s Fund claims Obama administration wants “to micromanage the car industry towards the social engineering goals that they want” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Kurtz cites Media Matters on Kudlow; says he “wouldn’t be very credible on CNBC if he were openly shilling for one party” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Kudlow: “Do you really want one dictatorial Soviet-style Politboro central planning regulator?” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Fox News’ Mad, Apocalyptic, Tearful Rising Star (New York Times)
“You are not alone,” Glenn Beck likes to say. For the disaffected and aggrieved Americans of the Obama era, he could not have picked a better rallying cry. Beck, an early-evening host on the Fox News Channel, is suddenly one of the most powerful voices for the nation’s conservative populist anger.
The NYT plays dumb about Glenn Beck (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
No surprise, since this is the Beltway press’ standard operating procedure when covering leaders of the conservative media: categorically refuses to spell out to readers what they actually say that makes them so controversial. In its Beck profile on Monday, the Times dutifully follows those guidelines while adding in the twist of not quoting a single liberal who’s critical of Fox News’ coo-coo, pseudo-End Times host.
Beck claims Americorps bill “basically indoctrinates your child into community service through the federal government” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Fox News Sees Its Site as a Place for Public Venting (Washington Post)
With Fox Nation, an opinionated HuffPo-like Web site that launches this morning, Fox News is hoping to leverage its brand online. “We felt that giving people a real destination to go and express themselves would give them a feeling of belonging,” says SVP Joel Cheatwood.
Hannity praises House GOP budget blueprint, claims media “excoriates” it because “they want the 2,000 pages” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Hannity falsely claims “we actually have from the Pentagon, 61 people that we released from Gitmo, 61 have gone back to the battlefield” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
On Hannity, McCaughey falsely claims stimulus provision would “deliver protocols that will tell your doctor to limit care to what the government’s advisers deem cost-effective” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Cavuto says Geithner “is building himself the kingdom, grabbing for more power over companies;” caption reads “Geithner’s Power Grab: A Grab for Your Wallet?” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
O’Reilly identifies ‘the far left blogs’ as his #1 enemy. (Think Progress)
In their interview with Bill O’Reilly this morning, the ladies of The View failed to question him about his comments on rape or his record of stalking and harassing his perceived enemies. Instead, they let O’Reilly make a series of attacks that went unchallenged [for example]: “…And if they do stuff that’s dishonest, I’m going after them. And we do.” Of course, that would have been a perfect opening to ask O’Reilly about whether his “harassment machine” is the right way to go after his opponents. But O’Reilly escaped unscathed.
Click through to watch the video.
Chrysler responds to our campaign: ‘We currently do not have the O’Reilly Factor in our media rotation.’ (Think Progress)
Chrysler LLC spokeswoman Carrie McElwee has responded to our Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine campaign with this statement: “We appreciate the diverse audience that television programming allows us to reach. Chrysler buys network cable as a package but we currently do not have the O’Reilly Factor in our media rotation at this time.” Please join our campaign.
One more reason to use UPS (by lambert at Corrente)
Not only have they pulled their advertising from Stalker O’Reilly’s show, they’re union, and, unlike FedEx, they’re not using extortion tactics against the government to fight card check.
As one of “Fred’s points to ponder,” Barnes claims the “power grab by Obama is even more than FDR tried in the New Deal” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
If only.
Bruce claims recovery act “crap sandwich” created a “Nazi, fascist health czar” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Kristol on whether he owes the American public an apology for hyping Iraq WMD claims: ‘No.’ (Think Progress)
On Friday, the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. A caller criticized his publication for hyping President Bush’s pre-invasion lies about WMD in Iraq, and asked him to apologize to the American public. Kristol refused, saying that the war has been a smashing success… Kristol then tried to switch the topic, saying, “And also in Afghanistan, incidentally, it’s President Obama who’s announcing the increase in troops today. It’s not something he was forced into by the Weekly Standard or anyone else.” (As ThinkProgress noted [earlier], Obama’s strategy for Afghanistan-Pakistan is not the same as Bush’s surge in Iraq.)
Click through to watch the video.
