US Federal Reserve made no commitment to begin a third round of quantitative easing America’s central bank pledged to peg interest rates at their ultra-low level for a further two years to boost growth in the world’s biggest economy. The US Federal Reserve said it was prepared to use a range of policy tools should growth and unemployment continue to weaken over the coming months. But the US Federal Reserve made no commitment to begin a third round of quantitative easing, the process of electronic money creation that has pumped $2tn (£1.2tn) into the US banking system over the past two and a half years. The announcement came as Wall Street was making a tentative recovery from the heavy falls of the past two weeks, but provided little boost to share prices. Earlier, London’s FTSE 100 Index rose for the first time in eight days in anticipation that the Fed’s chairman, Ben Bernanke, would boost equity markets by proposing measures to prevent the US economy sliding back into recession. In a statement, the Fed said it expected “a somewhat slower pace of recovery over coming quarters than it did at the time of the previous meeting” and anticipated that a jobless rate of about 9% would decline only gradually towards the level judged by the central bank to be consistent with keeping inflation low and employment high. It added that economic conditions were “likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through mid-2013″, and had looked at a range of policy tools to promote a stronger low-inflation recovery. These would be employed “as appropriate” in the light of fresh information on the economy. Previously, the Fed had said it would keep borrowing costs low for an “extended period” but the commitment to maintain them at an exceptionally low level led to three members of the policymaking open market committee dissenting from the decision, the first time this has happened for almost 20 years. The Dow Jones industrial average of US blue chip stocks had been up 100 points before the Fed’s statement but was 150 points lower half an hour later. Cary Leahey, managing director and senior economist at Decision Economics in New York, said: “This is a lame way for the Fed to try to help the marketplace. They redefined extended period to mean at least mid-2013. But to today’s marketplace, what difference does it make if they tighten in 2012 or 2013?” Swings in share prices on Wall Street mirrored wild gyrations in the FTSE earlier in the day which saw the City’s main share index down more than 250 points at one point in the morning before rallying to finish up 96 at 5165 points. The rise meant that the FTSE avoided falling for eight consecutive days in a row for the first time since the build up to the invasion of Iraq in early 2003. European shares ended broadly higher, halting a 20% dive over the previous two and a half weeks. On the foreign exchanges, the dollar lost 4% of its value against the Swiss franc, while the price of another safe haven – gold – was trading at a new record high. Bullion has gained about 13% since the end of June and peaked at a session high of $1,778.29 in New York before the Fed announcement. The price of oil slumped in the New York futures markets as dealers anticipated lower demand from a stuttering US economy. The prospect of low growth also drove interest rates on US bonds lower. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bill dropped to 2.27% compared to 2.34% at the start of the day. US economy Economics US unemployment and employment data Interest rates Bonds Quantitative easing Ben Bernanke United States Stock markets FTSE Commodities Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The Young Turks take a look at Wisconsin’s recall elections. Check back here throughout the day for news and updates on the Wisconsin recall elections (updates in EST). -4:54 p.m.: Daily Kos : Turnout is strong in Wisconsin today, but it is also not uniform: As WisPolitics reports, city clerks in some municipalities say that turnout could be near the level of a presidential election — though this is not true across the board, with other being closer to the hotly-contested state Supreme Court election this past April. That is actually an enormous range. According to the article linked above, turnout in the April state Supreme Court election was 35 percent of the voting age population. However, turnout in the 2008 presidential election was 71 percent of the voting age population. The big question is about where turnout is close to presidential levels versus where it is closer to the state Supreme Court election. If the higher turnout is skewed toward areas that favor one party, then we could end up seeing some real surprises—good or bad—tonight. -3:01 p.m.: Uppity Wisconsin : The fact worth noting in this right winger’s analysis, which would make victory even sweeter: The seats being recalled represent 288 combined consecutive years of Republican representation. For the most part, the six seats up for election today are very GOP-heavy. Sen. Luther Olsen’s district has been represented by a Republican since 1896; Sen. Randy Hopper’s seat has been in Republican hands since 1936. Senator Rob Cowles’ seat near Green Bay was last held by a Democrat 61 years ago, in 1950. The least-Republican seat, held by Sen. Dan Kapanke for only seven years, is almost certain to go to the Democrats today. -11:54 a.m.: Cognitive Dissonance : I’m already receiving reports that teahadists are popping up at various