• Spanish socialists and People’s party rivals agree deficit limit • Limit to be set at 0.4% of GDP from 2020 Spanish politicians took a dramatic step to try to win back market confidence by agreeing on a reform of the country’s constitution to introduce a cap on future deficits. The socialist party (PSOE) of outgoing prime minister José Luis Zapatero and the conservative opposition People’s party (PP) said the cap would come into effect in 2020. The limit will be set at 0.4% and will effect all levels of Spain’s highly devolved administration, including the regional governments that run health and education. The move came at the end of a month that has seen Spain’s sovereign debt under severe pressure in the markets, amid fears that it might need a bailout similar to those of fellow eurozone nations Portugal, Greece or Ireland. It also came a week after Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy called for eurozone countries to establish legal limits on their deficits to integrate their economies. So far only Germany has such a cap. Spanish politicians claimed the measure was a step towards eurozone integration. “August has been a month of financial instability. Investors have lost confidence in the eurozone,” said Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the PSOE candidate for prime minister in November’s general election. “We have to win back confidence and show we are solvent.” The PP, led by Mariano Rajoy, had been demanding such a measure for years. “We want to be amongst the countries in the vanguard of European economic policy,” said spokeswoman Soraya Saénz de Santamaría. With more than 90% of deputies between them, the two parties can push through constitutional change before parliament is dissolved on 27 September. Unlike Germany, Spain will not specify the size of the deficit cap in the constitution. According to the draft, the new clause will merely say a cap must be set by either the European Union or, in its absence, the Spanish parliament. The limit could also be broken at times of recession or national crisis. Germany’s constitution imposes a 0.35% cap by 2016. Spain’s 0.4% limit will be set initially by a separate law. Saénz de Santamaría claimed the agreement would force future governments to keep debt below an EU-set limit of 60% of GDP. However, Spain’s debt is expected to hit 65% of GDP this year, below the eurozone average and behind Germany, France, Britain and the US. The IMF recently estimated it would total around 75% of GDP by 2016. While the new measure is meant to calm markets, it will have no impact on Spain’s current deficit. Figures released on Friday show annual GDP growth slipped to 0.7% in the second quarter, making it difficult to reach the government’s predicted 1.3% for 2011. Zapatero surprised many in his party on Tuesday when he announced he and Rajoy had agreed to change the constitution. Opinion polls show the socialists trailing the PP. The socialist regional leader in Andalucia, José Antonio Griñán, called the change “a grave error”. Left-wing critics claimed it would lead to cuts in social spending. Only a rebellion by socialist deputies, however, could stop the measure going through. European debt crisis European banks Spain Europe José Luis Zapatero Giles Tremlett guardian.co.uk
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Opposition activists voice anger over failed attempts to pass a UN security council resolution On the first Friday protests since Libyan rebels reached Tripoli with the assistance of Nato forces, Syrian protesters have called for international intervention in their struggle against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Until now, most Syrian protesters have insisted they do not need outside help, but on Friday in the western city of Homs video footage showed protesters carrying signs telling the UN its silence was killing them, as they expressed their anger at failed attempts to pass a security council resolution in the face of Russian and Chinese objections. The lack of a UN resolution has been the target of online activists too, with Twitter users trying to make the term #WakeUpUNSC trend popular. A growing number of opposition activists are now calling for a no-fly zone or an international protection force. This stands in stark contrast to just weeks ago when most Syrians refused any form of international action other than sanctions and the cutting of diplomatic ties with Assad and his supporters. But after almost six months of a brutal state crackdown, during which more than 2,200 people have been killed, the image of Libyan rebels in Tripoli’s Green Square has led some to change their position. At least two more protesters were killed on Friday as security forces shot at demonstrators in areas including Douma, close to Damascus, and the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. Activists called it the “Friday of patience and determination”. Other protesters still vehemently reject calls for international help and western diplomats say there is no appetite for intervening in a situation which could be potentially explosive. “Let’s be clear, France will not intervene without an international mandate,” Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said on Wednesday . While Syrian protesters have drawn the sympathy of the international community, it is largely toothless in pressuring the regime. The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu , said on Thursday that Ankara would side with the Syrian people if it had to make a choice between the government and its citizens. A Damascus-based analyst, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “We should not be calling for outside help but rather working to unite the opposition so there is a credible alternative. Without that we won’t go anywhere.” Nour Ali is the pseudonym of a journalist based in Damascus Syria Arab and Middle East unrest Bashar Al-Assad United Nations France Middle East Nour Ali guardian.co.uk