Limbaugh on Obama: “It’s like I said yesterday: cheat on me but don’t tell me … He’s a cult leader. Battered liberal syndrome. Cheat on me, just don’t tell me” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Limbaugh again repeats falsehood that Obama “voted for infanticide” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Limbaugh on Pelosi: “The third person in line for the presidency in this country is a complete airhead” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Detainee’s Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots (Washington Post)
[N]ot a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida’s tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida — chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates — was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said… “We spent millions of dollars chasing false alarms,” one former intelligence official said.
Despite the poor results, Bush White House officials and CIA leaders continued to insist that the harsh measures applied against Abu Zubaida and others produced useful intelligence that disrupted terrorist plots and saved American lives… Since 2006, Senate intelligence committee members have pressed the CIA, in classified briefings, to provide examples of specific leads that were obtained from Abu Zubaida through the use of waterboarding and other methods, according to officials familiar with the requests. The agency provided none, the officials said.
Spanish court agrees to consider criminal case against former Bush administration officials. (Think Progress)
A Spanish court “has agreed to consider opening a criminal case against six former Bush administration officials…over allegations they gave legal cover for torture at Guantanamo Bay.” The officials include former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, former undersecretary of defense for policy Douglas Feith, former Cheney chief of staff David Addington, Justice Department officials John Yoo and Jay S. Bybee, and Pentagon lawyer William Haynes. The AP has more details on the case.
Somebody has to do it. Lambert says this is the same judge who indicted Chilean dictator and murderer, Augusto Pinochet.
Effort to Bypass Electoral College Gains Ground (Political Wire)
The National Popular Vote initiative — which aims to make the Electoral College irrelevant without going through the arduous process of amending the Constitution — “is making slow but steady progress across the country,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “States are asked to enact laws pledging their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, no matter who wins the state. The pledge takes effect only when states holding at least 270 electoral votes — a decisive margin in the Electoral College — agree to participate. That would ensure that the winner of the popular vote would take the election… So far, four states representing 50 electoral votes have adopted the pledge: Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland and Hawaii.”
Health insurance is not the same as health care (by DCblogger at Corrente)
Health Reform Lessons from Massachusetts, Part I “Dr. Rachel Nardin, who heads the Massachusetts chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, noted that having health insurance was not the same as getting health care. Thirteen percent of people in the state who had insurance still could not pay for some health services, and 13 percent could not pay for their medicines, she said. Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor at the Harvard Medical School, explained how the law encouraged the overuse of costly high-tech care while damaging the finances of safety-net hospitals.” [Emphasis added.]
Now The Real Fun Begins (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does. But hey, isn’t it great that lobbyists have managed to prevent Congress from letting bankruptcy judges lower mortgage payments? Go, Harry! Win-win!… “City officials and housing advocates here and in cities as varied as Buffalo, Kansas City, Mo., and Jacksonville, Fla., say they are seeing an unsettling development: Banks are quietly declining to take possession of properties at the end of the foreclosure process, most often because the cost of the ordeal — from legal fees to maintenance — exceeds the diminishing value of the real estate. The so-called bank walkaways rarely mean relief for the property owners, caught unaware months after the fact, and often mean additional financial burdens and bureaucratic headaches.” [Emphasis added]
An Ugly Consequence of the Recession – Domestic Violence up 37% in FL (by campskunk at Alegre’s Corner)
I don’t have a lot of fancy analysis for this one; it’s just another bleak signpost on our way into this economic mess. In Florida, where 10% of the population is already on food stamps and unemployment is higher than 10%, demand for domestic violence shelters has increased by 37%. “The darkest side of the grinding recession is showing up in a spike in domestic violence, including a 37-percent increase in the demand for emergency shelter services across the state. ‘It’s the worst I’ve seen in years,’ said Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon.”
Commentary: Schools are not businesses (by Wayne Au, Bill Bigelow and David Levine, editors of Rethinking Schools (www.rethinkingschools.org), a quarterly magazine based in Milwaukee)
We should stop treating our schools as businesses… We have to remember, education is a humane and human process with social values beyond the bottom line. Business leaders have no expertise in this quest, and business models do not apply. For that matter, now that casino capitalism has imploded, isn’t it time to stop looking to the corporate elite for advice on how to run the schools? These “experts” – the bankers and corporate CEOs – couldn’t even manage the one thing they are supposed to be good at: running their own businesses.
Educators should shed their subordinate status and sense of inferiority. Schools work best when teachers – in dialogue with parents and other citizens – design the educational experience, not corporate officials.