polling sites and putting up handmade signs saying that an ID was needed to vote. This is not true!! If you have seen this, or have any other interference with your right to vote, call your election commission, and notify these folks, Wisconsin Election Protection. But don’t let these thugs intimidate you or trick you into not voting. Every single vote counts! -11:28 a.m.: Cognitive Dissonance : In one race rated a toss-up, Rep. Sandy Pasch (Whitefish Bay) has volunteers already lining up outside the doors this morning to challenge Sen. Alberta Darling in Senate district 8 just north of Milwaukee. Because of the enormous outpouring, an insider this morning is now saying Pasch is likely to knock off Darling. -7:48 a.m.: Cognitive Dissonance : From a Fond du Lac voter this morning: “I wonder if I’m the only person who gets so upset at poll workers having to ask for picture ID. The man behind me in line, said ‘Well, there’s no trouble here, but in Milwaukee (read black), there’s thousands of cases of vote fraud.’ I told him that’s not true, and asked if he could even conceive of people wanting to vote so much that they would actually commit fraud (that’s not the right word anyway). I told him it’s been my experience that you cannot get people to vote easily enough. I think people just believe what they are told, don’t question anything and march in lockstep. I guess he’s a Republican.” -Darling Kills Voters Rights: Cheats for Lobbyists: (via Cognitive Dissonance )
Continue reading …
Sentences follow Warren Jeffs’s conviction for polygamist marriages with girls as young as 12 Warren Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Mormon church that practises polygamy, is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was given the maximum sentence for taking girls as young as 12 to be his brides. Jeffs, 55, who represented himself during most of his trial though he refused to attend the final stages, claimed that his prosecution was a violation of his religious rights and warned it would lead to “sickness and death” being brought on the locality. But a Texas jury took just 40 minutes to hand him the toughest sentence open to them – life in prison for aggravated sexual assault and 20 years in prison for sexual assault of a child. The sentences followed Jeffs’s conviction last week on two counts relating to polygamist marriages with girls aged 12 and 15. The sentencing of Jeffs brings to an end the most high-profile prosecution yet of a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The church, which has been based in Eldorado in west Texas since 2004, claims to be the genuine Mormon church adhering to the traditional practice of polygamy, or plural marriage as it calls it. The official Mormon church broke with the practice of polygamy in 1890 under pressure from the federal US government which made renouncing the practice a condition of granting statehood to Utah. The polygamist Mormons, under Jeffs’s leadership, refused to renounce plural marriages and now have about 10,000 followers. The jury heard that Jeffs personally had about 78 wives, including 12 who he married at 16 and 12 who he married at 15 or younger. Jurors were played audio tapes which the prosecution alleged recorded Jeffs giving sexual instructions to several underage wives. One tape was said to have captured the sounds of Jeffs having sex inside the temple at the church’s Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado. The court was also presented with DNA evidence that showed Jeffs fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl. The jury heard that Jeffs was an overweening presence within his church. When fathers resisted handing over their daughters, Jeffs would expel them – he ejected 60 church members and broke up 300 families. As the carrot to the stick, he encouraged fathers to give away their teenage daughters by offering them their own young brides. Jeffs dismissed several teams of defence lawyers and in the end represented himself in his own unorthodox style. Last Friday he gave a speech in which he accused the court of mocking his religion and read from a piece of paper which he said carried Jesus’s own words: “I will wrest your power. I shall judge you. I shall let all peoples know your unjust ways. I will send a scourge upon the counties of prosecutorial zeal to be humbled by sickness and death,” he read. In the course of his defence, Jeffs said polygamy was a “pure, natural way of life” and one of “God’s laws”. He pointed out that it was a central element of Mormonism in the early days of the church, which was founded by Joseph Smith in New York state in the 1820s. Smith himself is thought to have had at least 30 wives. Texas United States Mormonism Religion Christianity Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Supermarkets are cutting petrol prices after oil fell steeply in the past week – putting energy suppliers under pressure to lower household fuel bills Drivers have begun to benefit from cheaper fuel after falling oil prices started feeding through to lower pump prices. Household energy bills could also come down. As Brent crude fell below $100 a barrel for the first time in six months, Asda, Tesco and Morrisons began cutting petrol prices and analysts forecast that wholesale gas prices would follow. Analysts including Eliane Tanner, of Bank Sarasin & Cie, predicted that the price of oil, which hit $126 a barrel in April, could fall as low as $80 in the coming months as concerns about US