Texas governor, Tea Party favourite and serial election winner ready to enter Republican field on a ticket of small government There is much that infuriates Democrats about the stridently rightwing governor of Texas, Rick Perry. Some are still smarting at the betrayal of the man who chaired Al Gore’s 1988 election campaign in Texas and then jumped ship to the Republicans. Others are bitter at his embrace of the Tea Party’s anti-government animus and the cuts to his state’s education and health services it has wrought. Many dismiss Perry as a “dumb ass” so driven by ideology that he recently vetoed a bill banning text messaging while driving on the grounds that it amounted to “government micromanagement” of people’s lives. But what really sticks in the Democrats craw is how Texas’s longest-serving governor has gone on winning elections even as one of the most divisive leaders in the state’s history. What they cannot agree on is whether it is through a masterly grasp of politics or an astonishing run of good luck. Now Perry, 61, is about to wade in to next year’s presidential race as a crusader against a government in Washington he portrays as an anti-American conspiracy – a position that has already won him the heart of the Tea Party movement. After weeks of increasingly strong hints that he will seek the Republican nomination, including last Saturday’s prayer rally at a Houston stadium , Perry is expected to seize on the fear that the US economy is headed back to recession by announcing his intention to run this weekend. He is likely to move towards the front of a lacklustre field of Republican contenders by contrasting Barack Obama’s economic management with his claim as Texas governor to have hit on a winning formula of creating jobs and balancing the state budget. It also helps that he is a handsome, religious, social conservative who is not Sarah Palin. The prospect of a Perry candidacy delights and rattles Democrats. They say he is too extreme to win the middle ground he needs to beat Obama. He sneers at George W Bush’s presidency as too liberal. But then there is Perry’s unnerving record of winning elections that his opponents were certain he would lose. “He’s the luckiest politician that ever walked the face of the Earth,” said Chris Bell, a former congressman who ran against Perry for governor five years ago. “Luck has a lot to do with success in politics – good timing, right circumstances, all play in to the likelihood of success and he has been very opportunistic throughout the past couple of decades and it has served him well.” But Ted Delisi, a longtime Republican campaign consultant and adviser to Perry, says the governor has benefited less from good fortune than from opponents who persistently underestimate a formidable politician. “[The golfer] Ben Hogan’s got a great line: the more I practice the luckier I am. Perry has been vastly underestimated in almost every Texas race that he’s been engaged in,” he said. “The governor benefits from his opponents not believing that he’s going to be as good or as disciplined as he’s been. But I also think he has a pretty good sense of what the average voter cares about.” Perry fits the image of a Texas politician that the privileged, New England-educated Bush, who was the state’s governor before him, worked to cultivate. Perry was born into a house without indoor plumbing in a rural backwater, Paint Creek in west Texas, where his father was a cotton farmer. He likes to tell how his mother made his underwear even after he went to college to study animal science. While Bush served briefly in the Texas air national guard and avoided being sent to Vietnam, Perry served five years as an air force pilot. He then went into farming with his father until, in 1984, he won a seat in the state legislature as a Democrat. He quickly made a mark as an energetic legislator and, although he was never on the liberal wing of the party, he backed Gore in the 1988 presidential primaries and chaired his campaign in Texas. A year later Perry jumped ship as the Democratic party foundered in the south with the mass desertion of white voters to Ronald Reagan’s Republicans. Perry began an unceasing journey to the right that caught the eye of Karl Rove, the Republican strategist who later led Bush in to the White House. Rove guided Perry through an unexpected victory over a popular incumbent to become agriculture commissioner and then steered him into the lieutenant governor’s post in 1998. That positioned Perry for another stroke of good fortune when he moved in to the governor’s mansion without an election after Bush resigned in 2000 to run for president. But it was Perry’s decade as governor that marked him out from Bush, who was popular for reaching across the political divide to co-operate with Democrats. “I first met Rick Perry in ’89,” said Harold Cook, a Democratic party strategist. “He was a conservative Democrat house member, a very affable guy. Wasn’t ideological at all. If you’d told me then he would switch parties and become a Republican I wouldn’t have been surprised at all. But if you’d told me he’d be the most partisan rightwing governor in Texas history, I’d have said you were crazy. “For the most part he’s unencumbered by conscience. That’s a real luxury. If you aren’t worried about the right policy all that’s left is for your political director to tell you what’s unpopular. We who are involved in Texas politics are all just props in Rick Perry’s movie. When his priorities are just picked out of a hat based on what Republican primary voters want, we’re bit players.” The pillars of Perry’s politics are states’ rights and small government – an intertwined philosophy embraced by many Americans, Republican and Democrat, disaffected with what they see as too much power, spending and taxation by Washington. Late last year, Perry published a book dramatically called Fed Up! in which he portrays Americans as increasingly oppressed by measures such as healthcare and environmental legislation, legalised abortion and out of control spending by an elitist federal government. “Something is terribly wrong. There is a sense among Americans that the world we have always known is in danger of being turned upside down,” he wrote. “We sense that our way of life and, perhaps more importantly, our ability to decide how we shall live, is no longer in our control but in the control of an increasingly powerful and oppressive national government.” Perry’s campaign to distance himself from Washington has included the public airing of criticism of Bush’s years in the White House as a betrayal of the fiscal conservative cause. The Texas governor’s antidote is small government and a return of power to the states. Two years ago, he caused a storm when he suggested to an anti-tax rally that Texas could break from the rest of the US. The statement was met with mirth and contempt in the halls of Congress and Perry quickly clarified to say he was not advocating breaking up the union, but the point was made with the constituency he was playing to. Through it all there have been regular predictions of Perry’s political demise as opinion polls of Texas voters regularly showed support falling well below that once commanded by Bush as governor. In 2006 he looked particularly vulnerable but then the governor’s race split three ways and Perry slipped in with just 39% of the vote. Four years later he again confounded predictions of defeat at the hands of one of Texas’s