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Tanks, heavy artillery and rocket launchers abandoned by fleeing Gaddafi forces are being assembled for attack Rebel units were massing for an attack on Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi’s birthplace, on Friday after Nato warplanes conducted intensive bombing raids to weaken one of the last major redoubts controlled by the ousted regime. On the road to Sirte from Misrata, tanks, heavy artillery and rocket launchers abandoned by fleeing government forces were being assembled for the attack. Rebels said a British and French special forces team was helping co-ordinate the assault, in which Misrata-based units will push eastwards to meet forces from Benghazi fighting their way westwards. As the National Transitional Council (NTC) attempted to establish itself in Tripoli, setting up offices and holding a press conference, its claims to complete authority were undermined by skirmishes with Gaddafi loyalists and the failure to find the ousted Libyan leader or his sons. The continued resistance of traditional Gaddafi strongholds like Sirte has also prevented the NTC from opening the coastal road – a principal artery of Libyan economic life – and uniting the main population centres, and it has yet to conquer the southern city of Sebha, reportedly home to a vast arsenal of weaponry. NTC attempts to broker a negotiated surrender by Gaddafi forces and loyalist tribes appeared to be failingon Friday, and Nato stepped up its barrage on stockpiled weapons in the town. Nato planes targeted 29 vehicles with mounted weapons, and British Tornado aircraft launched a missile attack on a large underground command bunker. Britain is also seeking approval from the UN security council to release about $1.6bn (£1bn) in Libyan bank notes printed in the UK but impounded in March, Associated Press reported. The money is needed to help the rebel government pay its public sector workers. Rebel fighters are commuting every day to the front line in what is a often family affair. Typically, one brother will join his brigade in Tripoli or outside Sirte while the other will stay on checkpoint duty in Misrata, swapping over the following day. “We keep going,” said Abdullah Maiteeg, a former oil engineer, who was preparing to leave for Tripoli to replace his own brother fighting there. He said the priority was to find Gaddafi. “We have to get the G-dog,” he said. “I don’t stop fighting until I see him.” Misrata-based rebels have also reached the outskirts of Beni Walid, 100 miles south-west, and are attempting to negotiate the surrender its loyalist defenders. They have been involved in some of the bloodiest battles in Tripoli this week, their home-made armoured vehicles much in demand as clashes continue. As one Gaddafi-run town after another has fallen, there has been mounting concern over the fate of their armouries, after the experience in Iraq where Saddam Hussein’s extensive arsenal was used by his supporters to make countless car-bombs to wreak havoc after he fell. Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, returned from Libya in the spring reporting the existence of thousands of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles in unguarded ammunition dumps around the country. He said he was contacted by western intelligence officials concerned they might fall into the hands of terrorists. Since then Bouckaert said there had been a substantial western and NTC effort to collect up those missiles, mostly Soviet-made Sam-7s. “My concern is that the western focus on Sam-7s obscures the threat of other munitions, like tank shells and artillery shells which can easily be turned into car bombs,” Bouckaert told the Guardian. “The biggest arsenals are under Sebha and Sirte where there are vast amouries. Gaddafi has been on a shopping spree for weapons since he came to power and he has everything you can imagine, from exotic weapons like napalm and recent anti-tank missiles which scattered magnetic mines over a large area, to old world war two mortars and shells.” The regime also had a stockpile of mustard gas which was being monitored by the west but has disappeared. The gas however, has not been been put into artillery, Bouckaert said. The widespread use of mines has contributed to the casualties among civilians and fighters alike. Misrata’s
Continue reading …NYT’s Keller Admits Paper ‘Late to Rev. Wright’ in 2008, But Claims It Handled Story Well