Gee, too bad business itself can’t be a humane and human process.
Needed: A New Commission To Probe Corporate Crime (by Danny Schechter)
Why Hasn’t Obama Targeted The Ongoing White Collar Crime Wave?
Freedom Tower name changed to One World Trade Center (New York Newsday)
The Port Authority, the agency that owns the building at Ground Zero, said Thursday that the signature skyscraper replacing the Twin Towers destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, will be more commonly known as One World Trade Center. The reason for the name swapping? One World Trade Center is more marketable, said Steve Sigmund, a spokesman for the Port Authority. “We believe there’s been a good response in the marketplace toward it,” Sigmund said Thursday.
Why not just paint a bullseye around it?
Texans forge compromise on evolution
State education leaders forged a compromise Friday on the teaching of evolution in Texas, adopting a new science curriculum that no longer requires educators to teach the weaknesses of all scientific theories.
Texas universities voice opposition to bill that would allow guns on campuses (McClatchy)
Texas universities are firing back against a bill that would permit students to carry handguns on campus.
Virginia legislature passes bill restricting state funds for embryonic stem cell research. (Think Progress)
The Virginia politics blog Not Larry Sabato notes that Virginia’s GOP-led House of Delegates and Democratic-controlled Senate passed a bill earlier this month that prevents the state’s Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund from financing research involving embryonic stem cells.
Red State Update:Legalize Drugs, Save Mexico (video)
Jackie and Dunlap’s solution to the Mexican drug wars. Well, Dunlap’s, at least.
Don’t go making sense, now!
Media Matters for America headlines
• Fox News invokes Canadian health care bogeyman in talking about Richardson’s death
• Hannity falsely claimed NI director plans to “release … enemy combatants on American soil”
• Fox Business’ Varney mischaracterizes Wagoner’s departure
• Question for Bill Shine: Is Fox News “the voice of opposition” or “not ideological”?
• Fox News’ Henneberg falsely claimed “[r]econciliation was last used in 2001″
• Gregory falsely equated Obama remark with McCain’s “fundamentals of our economy are strong” comment
• CNN’s Keilar, caption falsely claimed Geithner’s financial takeover request was “unprecedented”
• Media Matters: Pay no attention to the GOP “power grab” behind the curtain
• Media use announcement of new Afghanistan strategy to revive “Obama’s war” label
Some Media Stocks Take Beating On Auto Bailout News (Paid Content)
President Obama made it clear today that he does not plan to cut the auto industry a blank check—and that’s bad news for media companies. That sentiment is playing out in the market this morning, as some big media stocks are taking a hit. The media companies with the most exposure to national ad dollars (that’s where the auto companies spend a lot of their marketing budgets) are suffering largest percentage declines: CBS (which owns national TV and radio assets) was down 18 percent as of noon EST; Gannett (publisher of USA Today) was down 10 percent. A dour report by SNL Kagan on the prospects for the radio and TV industries is probably also contributing to today’s decline.
The car industry is the single-biggest source of subscribers for Sirius XM, which is certainly part of the reason the stock was down 10 percent this morning (though even in normal times Sirius tends to swing more widely than most media companies).
Radio shines in Fargo flooding.
As the Red River kept rising, the stations that serve the Fargo-Moorhead market rose to the task, delivering around-the-clock news and information. There are no reports of damaged tower sites even though several AM sites are close to the river, where sandbags and levees have held.
Google, music labels launch China download service
Google Inc. and major music companies launched a free Internet music download service for China on Monday in a bid to help turn a field dominated by pirates into a profitable, legitimate business.
Researchers: Cyber spies break into govt computers
A cyber spy network based mainly in China hacked into classified documents from government and private organizations in 103 countries, including the computers of theDalai Lama and Tibetan exiles, Canadian researchers said Saturday. The work of the Information Warfare Monitor initially focused on allegations of Chinese cyber espionage against the Tibetan community in exile, and eventually led to a much wider network of compromised machines, the Internet-based research group said.
House Communications, Technology & Internet Subcommittee chair outlines his agenda
Virginia Democrat Rick Boucher, the recently appointed chairman of the powerful House Communications, Technology & Internet Subcommittee, says that his top legislative priorities include reauthorizing the law that allows satellite to import TV station signals into a market, and coming up with a new law that would restrict how behavioral marketers can target potential online customers.