Republican senators, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, by portraying her success in directing federal spending to Texas as evidence that she were a Washington insider sucking Americans dry with taxes. Now Perry is preparing to stride on to the national stage basking in the adulation of the Tea Party movement as head of a state that has weathered the economic downturn better than most through, the Texas governor argues, minimising government. He can boast that nearly 40% of all new jobs created in the US since the recession are in Texas. “There’s an element to which America has to lead the world out of an economic downturn and Texas has to lead our country out of an economic downturn,” said Delisi. That view is popular on the right of the Republican party. But what pushed Perry to the forefront as a potential presidential candidate at a party rally in New Orleans in June was a return to the assault on centralised government. “Our goal is to displace the entrenched powers in Washington, restore the right balance between state and federal government,” he told the rally. “We now live in this strange, inverted version of what our founders intended.” Cook scoffs at attempts by a man who has spent a quarter of a century inside the system to portray himself as an outsider, and his moves to claim credit for an economic environment in Texas that is a continuation of longstanding policies. “Perry didn’t invent the fact that we’re a pro-business state. Yes, jobs have come here but a disproportionate percentage are low wage. Yes he’s balanced the budget but it’s on the back of the sick, the elderly and children, and public education and healthcare and the environment,” he said Perry’s assault on education has generated considerable anger, even among some Republicans who view it as a false saving in a state with a large immigrant population. The Texas legislature has cut the state’s budget by $15bn (£9bn) – nearly 10% of spending – including a $4bn slice out of public education. Teachers are being dismissed and health services scaled back. Critics say the cuts are far deeper than what is required by the budget shortfall and that Perry is playing to a national audience. That may appeal to Tea Party supporters but Bell said that once Perry’s record comes under national scrutiny, many voters – not least the elderly and parents of school-age children – will recoil. “When I was running for governor we would call Rick Perry the president of the ‘thank God for Mississippi club’ because if it wasn’t for Mississippi we would have been last place in every category,” he said. Perry may also prove less palatable to the wider voting public once his other positions come under scrutiny. He proposes shutting the federal departments of education and energy, and advocates swifter and deeper cuts to the budget than those being proposed by even the most radical conservatives in Congress. He would repeal Obama’s healthcare and environmental legislation. He also takes a hard line on the death penalty in a country increasingly uncomfortable with executions. Perry vetoed a ban on capital punishment for those officially classified as “mentally retarded”. It will not help Perry with large parts of the country that he is another Christian evangelical from Texas when memories of George W Bush remain fresh. But Perry’s success or failure may ultimately hang on a matter far beyond his control – the national economy. “There are sometimes when elections aren’t about the status of the economy,” said Delisi. “But it would just appear right now that the economy is by far the most pressing issue on voters minds. There are lots of other issues that could come up but this is one I think Governor Perry has a unique and special window to speak on.” With unemployment remaining stubbornly above 9%, the stock market free falling and the downgrading of the US’s credit rating shaking confidence in Obama’s economic strategy, Perry’s luck may be holding up yet again. Who is Rick Perry? He was born in 1950 in a small farming community north of Abilene. Perry’s father Joseph Ray Perry, a Democrat, was a Haskell County Commissioner, school board member and served as a tail gunner in the second world war. Perry first entered politics in 1975 as a Democrat representative for a rural west Texas district in the state House of Representatives and chaired Al Gore’s campaign in Texas during his 1988 bid for presidency. He joined the Republican Party in 1989, and was first elected to statewide office and served as Texas Commissioner for Agriculture for two terms. Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and two years later, in 2000, became the 47th Governor of Texas following George W Bush’s resignation for presidency. Perry graduated from Texas A and M University in 1972 and married his wife Anita Thigpen in 1982 with whom he had two children Griffin and Sydney. In 2009, he married his wife Meredith. Jen McPherson Rick Perry Republican presidential nomination 2012 Tea Party movement Republicans US elections 2012 US politics United States Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Culture secretary criticised over towns and cities ruled ineligible due to lack of Freeview coverage The government has revealed the 65 towns and cities where it will be possible to launch local TV services, although those living in a number of sizeable conurbations including Bradford, Coventry, Leicester, Derby and Bath look likely to miss out. Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, on Tuesday published a map of the locations across the UK that media regulator Ofcom has identified where it is technically possible to launch local services on digital terrestrial TV platform Freeview. Hunt is asking the 65 eligible areas to make the case why their town or city should be one of the first to bid for a local TV licences. The government aims to license the first local TV stations by the summer of next year, with the first 10 to 20 services expected to be in operation by 2015. However, a significant number of sizeable towns, and households in rural areas, will not be eligible to receive local TV services due to technical difficulties. Residents of three of the 15 biggest UK cities – Bradford, Leceister and Coventry – will not be eligible to receive local TV as well as parts of other sizeable towns including Hull, Wolverhampton and Portsmouth. Smaller towns including Derby, Peterborough, Canterbury, Worcester, Durham, Chester and Exeter will also be ineligible. The Scottish culture secretary, Fiona Hyslop, criticised the proposed locations, saying that they “fall far short of the mark”. “We have real concerns about Jeremy Hunt’s proposals which would leave gaping holes in provision, particularly in rural areas,” she said. “Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders are arguably the parts of Scotland most in need of local television. Viewers here currently receive local news on Channel 3 which is broadcast from Gateshead. Nothing in these inadequate proposals would deliver benefits for viewers in these areas, which are not even on the list of eligible locations.” The government admitted that it is not possible for every household to potentially receive Freeview local TV services under the current scheme, but hoped that in the future internet-based services might plug the coverage gaps across the UK. “The nature of geographic interleaved spectrum means not everyone will be able to get local TV delivered through