August 26, 2011 No CommentThe New York Times’s outgoing Executive Editor Bill Keller received some pushback on his recently posted column that demanded, in rather insulting fashion, that the media more aggressively question the religious views of the G.O.P. candidates. Times Watch and others noted that his paper was hardly a model of journalistic assertiveness during the spring of 2008, when Barack Obama endured political controversy over the racially inflammatory and conspiracy-minded Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's minister at Trinity United Church of Christ. Keller responded via Twitter on Friday morning: Yes, Dems should be asked about their faith (and influences) too. We were late to Rev. Wright in '08, but we got there, and did it well. Did they really? Times Watch’s coverage from March 2008 finds Keller half-right; his paper was late to the story, glossing over Wright’s rants on the attacks of September 11 and leaving off his notorious “God damn America” quote for months. But they did not cover it particularly well even after they woke up, instead comparing Obama's politically necessary political address on the matter to speeches on civil rights by JFK, LBJ, even Abraham Lincoln . The Times showed unseemly eagerness not only to help Obama move on from Wright, but to paint the confrontation to his political advantage against a racially challenged G.O.P. Reporters Larry Rohter and Michael Luo glowingly redited candidate Obama’s speech with trying to start a conversation on race in the March 20, 2008 ” Groups Respond to Obama's Call for National Discussion About Race .” “Religious groups and academic bodies, already receptive to Mr. Obama's plea for such a dialogue, seemed especially enthusiastic. Universities were moving to incorporate the issues Mr. Obama raised into classroom discussions and course work, and churches were trying to find ways to do the same in sermons and Bible studies.” A March 23, 2008 Week in Review piece by Janny Scott contrasted Obama, who “spoke with seriousness and gravity and at length” about race to Republicans who used code words to win elections: “Race did not disappear entirely from presidential campaigns; it went under cover. It lay buried in code phrases like ‘crime in the streets,’ ‘states' rights,’ and ‘welfare mothers.’” The celebration of Obama's speech on race even continued into Easter Sunday, in a front-page story by religion reporters Laurie Goodstein and Neela Banerjee. The Times canvassed pastors at mostly urban liberal churches to see how Obama's speech would politicize — I mean, enrich–their Easter sermons, in ” Obama Talk Fuels Easter Sermons — Some Religious Leaders Interweave Race and Resurrection.”
Continue reading …Bernanke says Federal Reserve will hold off from more quantitative easing
August 26, 2011 No Comment
• Jackson Hole speech dashes hopes for QE boost • Wall Street expects Fed will reconsider next month The Federal Reserve on Friday dashed Wall Street’s hopes of an immediate boost to the flagging US economy when its chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was adopting a wait-and-see approach to fresh stimulus measures. Bernanke’s eagerly awaited speech to fellow central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, proved to be an anti-climax as he failed to repeat his announcement at the same venue a year ago in which he signalled a fresh dose of electronic money creation through the quantitative easing (QE) process. Shares on Wall Street dropped as Bernanke spoke but recovered after investors were reassured the Fed would consider more QE should the US continue to struggle over the coming weeks. The Fed’s key policy committee will now meet for two days rather than one next month to discuss a range of options. By noon in New York, stocks had shrugged off initial disappointment at the Bernanke speech and at official figures showing that the world’s biggest economy grew at an annual rate of just 1% in the second quarter of 2011, a downward revision from the initial estimate of 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 130 points after falling by almost 200 points earlier. The Fed chairman admitted that recovery from recession had been slower than hoped and that short-term growth prospects for the US had been adversely affected by Europe’s debt crisis and by the wrangling between Democrats and Republicans over the US budget. He stressed that any repetition of the partisan in-fighting could make global investors less willing to hold assets or to put money into job-creating enterprises. “Bouts of sharp volatility and risk aversion in markets have recently re-emerged in reaction to concerns about European sovereign debts and developments related to the US fiscal situation, including the recent downgrade of the US long-term credit rating by one of the major rating agencies and the controversy concerning the raising of the US federal debt ceiling. It is difficult to judge by how much these developments have affected economic activity thus far, but there seems little doubt that they have hurt household and business confidence and that they pose ongoing risks to growth,” said Bernanke. Bernanke said economic healing would take time and warned that there could be setbacks along the way. While the Fed was alert to the risks, he said there was also a strong case, despite the poor state of America’s public finance, for the new jobs package being planned by the Obama administration to tackle long-term unemployment. The Fed chairman help for the jobless need not jeopardise long-term plans to cut the budget deficit. “Although the issue of fiscal sustainability must urgently be addressed, fiscal policymakers should not, as a consequence, disregard the fragility of the current economic recovery. Fortunately, the two goals of achieving fiscal sustainability – which is the result of responsible policies set in place for the longer term – and avoiding the creation of fiscal headwinds for the current recovery are not incompatible. Acting