Shepard Fairey Goes To HuffPo to Plead His Case Against The AP (UnBeige, Media Bistro)
As his ongoing battle with the Associated Press continues, Shepard Fairey, as a man of the people, has decided to go to the most “of the people”-esque outlet, The Huffington Post, to file [a] lengthy essay, pleading his case. Along the way, he described his process, his problems with the AP’s complaints over his Obama poster, and describes his battle as a fight “to protect the rights of all artists.”
Hey, Nanoblog This! The New New-Media Lexicon Decoded (by Simon Dumenco, Advertising Age)
AdSense – n. An automated, senseless act of violence against the traditional advertising industry.
Ballmer – v. To endlessly pursue someone who is not interested (after Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer’s endless pursuit of Yahoo). Usage: That dude was totally ballmering me, so finally I ended up giving him a fake cellphone number.
Content – n. 1. A deposed ruler. 2. A king-turned-pauper.
Click through for much, much more.
European Newspapers Find Creative Ways to Thrive in the Internet Age
A few newspaper publishers are providing news on the Web for free, but are relying more on readers than advertisers, turning a profit by charging for associated services and online activities.
Aggregation Forces Journalistic Evolution
News Outlets Must Accept That Consumers Want More Content Faster — and Don’t Care Who Creates It
Slate botches Pew poll about newspapers (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
From Slate’s Jack Shafer…: “a majority of Americans don’t care whether their local newspaper lives or dies” … [T]hat’s just flat out wrong, and therefore kicks a significant leg out from the Slate argument. As we already noted in detail, what the Pew poll actually found was that a majority of Americans (58%) would care if their newspaper folded: 33% would miss it a “lot,” and 25% would miss it “some.” That’s 58%. And among those polled who called themselves regular newspaper readers, a whopping 80% said they would miss their daily if it folded… As for Slate’s larger point that newspapers aren’t important to democracy, Pew found that an overwhelming majority of American rejected that claim: 74% say losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life in their community. (81% among regular newspaper readers.)
Late Editor Blames Three Key People for Newspapers’ Demise (by John Walter at Poynter Online)
There are three people in the world responsible for [newspapers'] demise, and — because I have always loved newspapers — I want to say I’m mad at them about it. And, therefore, I want to record for posterity who they are, and why we should be mad at them.
To me, the third person Walter names, and the mindset he represents, is infinitely more responsible than the first two. And media businesses aren’t the only ones that have been ruined by the elite business school get rich quick and damn the consequences mentality.
Slices of a new journalism pie (by Jeff Jarvis)
The AP reports that Huffington Post is going to announce … the creation of a $1.75 million fund with various donors to pay for investigative reporting. First target: the economy. This, I’ve long held, is where foundation and public support will enter into the new ecosystem of journalism: not by taking over newspapers but by funding investigations and other slices of a new journalistic pie… Now to touch the third rail in the debate over the future of news: This is how paid content will work, how news will get money from its public — not by putting content behind walls and charging all readers (the few who’ll remain) to see it but instead by setting up systems to take advantage of the 1 percent rule online that decrees you need only a limited number of contributors (of money or effort) to support great things in a gift economy. See: Wikipedia and NPR. But the public’s contributions won’t go to lifting the sinking Titanics of the old-media failures.
So a bunch of rich white guys, probably owners of major corporations, will get to decide what’s investigated?
Tracking The Online-Only Seattle P-I: Traffic Down 20 Percent (Paid Content)
It makes some sense: Cut your editorial staff by 80 percent, and there’s at least a decent chance that Web traffic will tumble. And that’s just what has happened at the new online-only Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Page views are down about 20 percent in the week since the newspaper killed its print edition and became an online-only publication, according to internal numbers… Clearly, the P-I’s online experiment is still in the early days, but the company itself has fanned heady expectations: A day after the new Seattlepi.com launched, Hearst Spokesman Paul Luthringer told the Associated Press that the company was encouraged by the website’s traffic on its first day, when it got 1.9 million page views. The dirty little secret: a good chunk of that traffic probably went to content created by staffers who had already left.