digital terrestrial TV,” said a spokesman for the DCMS. “There are gaps in the spectrum and geographic features such as mountains and hills can pose difficulties. However, the government is clear that it would one day like everywhere in the UK to have access to a local TV service, and therefore supports the concept of local TV developing on IPTV [internet TV] in the future.” Hunt has published a consultation document seeking views from those cities and towns eligible to be in the first wave of licences, with a list of the 20 contenders drawn up by the end of the year. He intends to hold summits to discuss the issues and benefits of local TV in six cities, starting with Birmingham on 18 August and ending with London on 14 September. “These new, local TV services will be a fundamental change in how people get information about their own communities, and how they hold their representatives to account,” Hunt said. “There’s a huge appetite for local news and information in communities the length and breadth of the country. We need to decide which areas are best placed to pioneer the new service.” Hunt has had a rocky ride gaining acceptance for his local TV plan, with detractors claiming it is not financially viable. Last month he ditched a plan for a proposed new national TV network which would have provided a “spine” for the new local TV services. The DCMS has said that £25m in local TV infrastructure costs will be met from the BBC licence fee, with a further £5m of licence fee money to be spent annually for three years on local content. Electronic programme guide providers such as Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media will be required to give “appropriate prominence” to licensed local digital TV services, enforced through Ofcom statutory code, which will require secondary legislation. •
Continue reading …
The FTSE 100 fell through the 5,000 point mark for the first time in over a year on Tuesday, but a strong opening on Wall Street helped the London market recover 3.11pm: George Osborne is to address parliament about the state of the UK economy on Thursday, the Treasury has announced. The chancellor is cutting short his holiday in the United States, and heading back to London. David Cameron announced earlier today that MPs will sit in Westminster for one day on Thursday to debate the London riots — but until now there was no indication that we’d see other parliamentary business. The timing is particularly interesting as the Bank of England will announce its latest quarterly forecasts on Wednesday. It is very likely to cut its economic projections, following the second-quarter GDP data (which showed that the UK economy only grew by 0.2% between April and June). The heavy losses suffered by stock market investors will also be in the minds of many MPs, we expect. Osborne has been criticised for being on holiday while the economic crisis raged — the Daily Mail ran a large photo of the chancellor enjoying a ride at the Jurassic Park log flume at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. However, the Treasury have insisted that the chancellor was in regular contact with other finance ministers, as well as the prime minister and Bank of England governor Mervyn King. 2.55pm: It’s not the most vigorous rally we’ve seen, but at least US traders are resisting another selloff. The Dow Jones briefly dipped, but now we’re now looking at a 1.46% rise, 157 points to the good at 10,967. The S&P 500 is 1.55% higher. 2.35pm: Wall Street is open for business, and shares are rising at the start of trading. The Dow Jones is around 1.25% higher, or 135 points, and some banks are bouncing back – Bank of America was being called 7% higher after yesterday’s 20% fall. We’ll have a full breakdown once trading is properly underway. On the trading floor, investors are talking about President Obama ‘s underwhelming speech yesterday: “The lack of clarity and lack of leadership is deterring people from trading into this market,” said Jeff Kilberg of Treasurycurve.com, speaking on Bloomberg TV. 2.15pm: No signs of Ben Bernanke surprising the markets with a statement before Wall Street opens (so that rumour can probably be shelved, alas). Wall Street is still expected to open higher, and that’s helping the FTSE to cling to a few points of gains. Investors are hoping that the Federal Reserve will launch some form of new asset-purchasing scheme later today. Harvard University economist Kenneth Rogoff reckons the Fed should get the money-printing machines rolling again. He’s told Bloomberg that Bernanke will “move more decisively”. Out-of-the-box policies are called for, especially much more aggressive monetary policy, however unpopular that may be. Unless Bernanke breaks with tradition (we heard a delicious rumour that he would pop up in New York and ring the trading bell, but alas, Deutsche Bank’s db-X Group have the honour in a few minutes), the FOMC should release its statement on the economy at 7.15pm BST (2.15pm EST). 1.37pm: The financial crisis, and the riots in London , are both proof that the global economy is entering a new, dangerous phase dubbed Ice Age 3. That’s the view of Albert Edwards , the famously bearish Société Générale analyst, via FT Alphaville . Edwards reckons that the market slump shows that we are seeing a repeat of Japan’s lost decade – as a “fragile recovery undermined by private sector deleveraging collapses as a semi-bankrupt government tries to rein in runaway deficits.” Here’s a taste of Edwards’ analysis : I and many others have been pointing out for a long time now the simple fact that the global economy has been living way beyond its means for years. A massive transfer of income to the very rich has occurred while middle class real incomes stagnated. The middle classes only tolerated this because Central Bankers created housing booms to keep the impoverished middle classes borrowing and spending to give them the illusion of prosperity and stop them from revolting. Central bank polices haven’t changed though. Print and print and print. And if that doesn’t work, print some more. And as London burns, the point I have always made is that the US and UK are not like Japan in one very special way. Although Japan suffered a decade of pain it is a very homogenous, equal society. The UK and US are not. Some readers may not know that rioting and looting has broken out around London. While I hear the UK politicians denounce the looters as common criminals (which of course they are), I can’t help but think that Louis XVI in 1789 and Tsar Nicolas II in 1917 might have said the same thing. 1.22pm: The disappointing manufacturing data for June is a blow to George Osborne’s Plan A, according to economics editor Larry Elliott . The UK’s just not growing fast enough: For the past few weeks, the chancellor has been bragging on about how his tough action to cut Britain’s deficit has won the support of the financial markets, preventing the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and America from heading to these shores. But deficit reduction requires two things: fiscal discipline and growth. The markets have started to wake up to the idea that the UK has plenty of the former but precious little of the latter. And they have concluded, rightly, that the deficit is going to come down more slowly as a result. More from Larry here . 