and European debts raised the prospect of a double-dip recession. Such a decline would drag down the wholesale price of gas – which is closely aligned to oil – increasing the pressure on energy providers to reduce gas and electricity prices. Omar Rahim, editor of the Energy Trader Daily, predicted that wholesale gas prices for the season ahead, already 8% down on June levels, could decline by up to a fifth in the next few months. Falling oil and gas prices came after E.ON on Friday became the fourth of the “big six” energy providers to raise gas and electricity bills, by 18.1% and 11.4% respectively, blaming a 30% rise in wholesale gas prices this year. Although wholesale energy prices have risen significantly this year, they are still down about a third from their peak in 2008, while average domestic energy bills have risen to record levels. Asda is cutting its pump price by 2p a litre to 132.7p, while Tesco will reduce prices by 1p a litre. However, at an average of 136.58p-a-litre petrol is still less than a penny cheaper than the record of 137.43p on 9 May this year. Luke Bosdet at the AA said recent falls in the oil price – down nearly 8% this month – meant that in theory, petrol prices should be coming down. He noted that wholesale prices fell particularly sharply in the first five days of August and pointed out that such moves typically take about 10 days to feed through to the pump. Adam Scorer, director of external affairs at Consumer Focus, said: “Consumers will question whether they’re getting a fair deal if prices don’t come down as quickly when costs fall as they go up when costs rise.” He said: “Decreases in oil prices should be reflected in the costs passed on to consumers at the petrol pump and any fall in gas prices should lead to cuts in the prices customers have to pay to heat their homes.” Brent crude fell by more than $5 to $98.74 a barrel on Tuesday morning, its lowest level since February, before rebounding to $104.64 by the evening as markets put the sell-off on hold. While the outlook is uncertain, the market consensus is that the price will fall in the coming months, in line with the economic forecast. “Oil and other commodity prices are going down because of rising risk aversion and the economic slowdown. The role of speculators is not fully understood, although it seems likely that they have had also some impact on oil prices,” said Tanner of Bank Sarasin. “Low oil prices are good for the economy because they make things like [petrol] cheaper and leave people with more money to spend on other things. Oil prices are correlated to other commodities, such as base metals like copper,” Tanner added. Gold hit a fresh high, breaching $1,780 an ounce as increasingly risk-averse investors continued to use the precious metal as a safe haven. In the US, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil fell to $75.71 before bouncing into positive territory on hopes that the Federal Reserve was preparing another fiscal stimulus. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude typically trade at different prices because they are different grades and different destinations. Oil Petrol prices Energy bills Oil and gas companies Tom Bawden Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Will This Become A Trend? Republican Congressman Recants Anti-Tax Pledge To Grover
August 9, 2011 No Comment
enlarge So far, there’s only one, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE). But I suspect this desire to distance themselves from Grover will only grow. So at least for the time being, while the chaos in the wake of the S&P downgrade is fresh in the public mind, Norquist is not such a shoo-in for GOP prom king: Think Progress notes: Signing the anti-tax pledge promulgated by Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform — which stipulates that the signee will, under no circumstances, approve a tax increase — has almost become a must-take step for Republican politicians. Norquist is a kingmaker of sorts in right-wing circles, as he decides which policies do and do not violate the pledge . As Tanya Somanader and Zaid Jilani put it, “ Shackling Republicans to his anti-tax pledge , Norquist is dictating to Republicans that they cannot close a single tax loophole or allow one tax cut to expire, not even to entice Democrats into agreeing to much larger spending cuts.” However, not every Republican Congressman is enamored with Norquist’s approach. During a town hall yesterday, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) explained that he has disavowed Norquist’s anti-tax pledge, which he had previously signed, because “ it’s too constraining “: In answer to one question, the 1st District Republican Congressman revealed he informed Grover Norquist and his anti-tax organization he no longer is committed to that organization’s pledge to oppose any form of tax increases.“I did sign that pledge when I was first running” for the House in 2004, Fortenberry said. “I no longer sign any pledges.” A pledge “restrains your ability to think creatively,” he said, noting Norquist attempts to interpret and define what is considered a tax increase. “I informed the organization I don’t consider (the earlier pledge) binding,” Fortenberry said. “I don’t care to be associated with it. It’s too constraining.” Fortenberry later said, “We have a broken tax code that is skewed to the wealthy and corporations (who) know how to move capital around,” and endorsed revenue-positive tax reform .