As you may remember, in ceasing publication of the paper’s print edition, Seattle P-I owner Hearst Corp. laid off 160 of its employees, including most of its long-time beat reporters, and replaced them with 20 full-time “news gatherers,” who write on a myriad of topics. The site now depends heavily on local AP stories and to a lesser extent on third-party sites it links to for content. According to one report, Hearst expected that traffic would drop between 25 percent and 30 percent initially, before increasing within three months, though the company hasn’t offered such figures publicly.
Online Journalists Show ‘Uneasy Optimism’ For the Future
Most of the 300 respondents to the survey by the Online News Association and the Project for Excellence in Journalism did not believe journalism was headed in the wrong direction, the report said. But more than half believe the Internet is changing the “fundamental values of journalism¿more often than not for the worse.”
It’s Not The New York Times (by Michael Wolff at Newser.com)
The New York Times, as we know it, has been disappearing for some time. It may — diminishing as though by half-lives — have degraded to the point where, in any practical sense, it has long since ceased to be the leading voice in either journalism or the establishment.
Bowden: Sulzberger seems clever enough, but he fails to impress
NYT publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. “comes off as a lightweight, as someone slightly out of his depth, whose dogged sincerity elicits not admiration so much as pity,” writes Mark Bowden. “While no one blames him for what is clearly a crisis afflicting all newspapers, he has made a series of poor business moves that now follow him like the tail of a kite.” Friend Peter Osnos says: “Sure, Arthur has made his share of mistakes. But they get recycled all the time, and he rarely gets the credit he deserves for what he’s done right.”
Setbacks in Bay Area Add to Pain for The Chronicle
Geography, demographics and competition in the Bay Area are posing challenges beyond the headwinds facing all newspapers.
SF powerbrokers discuss restructuring Chronicle as a philanthropic venture
SF Mayor Gavin Newsom and others met last week to discuss the possibility of converting the Chronicle into a nonprofit or into an L3C — a low-profit limited liability company whose main role is helping society rather than making money. Publisher Frank Vega says: “At this time, I feel talk of creating a nonprofit umbrella is premature. We’re in negotiations with our unions to assist us in developing a viable future.”
Star Tribune Begins Holding Back Free Online News Stories Next Week (Paid Content)
[T]he Twin Cities’ StarTribune.com will begin what it’s tentatively calling an “experiment” in offering certain stories to print readers first. In an editorial, Star Tribune Editor Nancy Barnes admits that the move may seem counter-intuitive. But she alludes to the challenges of extracting necessary report mostly from online advertising, and says that the paper might as well at least reward paying readers. The paper will continue to make breaking news immediately available for free. But for those interested in reading dispatches from Star Tribune’s investigative projects, “deeply reported” non-breaking news stories and features, they’ll have to buy the paper.
AP Lists Dailies That Have Cut Editions in Past Year
And it’s a long list, in 31 states, as the Christian Science Monitor and the two Detroit papers join the trend on Monday.
Detroit Papers: First Monday Without a Home-Delivered Edition
Missing from the doorsteps and driveways of many Michigan homes Monday morning: newspapers. In a bold but risky move aimed at ensuring their survival in the digital age, The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press are reducing home delivery to the three days a week most popular with advertisers.
IHT.com Folds In To NYTimes.com, Paper Redesigned For Closer Integration (Paid Content)
The New York Times Company is tightening the leash on its International Herald Newspaper by folding its well-respected IHT.com in to a NYTimes.com global section and redesigning the paper to look more like its stablemate.
Boston Herald Loses 24 Staffers
The Boston Herald has announced 24 layoffs — 13 voluntary and 11 involuntary — for a 6 percent work force reduction that primarily hit the business side of the paper. The Herald’s newsroom was largely unscathed, losing one photographer to a voluntary buyout.
Philly newspaper execs got bonuses just before bankruptcy filing
Steve Volk reports Philadelphia Media Holdings awarded a total of $650,000 in bonuses to CEO Brian Tierney, vice president of finance Richard Thayer and Daily News publisher Mark Frisby last December — two months before the company declared bankruptcy. It was reported earlier that Tierney received a raise in December that boosted his pay roughly 40%.
Metro USA papers will no longer use AP content
“Encouraging existing staff to write more and employing new writers gives us a higher degree of flexibility and results in a product which is more relevant to the young, professional audience we, and our advertisers, seek,” says Tony Metcalf, editor-in-chief of Metro USA, which has papers in New York, Boston and Philadelphia.