12.59pm: This graph shows how the FTSE 100 has performed today It hit its lowest point just after 9.30am when the Office for National Statistics reported disappointing industrial output data for June , along with a widening UK trade gap. Currently the index is trading just 4 points higher. Eyes are turning towards Wall Street…. 12.51pm: Will Hedden , our friendly sales trader at IG Index in the City says the trading floor erupted as the markets plunged in early trading, making this morning was even more hectic than yesterday. “It was really quite mental earlier,” he told our own Rupert Neate . “The FTSE 100 opened higher than we expected, and even tipped into positive briefly, but then just after 8:15am it completely disappeared.” The index tipped far below the psychologically important 5,000 points mark. Yesterday, when the FTSE 100 was still hundreds of points above 5,000, Hedden predicted that it would dip below 5,000 before rising above 6,000 (where it traded last month) but he didn’t expected it to fall as quickly as it has. “I didn’t think it would go this low this quickly,” Hedden said. “Surely we’ve got to have an up day, but it’s not going to happen today. Maybe tomorrow, but it probably won’t be until next week. There’s only one way it’s going today – down.” Hedden is particularly surprised at the continued falls, because he thinks all the bad news should have been “more than priced in”. “There has been no new information, but it continues to be a bit crazy and will probably remain weak all week.” “How much longer can we sustain such heavy selling? I just don’t know – there’s not a lot left to sell.” 12.36pm: Oil prices have slumped today on growing fears about the world economy. So will petrol prices follow? Brent crude darted below $100 a barrel, falling $5 at one stage to $98.74, the lowest intraday price since 8 February. US crude touched $75.71, the lowest since September 2010. Luke Bosdet at the AA told us that “in theory, petrol prices should be coming down”. Since 25 July, wholesale prices have fallen below ¢1,000 per metric tonne – which would suggest a 4p drop in prices at the pump. Some independent retailers already began to lower their prices over the weekend, while Asda announced price cuts of up to 2p a litre on Monday, which could trigger another supermarket price war. However, Bosdet said supermarkets may be more cautious after getting their fingers burned in late June when Tesco launched a price war. Within ten days markets had talked the oil price back up again, with a $5 increase on 7 July. With petrol prices still within a penny of the record high of 137.43p reached on 9 May, relief for hard-pressed motorists is coming very slowly, he said. 12.30pm: European markets have continued to rally, and are now mostly up for the day [FTSE100 up 8 whole points at 5077, so maybe hold back the bunting] Mike Lenhoff , chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin, argued earlier today that the rout on stock markets today and yesterday had the feel of a “climax sell-off”. Many stocks, he argues, now look pretty cheap – but that doesn’t mean the markets won’t keep falling. Lenhoff explains: Value and fundamentals may not count for much in a crisis of confidence but, for investors with a strategic focus, that is when they matter most. The difficulty is establishing what they are and, in the meantime, momentum is likely to be the more persuasive feature. But that can change! Yesterday’s action had the feel of a climax sell-off and so does this morning’s. At the time of writing the FTSE 100 had retraced half of what it gained between the financial crisis low of March 2009 and this year’s peak (that level being around 4800). Given the extreme oversold condition of equity markets, a rebound is due even if it provides little more than momentary relief from the panic selling. While the odds of a US recession may have risen, the likely outcome is still modest growth but, even allowing for earnings downgrades, the prospective PE ratios are back to where they were ahead of the recovery in equity markets in the spring of 2009. The bond-equity earnings yield ratio is back to its low point during the financial crisis. These metrics can be no more than indicative. Still, they illustrate in some sense the dichotomy that has arisen for the developed economies between a floundering in political leadership to confront the issues and the corporate world in which earnings are growing strongly. It’s all down to conviction. If you believe in the earnings story, as we do, equity markets offer value! 12.12pm: Markets are getting a bit calmer (for now), with the news that Wall Street is expected to recover some of yesterday’s severe losses. The Dow Jones is being called up 100 points. That’s helped to pull the FTSE 100 well away from its lowest levels — now down just 3 points at 5065. Traders must be getting dizzy with all this volatility. Incidentally, we mentioned that Jean-Claude Trichet took to the French airwaves this morning. We neglected to mention one killer quote, though, about the scale of the crisis, and about how things could have been even worse: It is the worst crisis since World War II and it could have been the worst crisis since World War I if leaders hadn’t taken the important decisions. 11.29am: We mentioned earlier that the US Fed might announce another dose of quantitative easing. But after two slugs of QE (where central banks buy up debts with newly created electronic money), would a third really have the same impact? Louise Cooper , markets analyst at BGC Partners, reckons not: Since the end of QE2, chaos has ensued. So will the Fed surprise us this afternoon with more money printing? President Obama must be pretty unhappy after American debt was downgraded this weekend, and remember it is election year for him in 2012. Ben Bernanke is an expert on the Great Depression and will want to avoid the policy mistakes made in that era. So, watch out for markets getting excited about Ben and the FOMC meeting today. But will QE work (even if we do get it). Well expect a whip saw rally if it is announced, with probably more to come. But there is one rule of economics that is relevant here -the theory of marginal returns. Essentially the idea that adding more and more of one resource, adds less and less to additional productivity. QE3 may not not pack quite the same punch that QE2 and QE1 did. 11.13am: Germany is feeling the heat from the crisis today. Not only is its DAX index the worst performer of the major European indexes , but the cost of insuring German government debt has risen above the UK equivalent. Data just in from Markit shows that the CDS contract on German debt rose to 84 basis points, compared with 82.5bp for the UK. In practice, that means it costs €84,000 per year to insure €10m of German bonds. So Bunds are still seen as pretty safe. The Greek CDS contract, in contrast, was trading at 1,600bp (so it costs €1.6m to insure €10m of Greek debt). Germany is still the strongest financial link in the eurozone – any deals to rescue Italy and Spain are ultimately based in its ability, and willingness, to fund them. Despite losing its AAA rating (with S&P at least), US debt remains as secure as Fort Knox. The US CDS contract dropped to just 55.5bp this morning. 