Continue reading …
Chancellor intends to reassure the Commons that authorities will ensure plans are in place to cope with a new credit crunch George Osborne will insist that the government is sticking to its tough deficit-reduction programme when he updates MPs tomorrow about the turmoil in the global economy. Treasury sources said the chancellor intends to reassure the Commons that the UK authorities will be increasing their vigilance over the country’s banks and ensuring that contingency plans are in place to cope with the effects of a new credit crunch. In the aftermath of disappointing official figures for manufacturing and exports released on Tuesday, Osborne will also make it clear that the coalition intends to reform the supply side of Britain’s economy to boost growth. “The chancellor will give parliament an update on what has happened, on the discussions he has had and what we need to do domestically, internationally and in terms of contingency planning”, the source said. Osborne will step up the pressure on the 17-nation eurozone to implement in full the package agreed last month to safeguard the single currency, but will warn that European leaders need to go further to get ahead of the financial markets. He will also urge the G20 group of developed and developing nations to agree ways of rebalancing the global economy so that steps taken by debtor nations to rein in their budget deficits are matched by measures from creditor nations to boost demand. The chancellor believes that the global imbalances were a prime cause of the financial and economic crisis that began in 2007 and that progress in tackling them has been “frustratingly slow”. Thursday’s statement will follow what is expected to be a gloomy assessment of the state of the economy from the Bank of England . Threadneedle Street’s quarterly inflation report will downgrade the Bank’s forecasts for economic growth and the City will be looking for signs that Sir Mervyn King and the eight other members of the monetary policy committee are warming to the idea of a second bout of quantitative easing, or electronic money creation. Osborne believes that his tight grip on the public finances will provide scope for the Bank to use more QE in the event growth continues to be sluggish over the coming months. His approach, however, will be challenged by Labour, which this week accused the chancellor of “breathtaking complacency”. Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor is flying back from his holiday in the French Pyrenees. A Labour source said: “We want Osborne to explain what he has been doing over the last year – not just the last week – to push for a long-term solution to the eurozone’s problems and lead the debate on how we get the global economy growing again “He also needs to explain why he complacently thinks Britain is a safe haven when the FTSE 100 has fallen by so much over last fortnight with billions of pounds wiped off value of British companies and when the UK economy has barely grown for nine months – well before the problems of recent weeks – choking off the recovery we were starting to see last year.” Figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed scant evidence of the rebalancing of the economy towards manufacturing and exports desired by the Treasury. Osborne believes the UK has to be less dependent on consumer and public spending and shift focus towards boosting production, but the ONS said factory output fell by 0.4% in June while the trade gap widened. Analysts had been predicting a small rise in manufacturing output following the disruption caused by bank holiday shutdowns in late April and early May and by the problems caused to the supply chains of multinational companies by the Japanese tsunami. Manufacturing production was down by 0.5% between the first and second quarters of 2011 – a better guide to the underlying trend than one month’s figures – and is almost 8% down on its level five years ago. Industrial production, which includes the energy sector and Britain’s North Sea output, was flat in June but dropped by 1.6% in the second quarter. The ONS said the data was not weak enough on its own to warrant a cut to the estimate made last month that growth between April and June was 0.2% higher than in the previous three months. City hopes were also confounded that the trade gap would be trimmed by the boost to exports from a strong pound and a lower import bill caused by weak consumer spending. The UK’s trade deficit in goods and services increased from £4bn in May to £4.5bn in June, while the deficit over the quarter rose from £8.5bn to £11.3bn. In the three months to June, Britain had a deficit of £24.6bn offset by a surplus of £13.3bn on trade in services. Economic growth (GDP) Economics Government borrowing FTSE Manufacturing data Bank of England Quantitative easing European debt crisis Banking Credit crunch Market turmoil Financial crisis Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Two cars set on fire in West Bromwich, shops attacked in Wolverhampton and police vans pelted with stones in Salford Trouble flared