With The Weeklies/Biweeklies, There Is Some Advertising Hope In People
Nothing new in the overall poor advertising first quarter, which for most, concludes today but People has emerged from the cold a little bit with a +9.57% ad-page differential in the March 23 issue, followed by today’s +26.60%.
Prevention Cuts Rate Base 15 Percent
Rodale said it would lower the rate base of Prevention from 3.3 million to 2.8 million — a decrease of 15 percent. Last year, Prevention saw its total paid and verified circ drop slightly, down 1.3 percent, from 2007, according to FAS-FAX figures.
Do-It-Yourself Magazines, Cheaply Slick
Traditional printing houses charge thousands of dollars for a few hundred copies, but a new service hopes to cost less than making photocopies.
Why not download to an ebook?
The Kindle is Great (by Taegan Goddard at Political Wire)
For months, I’ve read the morning newspapers on the Kindle. I find it’s more convenient, it’s easier to read and it saves trees. And I’m not alone: On a commuter train into New York City last week I counted 17 people using the Kindle. But the real sign I’m hooked is when I got a review copy of a really great book a few days ago in the mail and was disappointed I couldn’t put it on my Kindle.
NPR says it’s still subscribing to some newspapers
NPR says it still gets seven subscriptions to the New York Times, two to the Washington Post and seven Wall Street Journal subs, plus five online accounts. “It’s not a blanket no newspapers are coming into the building,” says NPR News deputy managing editor David Sweeney. “It’s more being prudent about how many we are bringing in.”
Ag radio growing revenues.
There have been double-digit increases in agricultural ad spending and some operators say they can hardly tell there’s a recession. More dollars are being made online too. The National Association of Farm Broadcasters says there are 1,815 stations in 43 states airing some form of ag programming.
Katz reaches deeper into agencies.
Katz Marketing Solutions president Bob McCurdy calls his team “marketing ninjas” whose mission is to bring new ad dollars to radio. They’re doing that by going upstream in the process and using new software weaponry.
Serious Threats to Sirius Radio
Since its inception, satellite radio bragged that unique content represented a key competitive weapon in the crowded digital media market. But as Web radio and mobile radio applications flourish, they are beginning to erode the value of Sirius’s pricey content deals.
One place the recession isn’t showing: at the box office
While everything else in our economy has been tanking, the movie industry is on a roll. Ticket sales for the first quarter of 2009 are up 14 percent… “This is exactly what happened after the collapse of 1929 and 1930,” [Paul Degaraberian of Media by Numbers] said. “Escapist movies were really paying off, and they were running theaters around the clock. Seventy million people a week were going to the movies.”
Ratigan: “People think I’m some kind of Che Guevara!”
Dylan Ratigan, who abruptly quit CNBC last week, says he still wants to communicate his concern for America’s financial mess. “I’m leaving CNBC in order to pursue this story with the broadest possible footprint,” he tells Jon Friedman. He insists he doesn’t know for which network he’ll be pursuing the story.
Maybe he should go to work for Arianna. Or Mark Cuban.
O’Reilly: There have been convictions for threats against Fox News
From Paul Bond’s interview with Bill O’Reilly:
THR [The Hollywood Reporter]: Do you need bodyguards?
O’Reilly: On occasion, if I have to go into a large crowd and be stationary. …We have had death threats here, and Fox security people are excellent. We know that the far-left loons bait on the Internet, and they would do damage if they could.
THR: Any of those death threats result in arrests?
O’Reilly: We’ve had a few people convicted of crimes. I’m not going to get into descriptions.
MTV to Put a Bit More Music Back, in the A.M.
In an experiment that harks back to its origins, MTV will use 3 to 9 a.m. Monday through Thursday to show music videos, news, interviews and performances.
Video Game Makers Challenged by the Next Wave of Media
Games for the Web and smartphones are far cheaper to produce than the titles for the major consoles, whose makers must hope for blockbusters.