10.34am: Time for a round-up of the financial markets. Egypt’s stock market has been suspended, after falling over 5%, and all the major indexes are down: • The FTSE 100: down 128 points, or 2.5% at 4939 • The DAX: is down 331 points, or 5.59%, at 5591 • The CAC: down 120 points, or 3.8%, at 3005. • The IBEX: down 221 points, or 2.5%, at 8237. • The FTSE MIB: down 373 points or 2.5% at 15,266. And a flavour of the mood in the City from Gary Jenkins, head of fixed income research at Evolution Securities, on why the crash began last week: Were the massive market moves due only to the downgrade of the US or was it a case of investors having been through all the shenanigans regarding the debt ceiling, Greek bail out, general Euro fiasco and the downgrade and then saying well after all that, where’s the beef? Where is the economic growth? Maybe it was a late reaction to the jobless numbers which were touted as being better than expected, which they were, but they were still pretty awful and indicative of an economy that is still facing serious headwinds even after QE1 and 2. 10.15am: The chatter in the financial markets is that Ben Bernanke , the head of the Federal Reserve, might make an official statement before trading opens on Wall Street (at 2.30pm BST). Joshua Raymond , chief market strategist at City Index, tweeted that: @Josh_CityIndex have heard that #Bernanke may make a statement before US market open, between 2pm-2.15pm. only rumours though… #marketcrisis The Federal Open Market Committee, chaired by Bernanke, is holding a regular meeting this evening. Analysts had wondered if the FOMC might attempt to stimulate the markets with a third dose of quantitative easing. Given the reaction to Obama’s speech last night, Bernanke would need to say something concrete or he might make things worse. Unfortunately it’s too early to get through to the Fed, but our Wall Street colleagues will be tasked with hunting this rumour down….. 10.04am: At today’s lows, the FTSE 100 moved into “bear territory” – defined as a fall of more than 20% from its recent peak (my colleague Nick Fletcher points out). That’s important, because once markets enter bear territory they often decline much further. Giles Watts , head of equities at City Index, says London is suffering a “sell stampede”: Should the FTSE close below the 4884 level, which marks a 20% loss in value from February’s 6105 highs, this could signal a longer term bearish trend for the UK Index. Once again, we have seen an early price rally aggressively sold into and this makes any market rally in the future all the more fragile as investors may continue to use rallies as opportunities to exit stocks at higher levels, before they fall once again. Any rallies seen in the market will likely have huge question marks hanging over their longevity. So far most market rallies have been incredibly choppy and heavily sold into. This shows a lack of sincerity behind price rallies and investors continue to show signs of panic and running for the hills. 9.42am: It just gets worse. The FTSE 100 just slumped by 277 points, or nearly 5.5%, to 4791. This was prompted by the news at 9.30am that British factory production fell unexpectedly in June, adding to a glut of disappointing news on the UK economy. Manufacturing output fell by 0.4% in June, confounding the City’s expectation of a 0.2% increase. Car production, chemicals, and paper and publishing all shrank, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. Industrial output (which includes utilities and mining) fell 1.6% between April and June, worse than the ONS’s earlier estimate of a 1.4% decline in the GDP figures. Separate data released at 9.30am showed that the UK trade deficit was wider than forecast in June, at -£8.873bn. That is the largest gap in Britain’s trade with the rest of the world since December. Not good news for the export-led recovery Update: There’s a full story here 9.20am: Volatility in the stock market has also hit its highest level in two and a half years — another sign of alarm. The VIX, commonly dubbed the “fear index”, has jumped by 15.4% this morning. It has now more than doubled since the start of the month. 9.01am: We’re looking at another rout in the City, I’m afraid. The FTSE has tumbled 180 points, or 3.5%, to 4888 points. Those early predictions of heavy losses are coming true. There’s not a single riser on the FTSE 100 — bank shares are in retreat. Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are down 6%. Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, told us that those predictions of a strong Wall Street rally have been revised lower: The underlying story hasn’t changed. Concerns around the US and eurozone remain. Volatility and turbulence will continue to be the name of the game in the absence of anything concrete. 8.35am: The stock market rally has fizzled out – and FTSE 100 is now hitting new lows. It just slumped to 4976 points, down 92 points or 1.73%. This is the first time the FTSE 100 has been the wrong side of 5,000 since July 2010. Yesterday, Louise Cooper of BGC Partners told us she was concerned that the London market has been repeatedly unable to manage a meaningful rally. It’s worrying that the markets cannot sustain a relief rally – every time shares start to rally, they get smacked down by heavy selling. 8.28am: European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet has confirmed that the central bank is now actively buying bonds in the secondary market and plans to carry on doing this – but he ruled out buying bonds directly from crisis-hit European states. “This is not what we should do, and not what we can do,” he told Europe 1 radio this morning. On Monday, the ECB bought Italian and Spanish bonds to force down the countries’ soaring borrowing costs, which hit new record highs last week. The plan appears to be still working. Italian and Spanish bonds have continued to strengthen today — the yield on Spanish 10-year debt fell again to 5.05%, with Italian yields around 5.1%. Trichet urged eurozone governments to lose no time and implement the new emergency bailout measures agreed at the 21 July crisis summit: What we ask is that all the decisions which were taken on 21 July be put into effect as quickly as possible. 8.23am: Another encouraging development this morning — traders reckon that Wall Street will claw back some of Monday’s losses. We’re seeing the Dow called up 2.2%, and the S&P 500 2.5% higher, in the last couple of minutes. That only recovers some of the lost ground, of course. 8.10am: Good news, the FTSE 100′s actually broken into positive territory. 35 points to the good. Instead of crashing through 5000, we’ve hit 5100. Mining stocks are driving the rally (the Footsie is so stuffed with commodities giants that they can easily drive the whole index). Other European markets are also rallying. Spain’s IBEX is up 1.78%, the German DAX is 1% higher, and the French CAC is holding into a 1.8% gains. Just a dead cat bounce? We’ll see, but it’s reassuring for investors, pension holders, parents with child trust funds… 8.04am: The London stock market is open…. and the FTSE 100 has fallen 0.7%, losing 55 points to 5027. That feels almost like a triumph, given the bleak picture a few hours ago. The City may be holding its nerve better than we, and it, thought. 7.48am: If you missed last night’s drama on Wall Street, here’s a recap. The Dow Jones fell 5.55%, or 634.76 points, to 10,809.85. The worst of the sell-off came after President Obama spoke about the American economy. Although Obama insisted that the US would always be a AAA nation, the immediate reaction from Wall Street was negative – with traders unhappy that more wasn’t being done to avoid a recession. The S&P 500 index fell 6.65%, and every company on the index lost ground. Financial stocks bore the brunt — with Bank of America plunging more than 20%. Such losses are reminiscent of the depths of the financial crisis. 