in three more areas of England early on Tuesday evening as youths took to the streets in Wolverhampton and West Bromwich and tried to attack a shopping centre in Salford. Two cars were set on fire in West Bromwich where shops closed early in the afternoon after rumours of trouble circulated online. West Midlands police advised people to avoid the high street and inner ring road and to keep away from the Dudley Street area of central Wolverhampton, where a mob attacked three shops. In central Manchester a gang set fire to a Miss Selfridge shop. In Salford, officers in riot gear confronted about 70 teenagers who tried to break into a closed shopping centre and pelted armoured police vans with stones. Terry Sweeney, assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester police, said on the force’s Twitter feed : “Aware of pockets of minor disorder in Salford city centre. Advising people to stay out of city centre but also keep calm.” The trouble followed the increasingly familiar pattern of large groups of young people gathering after messages by text, Twitter or BlackBerry Messenger and targeting shops before police arrived in strength. The Labour MP for West Bromwich East, Tom Watson, said: “The messages can be distributed very quickly. I think that should probably have an impact on the way we do future policing.” Police are also using social network sites and the West Midlands force tweeted during the afternoon to calm fears, saying that an Asda in Wolverhampton that closed early was not acting on police advice. Seven more people were arrested in connection with violence on Monday night in Birmingham. Twenty premises were raided and five men and two women held for questioning about suspected burglary and violent disorder. Electrical goods, sportswear and designer clothes were taken from some of the addresses for comparisons with looted stores’ lists of stolen goods. West Midlands police have issued CCTV images of suspects in the violence, as have Avon and Somerset police, who are investigating attacks on shops in Bristol on Monday night. The Bristol pictures show youths grabbing jewellery from Thomas Sabo’s in Cabot Circus after a hammer was used to smash the main window at 2.23am. A police spokeswoman said: “Evidence-gatherers were present and the footage taken is being examined. We are also scrutinising CCTV images and will relentlessly pursue anyone believed to be involved in the incidents. “In the coming days we will be releasing more CCTV of people we wish to identify and will be out arresting the people involved.” Extra police officers have gone on duty in Liverpool where the deputy chief constable of Merseyside, Bernard Lawson, said: “We are determined to deal with any further incidents. We are putting in an enhanced and robust police response to deal with any issues that may occur in future nights.” Some 300 youths armed with golf clubs, baseball bats and stones attacked shops and flats in the city’s Georgian quarter on Monday night. Lawson said: “Let me be clear to those people engaged in violence and disorder on the streets of Merseyside: we will use every possible piece of evidence to catch you and put you before the courts.” Steve Munby, Liverpool city council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, joined in a community clean-up with local residents after the trouble. He said the gangs were led by “a small group of organised criminals determined to loot and rob” who had come from outside the Toxteth ward, which he represents. UK riots Manchester Crime Martin Wainwright Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Two cars set on fire in West Bromwich, shops attacked in Wolverhampton and police vans pelted with stones in Salford Trouble flared in three more areas of England early on Tuesday evening as youths took to the streets in Wolverhampton and West Bromwich and tried to attack a shopping centre in Salford. Two cars were set on fire in West Bromwich where shops closed early in the afternoon after rumours of trouble circulated online. West Midlands police advised people to avoid the high street and inner ring road and to keep away from the Dudley Street area of central Wolverhampton, where a mob attacked three shops. In central Manchester a gang set fire to a Miss Selfridge shop. In Salford, officers in riot gear confronted about 70 teenagers who tried to break into a closed shopping centre and pelted armoured police vans with stones. Terry Sweeney, assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester police, said on the force’s Twitter feed : “Aware of pockets of minor disorder in Salford city centre. Advising people to stay out of city centre but also keep calm.” The trouble followed the increasingly familiar pattern of large groups of young people gathering after messages by text, Twitter or BlackBerry Messenger and targeting shops before police arrived in strength. The Labour MP for West Bromwich East, Tom Watson, said: “The messages can be distributed very quickly. I think that should probably have an impact on the way we do future policing.” Police are also using social network