Popular Science, Science Channel Team for ‘Future’ Series
Print-TV Partnership to Sell Ads, Produce Shows
Analyst: Online Health Category Still Healthy (Paid Content)
Not every online sector is getting crushed in the economy. Health sites continues to thrive, even in the midst of the larger drop in online ad sales. In a report this morning on WebMD, Citi Analyst Mark Mahaney notes that “we believe the online health category should be poised for double-digit revenue growth in ’09.” Why? Mahaney notes that there is a “flight to quality sites among Pharma advertisers” and says that “premium online health companies” like WebMD are increasingly selling long-term sponsorship ads instead of display ads. When WebMD reported its fourth-quarter earnings last month, the company said that it expected its revenue to grow 15 percent this year. Mahaney notes that that estimate, which he says is reasonable, “stands in sharp contrast” to the display-advertising outlook at other companies, including Yahoo.
AOL Wants To Replace Your Newspaper’s Sports Section: FanHouse Adds Half-Dozen Journalists (Paid Content)
Despite AOL’s recent layoffs, the Time Warner unit is beginning to staff up on its programming side. FanHouse, the all-encompassing sports blog that operates under AOL’s MediaGlow programming unit, has just hired five former newspaper journalists and one senior editor as it tries to take advantage in the coverage holes that many cities are experiencing as news staffs have slimmed down… In addition to the new hires, who include erstwhile Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Greg Couch, former Newark Star-Ledger baseball reporter Dan Graziano and Jeff Fletcher, who previously worked for the NYTCo’s Santa Rosa Press Democrat and Tribune Company’s LAT, FanHouse could hire more as it focuses on ramping up its baseball coverage, Moe said.
FanHouse isn’t the only MediaGlow unit that’s doing some hiring. StyleList.com, which is part of the AOL Living network, is also expected to announce three new staffers this morning, with two new faces coming from the AP and Harper’s Bazaar.
How Sites Like ESPN 360 Can Alleviate ‘Cord Cutting’ (by Andrew Hampp, Advertising Age)
Time Warner’s TV Everywhere initiative and others like it all seek to answer the same question: Will consumers pay for cable content online? If you ask George Bodenheimer, the answer is already yes. ESPN’s president launched ESPN360.com in the halcyon, pre-Hulu days of 2005 as a broadband product where sports fans could catch live streams or recaps of more than 3,000 games both mainstream (the NCAA Tournament) and obscure (the Bassmaster Elite). The catch: Unlike with Hulu and other ad-supported video sites, users can watch only if they’re verified, paying subscribers to one of ESPN 360′s internet-service-provider partners.
Some Online Shows Could Go Subscription-Only
Time Warner Cable is working with customers here to test a subscriber model for online TV viewing. Residents who pay for HBO can watch Big Love, Entourage and other programs on their computers, using special software and a personal log-in. People who are not HBO subscribers are barred.
Disney Finalizing Deal For Clips On YouTube; Full-Episode Talks Ongoing; Could Hulu Lose Out? (Paid Content)
The Walt Disney Company and Google are close to one programming deal for video portal YouTube, and are in discussions about another—also involving YouTube—that would preclude a deal with Hulu, paidContent has learned. Disney and YouTube are in the final stages of negotiations to put clips from ESPN, ABC and other Disney assets on YouTube, according to sources familiar with the situation. The two companies would share revenue, with Disney controlling the ad inventory; YouTube and Google could get some inventory to sell. As important, YouTube would refer back to ESPN.com, ABC.com and the other Disney sites. Disney declined comment; a YouTube spokesman said the company does not comment on rumor or speculation.
In addition, the two are discussing a full-episode deal—a multi-year pay-for-play deal that would put ABC and some other Disney programming on YouTube instead of NBC Universal-News Corp joint venture Hulu.
Coming Soon: The Hulufication of YouTube? (Mashable)
YouTube has been moving to bring in legitimate, licensed content from TV networks and movie studios for some time, inking deals with the likes of CBS and MGM, among others. Now, that professionally produced content is going to become the focal point of the site, as Google plans to launch a major redesign within the next month. According to ClickZ, YouTube’s main navigation will soon be switched to “Movies, Music, Shows, and Videos. The first three tabs will display premium shows, clips, and movies from Google’s network and studio partners, all of which will be monetized with in-stream advertising.”
Torrent Sharing Comes to Facebook: Will the RIAA Step In? (Mashable)
Soon you may be seeing links to download copies of Star Wars or the newest Britney Spears album pop up your Facebook news feed. This is because The Pirate Bay, one of the world’s most popular websites for file sharing and torrents, now allows you to share links to download these files right from your Facebook profile. It works simply: The Pirate Bay site now includes links under torrents to “Share on Facebook”. Once posted to your profile, your Facebook friends can click the link on Facebook to begin the download right away, provided they already have a torrenting client installed.