7.43am: Few of you will be surprised to hear that gold hit another record high overnight. The spot price leapt to $1,771 per ounce, up $50 per ounce. Analysts used to speculate about whether gold would hit $2,000 per ounce by the end of the year. The new target appears to be $2,500 per ounce, as the scramble for ‘save havens’ turns into a stampede. JP Morgan commodity analysts Colin Fenton and Jonah Waxman have upped their forecast for gold from $1,800 to $2,500. Here’s why: In the near term, most commodity markets appear likely to convulse lower, as a growth scare dislodges physical inventories and impairs orders. These fears could linger in the United States, where private funding costs will likely go up and household balance sheets will be further strained. They also reckon that raw sugar prices could double . 7.26am: While much of Britain was sleeping, the Asian markets were having something of a nightmare. At one stage, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down more than 7%, and the Japanese Nikkei was down over 4%. In South Korea, trading was again temporarily suspended. But in the last couple of hours, the situation improved. A bit. The Nikkei has just closed for the day, down 1.7% at 8944.48. That’s the first time Japan’s main index has been below 9,000 points since March’s earthquake. Banking stocks took another severe pummelling, with HSBC down 8.5% at one stage in Hong Kong, and Bank of China losing 7.6%. The encouraging news is that the markets did pull back from their lowest points. So the FTSE sell-off may not be quite as bad as previously feared (IG Index are currently forecasting a 140-point decline). 7.20am: Good morning from a bruised, burned, and depressed London. Except it probably won’t be a good morning in the financial markets, where we’re braced for another day of losses across Europe. Asian markets have been deep in the red overnight, as the rout that began a week ago continues. It looks certain that FTSE 100 will drop through the 5,000 point mark for the first time since July 2010 when trading begins at 8am. The futures market now shows the blue chip index falling around 150 points — which is actually something of a recovery, as the Footsie was being called down 300 points (!) a couple of hours ago. The trigger? Last night’s dreadful losses on Wall Street – where the Dow Jones industrial average suffered its sixth biggest points-drop ever. President Obama’s speech will have cheered anyone who’s shorted the Dow, but otherwise did little to raise spirits. City workers will surely also be affected by the riots in parts of the capital over the last few days . We’ don’t know the economic damage of the disruption – but it must be dreadful for sentiment. Financial crisis Market turmoil Stock markets Economics Graeme Wearden Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Click here to view this media It’s interesting to see Fox News host Megyn Kelly get riled up over progressive policies like the Family Medical Leave Act . Of course, that might be because she just wrapped up a few months of maternity leave herself. After calling radio host Mike Gallagher a “pinhead” for comments he made back in May on the air with Chris Wallace, Kelly sets him straight on the value of maternity leave, the fact that it’s not a “racket,” that men are also eligible for it, and that this country actually has more restrictive laws than other countries. Despite the somewhat tongue-in-cheek tone in this clip, Kelly really nails him on the idiocy of his statement about the FMLA being a “racket” and not extending to men. She gave a passionate and clear defense of why the policy exists and even why it’s weaker than most other countries’ maternity leave policies. How progressive of her! Seriously, it really is. Now if she could only wrap her head around the fact that the Family Medical Leave Act is only part of a larger picture that includes things like Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act and Social Security, she might understand that social safety nets are something that constitute true family values. Still, it was refreshing and even a little shocking to hear such a passionate defense of progressive values from a Fox News commentator. I wonder if she knows FMLA was passed by a Democratic Congress with a Democratic President . Maybe she’s realizing that the real “family values” voters are Democrats. Hmmmm. Transcript follows. [radio clip] GALLAGHER: And she does a good job, she really does — and Megyn’s still on maternity leave, right? WALLACE: Well, are you complaining? She’s bonding with her baby. GALLAGHER: What a racket that is. I mean, men don’t get to bond — WALLACE: Racket? GALLAGHER: Well, how much time does she get off, to have to — WALLACE: Three months. GALLAGER: That’s unbelievable. You think you get three months off? How much time did you get off when your kids were born? WALLACE: Let me tell you. When my children were born, one week was all I could stand. [end clip] KELLY: Nice, Chris. Okay. At least he attempted a defense to begin with. Would you care to explain those remarks, Mr. Gallagher? Maternity leave? It’s a racket? GALLAGHER: Well, first of all, everybody on your show, they’re rats and traitors. I kept saying when this first hit the fan, I said, please tell me I want to talk to Megyn, did she hear it, is she aware of it? No response, it was crickets. So everybody on that show — KELLY: Not only that but I gave a couple of interviews over the summer to some publications and the reporters all asked me about it, saying “How about this pinhead, Mike Gallagher?” and I’d say “Yeah. He is.” Right. What a moronic thing to say. GALLAGHER: Well, there is — are you going to disagree…Now. I’m a — [crosstalk] KELLY: Are you doubling down? No, no, no, no. Are you not taking those remarks back? Is maternity leave according to you a racket? GALLAGHER: Well, do men get maternity leave, Megyn? I can’t believe I’m asking you this — KELLY: Guess what, honey? They do. It’s called Family Medical Leave Act. If a father would like to take three months off to take care of their newborn baby, they can. GALLAGHER: All right, let me give you an explanation. I was drinking that day. KELLY: Now you’re more along the path I expected. Just in case you didn’t know — just in case you didn’t know, Mike, I want you to know that the United States is the only country in the advanced world that doesn’t allow paid — doesn’t require paid maternity leave. I happen to work for a nice employer that gives me paid maternity leave but virtually no — the United States is virtually the only advanced country that doesn’t require paid leave. If anything, the United States is in the dark ages when it comes to maternity leave and what is it about getting pregnant and carrying their baby nine months that you don’t think deserves a few months off so bonding and recovery can take place, hm? GALLAGHER: I even think one of the people on your staff said “Oh, Mike, she didn’t even notice. Megyn isn’t even aware you said this. I said, well let’s not bring this to her attention, shall we? KELLY: You can’t answer the question because there is no answer, my friend. And by the way, the studies show that women who spend less time with their babies after they’re first born are more likely to get depressed and be unhealthy. And I leave it at that.