now to put in place a credible plan for reducing future deficits over the longer term, while being attentive to the implications of fiscal choices for the recovery in the near term, can help serve both objectives.” Rejecting the idea that slow growth could “morph” into a long-lasting downturn, Bernanke said there had been some encouraging signs, including a 15% rise in US manufacturing output and a narrowing of the trade deficit. “There have been some positive developments over the past few years, particularly when considered in the light of economic prospects as viewed at the depth of the crisis. Overall, the global economy has seen significant growth, led by the emerging-market economies. In the United States, a cyclical recovery, though a modest one by historical standards, is in its ninth quarter.” However, he added: “Notwithstanding these more positive developments, it is clear that the recovery from the crisis has been much less robust than we had hoped.” A second estimate of the UK’s growth performance in the second quarter of 2011 showed no change from the original assessment of a 0.2% increase in activity, a similar rate of expansion to the euro area and the US. Quantitative easing Ben Bernanke Economics US economy Financial crisis Global economy United States Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Bernanke says Federal Reserve will hold off from more quantitative easing
August 26, 2011 No Comment
• Jackson Hole speech dashes hopes for QE boost • Wall Street expects Fed will reconsider next month The Federal Reserve on Friday dashed Wall Street’s hopes of an immediate boost to the flagging US economy when its chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was adopting a wait-and-see approach to fresh stimulus measures. Bernanke’s eagerly awaited speech to fellow central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, proved to be an anti-climax as he failed to repeat his announcement at the same venue a year ago in which he signalled a fresh dose of electronic money creation through the quantitative easing (QE) process. Shares on Wall Street dropped as Bernanke spoke but recovered after investors were reassured the Fed would consider more QE should the US continue to struggle over the coming weeks. The Fed’s key policy committee will now meet for two days rather than one next month to discuss a range of options. By noon in New York, stocks had shrugged off initial disappointment at the Bernanke speech and at official figures showing that the world’s biggest economy grew at an annual rate of just 1% in the second quarter of 2011, a downward revision from the initial estimate of 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 130 points after falling by almost 200 points earlier. The Fed chairman admitted that recovery from recession had been slower than hoped and that short-term growth prospects for the US had been adversely affected by Europe’s debt crisis and by the wrangling between Democrats and Republicans over the US budget. He stressed that any repetition of the partisan in-fighting could make global investors less willing to hold assets or to put money into job-creating enterprises. “Bouts of sharp volatility and risk aversion in markets have recently re-emerged in reaction to concerns about European sovereign debts and developments related to the US fiscal situation, including the recent downgrade of the US long-term credit rating by one of the major rating agencies and the controversy concerning the raising of the US federal debt ceiling. It is difficult to judge by how much these developments have affected economic activity thus far, but there seems little doubt that they have hurt household and business confidence and that they pose ongoing risks to growth,” said Bernanke. Bernanke said economic healing would take time and warned that there could be setbacks along the way. While the Fed was alert to the risks, he said there was also a strong case, despite the poor state of America’s public finance, for the new jobs package being planned by the Obama administration to tackle long-term unemployment. The Fed chairman help for the jobless need not jeopardise long-term plans to cut the budget deficit. “Although the issue of fiscal sustainability must urgently be addressed, fiscal policymakers should not, as a consequence, disregard the fragility of the current economic recovery. Fortunately, the two goals of achieving fiscal sustainability – which is the result of responsible policies set in place for the longer term – and avoiding the creation of fiscal headwinds for the current recovery are not incompatible. Acting now to put in place a credible plan for reducing future deficits over the longer term, while being attentive to the implications of fiscal choices for the recovery in the near term, can help serve both objectives.” Rejecting the idea that slow growth could “morph” into a long-lasting downturn, Bernanke said there had been some encouraging signs, including a 15% rise in US manufacturing output and a narrowing of the trade deficit. “There have been some positive developments over the past few years, particularly when considered in the light of economic prospects as viewed at the depth of the crisis. Overall, the global economy has seen significant growth, led by the emerging-market economies. In the United States, a cyclical recovery, though a modest one by historical standards, is in its ninth quarter.” However, he added: “Notwithstanding these more positive developments, it is clear that the recovery from the crisis has been much less robust than we had hoped.” A second estimate of the UK’s growth performance in the second quarter of 2011 showed no change from the original assessment of a 0.2% increase in activity, a similar rate of expansion to the euro area and the US. Quantitative easing Ben Bernanke Economics US economy Financial crisis Global economy United States Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