sites and the West Midlands force tweeted during the afternoon to calm fears, saying that an Asda in Wolverhampton that closed early was not acting on police advice. Seven more people were arrested in connection with violence on Monday night in Birmingham. Twenty premises were raided and five men and two women held for questioning about suspected burglary and violent disorder. Electrical goods, sportswear and designer clothes were taken from some of the addresses for comparisons with looted stores’ lists of stolen goods. West Midlands police have issued CCTV images of suspects in the violence, as have Avon and Somerset police, who are investigating attacks on shops in Bristol on Monday night. The Bristol pictures show youths grabbing jewellery from Thomas Sabo’s in Cabot Circus after a hammer was used to smash the main window at 2.23am. A police spokeswoman said: “Evidence-gatherers were present and the footage taken is being examined. We are also scrutinising CCTV images and will relentlessly pursue anyone believed to be involved in the incidents. “In the coming days we will be releasing more CCTV of people we wish to identify and will be out arresting the people involved.” Extra police officers have gone on duty in Liverpool where the deputy chief constable of Merseyside, Bernard Lawson, said: “We are determined to deal with any further incidents. We are putting in an enhanced and robust police response to deal with any issues that may occur in future nights.” Some 300 youths armed with golf clubs, baseball bats and stones attacked shops and flats in the city’s Georgian quarter on Monday night. Lawson said: “Let me be clear to those people engaged in violence and disorder on the streets of Merseyside: we will use every possible piece of evidence to catch you and put you before the courts.” Steve Munby, Liverpool city council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, joined in a community clean-up with local residents after the trouble. He said the gangs were led by “a small group of organised criminals determined to loot and rob” who had come from outside the Toxteth ward, which he represents. UK riots Manchester Crime Martin Wainwright Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Click here to view this media Not sure if the BBC news anchor here was auditioning for Fox News, or she’s just really thick. Regardless, Darcus Howe was having none of it after he was asked if he condoned or participated in the riots himself. “Show some respect!” he replied caustically. For whatever reasons, the idea that the older generation of blacks in Britain can be just as disgusted by the vandalism and the looting while understanding completely the frustration of the youth just doesn’t get through to those in the media. Jorge Rivas at Colorlines has the details. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to flood the streets of London with 10,000 extra police officers as rioting and looting spread across London. Images of fires, looting and altercations between protesters and police have taken over BBC News shows. But 68-year-old Darcus Howe, a broadcaster and columnist, who lives in South London where riots have been taking place offered some context this morning for BBC News viewers. Darcus told a BBC News anchor that political leaders had no idea what was coming but if they had taken a moment to ‘look at young blacks and young whites with a discerning eye and careful hearing” they would of heard messages of what to do prevent this. The Trinidad and Tobago native who says he’s been in London for more than 50 years goes on to tell viewers about his young grandson who can’t count how many times he’s been stopped and searched by London police. And when the news anchors asks if he condones the riots he gives her a piece of his mind. “Have some respect for an old West Indian negro and stop accusing me of rioting. Have some respect, I have grandchildren. You sound like an idiot.” Howe is a notable British writer and is the former editor of the magazine Race Today. Another video making the rounds online is an elderly woman walking around in Hackney on one of the first nights of looting. “Get real black people, get real. If we’re fighting for a cause, let’s fight for a fucking cause” she tells people in her neighborhood that are looting.
Continue reading …Ever-garrulous curmudgeon Barney Frank was memorably expressive during an appearance on MSNBC last night. The high-ranking House Democrat was talking with Rachel Maddow about Standard & Poor's downgrade of US credit, with Frank criticizing rating agencies for claiming mortgage-backed securities were “wonderful stuff” prior to the financial collapse in 2008 when the investments were “crap.” (video clip after page break) Then Frank really cut loose — But with regard to the US budget, they have no special expertise, everybody knows everything. So I am disappointed but not surprised, but the key, Rachel, I think is we have to figure out, all right, what do we do from here and you're right, we got to get some jobs (reverberating sound heard as Frank shifts in seat)
Continue reading …