Continue reading …Huckabee: Hopefully ‘They Passed One of Those Great Big Old Hats That One of the Hip-Hop Pals Wore’ at Obama BBQ
August 9, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Apparently Mike Huckabee wasn’t done making a fool out of himself this weekend after his appearance on Fox & Friends touting Donald Trump for Treasury Secretary . Heaven forbid he could make it through the day without throwing a little racism in to boot as well. After slamming President Obama for the fundraiser held on his birthday that Fox Nation attacked as “Obama’s Hip-Hop BBQ” which our friends at Media Matters wrote about here — Fox Nation: Obama’s Hip-Hop BBQ Didn’t Create Jobs — Huckabee took a page right out of their playbook on his show this past Saturday night. HUCKABEE: I’m glad that the President had such a large time with his friends. And by the way, they think that they all ought to pay more in taxes. So hopefully while they were gathered, they passed one of those great old big hats that one of the hip-hop pals wore, so that way everyone could empty their pockets and open their checkbooks, so they could give more to our ever responsible Federal government, so the fine folks at the party can bail out, our government. Well, I’m sure that happened. So, let’s give back Jack. Let’s cut the Prez some slack. His birthday gig might just bring our economy back. As Media Matters has documented and we have as well, but not to the extent that they have, this sort of race baiting is all too common over at Fox and at their blog, Fox Nation — Fox’s Race-Baiting “Nation” . I don’t like the fact that we’ve got all of this money corrupting our politics and that it takes raising massive amounts of money to get elected to any national office, but somehow Fox only seems to have a problem with it when it’s a Democrat raising the money, or heaven forbid the Kenyan usurper who never had any business getting elected in the first place in their view. Glenn Beck may be gone, but the clown show at Fox continues despite his departure.
Continue reading …
Madrid group says €60m fee cannot be justified at time of state cuts, neither can choice of sponsors for World Youth Day More than 100 priests from Madrid’s poorest parishes have added their voices to the growing protest at the cost of Pope Benedict’s visit to Madrid next week. An umbrella group – the Priest’s Forum – says the estimated €60m (£53m) cost of the papal visit, not counting security, cannot be justified at a time of massive public sector cuts and 20% unemployment in Spain. Evaristo Villar, a 68-year-old member of the group, said he objected to the multinationals with which the Catholic church has had to ally itself to cover the costs of the “showmanship” of the event. “The companies that are backing World Youth Day and the pope’s visit leave much to be desired,” he said. “They are the ones who, together with international capital, have caused the crisis. We are not against the pope’s visit, we are against the way it is being staged.” The more than 100 corporate sponsors of the event include Coca-Cola, Telefónica and Santander. Opponents of the visit have set up a Facebook page calling for a boycott of the sponsors. Some 140 groups, among them the secular organisation Europa Laica (Secular Europe), are against the visit. “Catholics can go wherever they like in Madrid but the freedom of movement of the rest of us is restricted,” said Francisco Delgado, leader of Europa Laica, on discovering that the city had prohibited his group’s proposed march. Europa Laica plans to march under the slogans “Not a penny of my taxes for the pope” and “For a secular state”. There is particular ire that the some 500,000 pilgrims expected in the city will get free transport. Madrid metro fares rose by 50% on Monday. “With the economic crisis we are going through, we can’t pay for this. The church should set the example,” said a spokesman for the Indignados movement, which has staged high-profile protests in central Madrid. “They propose to spend €60m when the regional government has just cut €40m from the education budget.” Yago de la Cierva, the executive director of World Youth Day 2011, an event built around the papal visit, said: “We have made a huge effort to be moderate and economically responsible. The new generations – young people today – they like big events and the church uses all the tools that exist to present the message of Jesus Christ.” Interest in the Catholic church is on the wane among young people in Spain. A recent survey by the national statistics office showed that the number of believers aged 18 to 24 has fallen by 56% in the past 10 years. The pope’s visit to Barcelona last November was poorly received, with the popemobile forced to drive at top speed past small groups of the faithful along mainly deserted streets. Pope Benedict XVI Spain Religion Catholicism Christianity Europe Vatican European debt crisis Italy Stephen Burgen guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• PM announces 16,000 police will be deployed London tonight • First fatality as man shot in Croydon, south London, dies • Firearms officers may use non-lethal plastic bullets • England friendly against Holland at Wembley cancelled • Twitter movement #riotcleanup gets under way • Send us your footage of the riots 2.51pm: A few updates from our reporters around London. Matthew Taylor, who’s in Croydon , says shops are closing on police advice and a steady stream of people is heading out of the area via the train station. Peter Beaumont, in the centre of Hackney , reports hundreds of police near the Empire and the Town Hall. He says he’s never seen so many officers in the area — nor so many wearing the uniforms of so many different forces from around the country. Ian Sample, meanwhile, sends this from Ealing , which is also in shutdown mode: Fire engines are gathered in Ealing in west London to secure a building burned out by fire last night. Roads in the centre are closed to traffic and police are patrolling the streets as concerns spread of more violence this afternoon. Earlier this afternoon, police ordered the Ealing shopping centre to shut, with hundreds of people being turned back into the streets. The centre is now shuttered until tomorrow morning. Opposite, the Arcadia shopping centre remains closed, its windows smashed and a traffic cone lodged in one panel of glass at the entrance. Workers in hard hats are sweeping up fallen tiles from the burned out building that was set on fire last night. Meanwhile, one of Liverpool ‘s biggest shopping centres has decided to close early as a precaution: Following recent events across the country, customers can expect stores at Liverpool One to close from 6pm today, rather than the usual closing time of 8pm, to allow staff to safely make their way home. The top priority at Liverpool One is always the safety of its staff and customers, and Liverpool One will be monitoring the situation closely in partnership with Merseyside police. 2.47pm: Harman says people in her Peckham constituency are saying that the young people out rioting and looting are not speaking for them. It is not a political demonstration, she says. “Nothing justifies somebody robbing an looting somebody else’s business and frightening people on their own streets.” She refuses to be drawn on deeper motives or causes for the rioting right now. The first thing to do is sort out the situation. People don’t want to hear “excuses”, she says. People are absolutely expecting that whatever measures need to be taken will be taken … They don’t want to have the fear that things are going to kick off in their neighbourhood. 2.45pm: Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader, is speaking now on BBC News. She says people’s No 1 concern is to feel safe. They do not want to have to close their businesses at three o’clock. 2.44pm: Boris Johnson says he does not want to hear social and economic justifications for the rioting. 2.43pm: Boris Johnson is speaking in Clapham Junction. His message to the rioters is: “They will face punishments they will bitterly regret.” The mayor of London is facing a lot of heckling. People are asking where the police were yesterday. 