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President urges people in projected path of hurricane to ‘take precautions now. Don’t wait. Don’t delay’ Barack Obama has warned Americans to take hurricane Irene seriously and urged them to obey orders to evacuate from the path of what is likely to be an “extremely dangerous and costly” storm. “All indications point to this being a historic hurricane,” Obama said in a statement to reporters from Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Fifty-five million people are potentially in Irene’s path, from the Carolinas to Cape Cod on the US east coast, and tens of thousands are evacuating as cities including New York brace for the powerful storm to hit. “I cannot stress this highly enough. If you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. Don’t wait. Don’t delay,” Obama said. The White House said Obama would depart from his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard on Friday evening, one day earlier than planned, and return to Washington. Obama’s wife and daughters will travel back as planned on Saturday. Obama has held regular conference calls with aides on the storm, in a determined effort to learn from the mistakes of his predecessor George W Bush, who was heavily criticised for an ineffectual response after hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans in 2005. “All of us have to take this storm seriously … If you are given an evacuation order, please follow it,” Obama said. Hurricane Irene Barack Obama Natural disasters and extreme weather United States guardian.co.uk
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Home secretary agrees to police request for ban of march planned through one of UK’s biggest Muslim communities The home secretary has agreed to a police request to ban the far-right English Defence League from staging a march through one of the UK’s biggest Muslim communities in east London. Theresa May said she would outlaw any marches in Tower Hamlets and four neighbouring boroughs – whether by the EDL or any other groups – for the next 30 days, having “balanced rights to protest against the need to ensure local communities and property are protected”. She added: “I know that the Metropolitan police are committed to using their powers to ensure communities and properties are protected.” Police sought the ban after the EDL – which has seen widespread public disorder at earlier rallies – planned to march on 3 September through Tower Hamlets, which has a significant Muslim community, many of Bangladeshi origin. In a statement the force said it made the request following information that prompted fears that the march could cause “serious public disorder, violence and damage”. It added: “Tactically we believe this is the best option to prevent this.” Chief Superintendent Julia Pendry warned EDL supporters to stay away. “We have made this decision [to seek the ban] based on specific intelligence and information, and our message is clear: we do not want people coming into the areas to attend these events.” The march had been vehemently opposed by community leaders, among them the two local MPs and the borough’s mayor, as well as a series of Muslim and Jewish groups. Fears that it could spark violence were exacerbated following this month’s rioting in many parts of London . The EDL emerged in Luton, another strongly Muslim area, in 2009. While it purports to oppose “Islamic extremism” the group insists it is not racist. However, its marches, aimed mainly at Muslim communities, have been seen as extremely provocative. A Guardian investigation into the EDL found repeated racism and threats of violence among supporters. Nick Lowles, director of the anti-extremist campaign group Searchlight, called May’s decision a victory for common sense. He said: “The EDL clearly intended to use the proposed march to bring violence and disorder to the streets of Tower Hamlets. Their plan has been foiled.” The veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell said that while he abhorred the EDL, he believed the ban was a “complete overreaction” and would prove counter-productive. He said: “I’m not sure we can defeat anti-democratic groups like the EDL using anti-democratic methods like banning marches. A far better tactic would be peaceful counter-marches and exposing the views of the EDL to public scrutiny.” Earlier this month May banned an EDL march through Telford, although the group was still able to congregate. Opponents urged the home secretary to follow suit in east London, particularly after links emerged between the EDL and the Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik . The gunman repeatedly praised the group in his rambling manifesto and claimed he had hundreds of EDL supporters as Facebook friends. The EDL insisted any admiration was one way and it did not condone his views. The group has struggled for legitimacy, even amid evidence it has picked up supporters as the better established far-right British National