Careless Copyright Owners, Automated Takedowns: A Disaster for Online Creativity (y Corynne McSherry, Staff Attorney and Kahle Promise Fellow with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which champions civil liberties in the networked world)
As a result of a dispute between Warner Music and YouTube, Warner has set YouTube ‘s “Content I.D.” filter to remove all videos identified as containing any Warner music. (For more than two years, Warner permitted these uses and silently shared in the advertising revenue for the videos that included a “match” to its music.) As a result, thousands of videos are being disappeared from one of the Internet’s most popular and accessible arenas. In fact, according to statistics kept by YouTomb, there were twice as many videos removed from YouTube in January 2009 as in the entire previous year combined.
[Some] censored videos … are clearly non-infringing fair uses… This is copyright-as-censorship at its worst and it must be stopped. First, YouTube must fix the Content I.D. system so that it does not remove videos unless there is a match between the video and audio tracks of the work alleged to be infringed. Second, Warner should use the filter solely to identify infringing works, bringing a human into the loop before videos are taken down… Until these steps are taken, YouTube’s potential as a platform for free speech and new creators will remain unrealized.
Top 20 Ways to Share a Great Blog Post (Mashable)
One of the best things about the web and social media is how much great information is written and produced every single day. If you’re a regular reader of blogs, you probably come across great articles that you just want everyone to know about. But what’s the best way to share these posts? Luckily, there’s no shortage of ways to spread the word. Blogs, social networks, instant messenger, and mobile phones are some of the many ways to let others know about the best content on the web. Here are our 20 favorite ways to share a great blog post:
FacePal: How Facebook Could Rival PayPal (Mashable)
Facebook continues to advocate and advance the platform, most recently by launching Facebook Connect for the iPhone. Facebook Connect has massive reach, and Facebook has yet to monetize it. But the confirmation that Facebook is looking at creating a virtual currency may open up the possibility of a radically new business model for Connect. By combining this virtual currency with Facebook Connect, Facebook could be the center of a new Internet marketplace for micro-payments, one no longer reliant on credit card transactions. It could accomplish the original vision of the PayPal founders: to be a universal currency.
Click through for more information.
Fring Launches a Better Twitter Mobile Experience for non-iPhone Users (Mashable)
Fring is a mobile platform that allows its users to chat and connect with friends via Skype, Google Talk, MSN, ICQ, and through Fring Add-ons, which connects your phone to Facebook and Gmail, among others. Fring offers everything from email updates to international Skype calling within iPhones, Windows Mobile devices, Nokia phones, and others.
Retweet iPhone App for Twitter: Free for 24h (Mashable)
“Retweeting” is a natural way of finding the best and most useful content on Twitter. By reposting a tweet and putting “RT” plus the originator’s username at the start (eg. “RT @mashable”) Twitter users can share tweets that interest them. On the web, there are several great tools for following retweets - RetweetRadar and Retweetist, for example. There are also blog buttons, like the one on this post, to make retweeting easier. For those who are on the go and still want to know what’s popular on Twitter, however, then Retweet … for the iPhone is a new app that’s worth a try.
BBH Offers A Deal To Employees Rather Than Lay Them Off (AgencySpy, Media Bistro)
Bartle Bogle Hegarty UK is asking its staff to take nine days unpaid leave a year, equivalent to a 3.5 per cent pay cut, to stave off the need for redundancies according to Brand Republic… Kudos to BBH for figuring out how make the money work without having to let anyone go. The agency’s US office has already seen a round of lay-offs. A spokesperson told us that “BBH New York’s business is strong, especially having won new assignments early this year. We are not considering any pay cuts at this time.” Now, there’s some good news. In the future let’s hope they follow mothership London’s lead and offer a similar deal.
A White Block Where an Ad Ought to Be
A Nascar driver raced with a large white rectangle on his car’s hood in an attempt to secure a sponsor.
Ad watchdog: Cablevision Internet not ‘fastest’
Cablevision Systems Corp. should stop saying its Internet service is “the fastest around,” the advertising industry’s self-regulatory body said Thursday, in response to complaints from competitor Verizon Communications Inc.
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