Party has been beset by internal divisions. According to Searchlight, the EDL has active support from people involved in earlier far-right groups, including the even more extreme Combat 18 and National Front. In February it attracted some unexpected support from the Daily Star newspaper , which tacitly endorsed its anti-Muslim views and said 98% of its readers supported them. But this lasted less than a week, with the paper’s owner, Richard Desmond, saying it had been done without his knowledge. English Defence League Police London The far right Theresa May Daily Star Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Rachel Maddow has been on quite a kick lately showing how little influence the tea party actually wields. And it’s true, in election after election, we have seen tea party-touted candidates going down against more establishment rivals. But that doesn’t keep their over-developed sense of self-importance from thinking that America is demanding their candidacy… like Joe the “Plumber” Joe told Yahoo’s “The Ticket” his thoughts on the potential campaign: “I’m not ruling anything out,” Wurzelbacher told The Ticket in an interview Thursday. He added that he thought it was an “interesting idea” and that people have been asking him to run for office since he confronted Obama four years ago. He’s spent much of his time since then on the speaker’s circuit, he said, encouraging others to run for office. “I like the idea of it — just regular Americans running. If a regular guy runs, right away the media’s going to attack him,” Wurzelbacher said. “What kind of education does he have? What does he know about this? My answer to that is, regular Americans aren’t experts, but dammit, look where the experts have gotten us. Maybe we need some regular guys in there. That’s what I’ve been doing the past two and a half years, just encouraging regular Americans to run. Tell the liberal media to go to hell and I don’t care what you guys say about me, I’m going to try to fix this country.” Sorry, but I see it a different way. I like my elected officials to be a bit smarter than me. Seriously, if the best we can hope for solutions for the ills of this country is a guy called “Joe the Plumber” who is neither named Joe nor actually a plumber, we’re all in a world of a trouble. The reason these candidates are not doing well in elections is because they are all so ill-prepared to be candidates, much less actually representatives of the people. Bumper sticker slogans may work well in campaigning. They’re less than adequate once in office and the American people are smart enough to be able to make that distinction. But that doesn’t stop the media from propping up these tea party candidates as these refreshing outsiders. And despite Wuzelbacher’s tired liberal media trope, nowhere do they question their bona fides, point out inconsistencies in their facts, or point at the huge amount of astroturfed money behind the tea party movement. And the media, despite the reality in front of them, will continue to give self-identified tea partiers far more influence than they’re due.
Continue reading …Rick Perry Sought State Profits from Selling ‘Dead Peasants Insurance’ on Teachers
August 26, 2011 No CommentAs Digby noted , this is the same scheme we saw from Walmart that Michael Moore featured in his movie, Capitalism: A Love Story . Apparently Texas Gov. Rick Perry thought selling “dead peasants insurance” was something he could con the states retired teachers into as well so Wall Street could profit from their deaths. Here’s more from the HuffPo — Rick Perry Sought State Profits From Teacher Life Insurance Scheme : Two weeks before Thanksgiving in 2003, top officials from Texas Governor Rick Perry’s office pitched an unusual offer to the state’s retired teachers: Let’s get into the death business. Perry’s budget director, Mike Morrissey, laid out a pitch that was both ambitious and risky, according to notes summarizing the meeting provided to The Huffington Post . According to the notes, which were authenticated by a meeting participant, the Perry administration wanted to help Wall Street investors gamble on how long retired Texas teachers would live. Perry was promising the state big money in exchange for helping Swiss banking giant UBS set up a business of teacher death speculation. All they had to do was convince retirees to let UBS buy life insurance policies on them. When the retirees died, those policies would pay out benefits to Wall Street speculators, and the state, supposedly, would get paid for arranging the bets. The families of the deceased former teachers would get nothing. The meeting notes offer the most direct evidence that the Perry administration was not only intimately involved with the insurance scheme, but a leading driver of the plan. It was a back-room deal at odds with Perry’s public persona as a career politician who had successfully sold Texans on his vision of minimal government intrusion. And it still is. Nearly eight years after the meeting, when Perry formally announced his run for the presidency in Charleston, S.C., he honed that vision into the perfect applause line: “I’ll promise you this,” he had said in his West Texas drawl. “I’ll work every day to try to make Washington, D.C. as inconsequential in your life as I can.” Read on… I guess Perry doesn’t mind that “big government” interfering in your life if it means they can make a profit from your death.
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