2.30pm: Good afternoon and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the unrest in London and the rest of Britain. The cleanup from last night’s trouble is well under way, and preparations are being made for tonight. It’s clear that the police, particularly in London, are preparing a far more robust response. Here’s a summary of events so far today. • The riots that have plagued London for three consecutive nights have claimed their first life. A man shot in his car during last night’s rioting in Croydon, south London, died after being admitted to hospital. He was discovered in a car suffering from gunshot wounds at about 9.15pm as trouble flared in the area. • David Cameron has announced that 16,000 police officers will be deployed in London tonight, in an effort to get a grip on the violence. This is up from 6,000 the night before. The prime minister promised a tough response to any trouble tonight: “I have this very clear message to those people who are responsible for this wrongdoing and criminality: you will feel the full force of the law. If you are old enough to commit these crimes you are old enough to face the punishments.” • Police have disclosed that live baton rounds – non-lethal plastic bullets – may be deployed tonight. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh of the Metropolitan police told our crime correspondent, Sandra Laville: “If we need to, we will do so.” He said 525 people have been arrested since rioting began on Saturday, and about 100 have been charged. • Rioting spread to other cities in Britain for the first time, with unrest in Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham. West Midlands police made 138 arrests. Chief Constable Chris Sims said of the looting in the city centre: “This was not an angry crowd, this was a greedy crowd.” • A clean-up operation has got under way across London, with many residents turning out to help. A number of websites and Facebook groups have been set up to co-ordinate the volunteer forces. UK riots London Sam Jones Matt Wells Paul Owen guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Last Year, British Official Insisted Austerity Cuts Wouldn’t Affect Ability To Contain Civil Unrest – Now London Is Burning
August 9, 2011 No CommentAs I pointed out yesterday, we already know austerity cuts don’t improve the economy, nor are they simply “fat” that doesn’t affect government functions . Remember the recent blizzard that paralyzed NYC after they cut 700 streets workers? We’re seeing extensive proof in London over the past four days (see riot map here ): In September of last year, the British Home Secretary Theresa May refused to accept claims by the British police that austerity cuts would affect their ability to contain civil unrest ( h/t George Monbiot ). A look at an article from the Guardian reveals May’s belief that British people simply did not riot: The British public don’t simply resort to violent unrest in the face of challenging economic circumstances. We must have a rational and reasonable debate about policing. Your association has a long and proud history of constructive and sensible contributions to policing policy-making – long may it continue. May was speaking after the announcement of deep austerity cuts, that police officials predicted would lead to 40,000 police staff job cuts. May refused to accept this and told the police superintendents’ annual conference: I will work hard to ensure a fair deal for policing but there will, most definitely, need to be savings made. It is ridiculous to suggest that there are not savings that can be made in policing. From London Indymedia: Since the coalition came to power just over a year ago, the country has seen multiple student protests, occupations of dozens of universities, several strikes, a half-a-million-strong trade union march and now unrest on the streets of the capital (preceded by clashes with Bristol police in Stokes Croft earlier in the year). Each of these events was sparked by a different cause, yet all take place against a backdrop of brutal cuts and enforced austerity measures. The government knows very well that it is taking a gamble, and that its policies run the risk of sparking mass unrest on a scale we haven’t seen since the early 1980s . With people taking to the streets of Tottenham, Edmonton, Brixton and elsewhere over the past few nights, we could be about to see the government enter a sustained and serious losing streak. The policies of the past year may have clarified the division between the entitled and the dispossessed in extreme terms, but the context for social unrest cuts much deeper. The fatal shooting of Mark Duggan last Thursday, where it appears, contrary to initial accounts, that only police bullets were fired , is another tragic event in a longer history of the Metropolitan police’s treatment of ordinary Londoners, especially those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, and the singling out of specific areas and individuals for monitoring, stop and search and daily harassment. One London blogger notes: In one NBC report, a young man in Tottenham was asked if rioting really achieved anything: “Yes,” said the young man. “You wouldn’t be talking to me now if we didn’t riot, would you?” “Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you.” Eavesdropping from among the onlookers, I looked around. A dozen TV crews and newspaper reporters interviewing the young men everywhere.’’
Continue reading …
Obama advisers , Democrat senators , and terminally stupid ideologues that for days have blamed Standard and Poor's downgrade of America's debt on the Tea Party are sadly mistaken. Next to the President of the United States and his Party, those really responsible are members of the media. Since the junior senator from Illinois first threw his hat into the presidential ring in February 2007, America's press have refused to hold his feet to the fire concerning any important issue facing the nation. This debt ceiling debate and resulting downgrade were just the most recent examples. When Congressman Paul Ryan ( R-Wisc .) offered his 2012 budget proposal in April, news outlet after news outlet lined up to demagogue him mimicking talking points from the White House and the Democrat leadership. Rather than accurately report that it would save Medicare from total bankruptcy in 2024 while trimming $6 trillion of red ink – a figure that we now know would have averted S&P's downgrade – America's press dishonestly told the public Ryan's bill would destroy the nation's senior healthcare plan Nevermind that the President's only officially proposed budget – which would have increased the debt by almost $10 trillion and certainly resulted in a rating downgrade – actually lost 97-0 in the Senate not even getting one vote from members of his own Party; the media still continued to lambaste and excoriate Ryan and anyone that had the nerve to support a bill that passed the House 235-189 the month before. As summer came, and Washington began talking about the looming debt ceiling “crisis”, the press assisted the White House and its Party to evoke fear in the nation about a potential default on Treasury paper as well as Social Security payments to seniors. This came despite there being ample ongoing tax receipts to pay the interest on the debt, Social Security and Medicare recipients as well as military paychecks. Rather than mercifully telling Americans they shouldn't be concerned about such things, our news media shamefully disseminated the lies coming from the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats unprofessionally ginning up the fear in the country rather than quelling it as you would think was their charter. Even when given a chance to discuss specifics with treasury secretary Timothy Geithner , prominent Sunday talk show hosts opted to ignore the crucial questions Americans were clearly most concerned about. As House Republicans put together a Cut, Cap, and Balance bill that would solve the debt ceiling impasse while significantly trimming spending as well as mandating a balanced budget in the future, press outlets assisted the Democrat campaign to defeat it. This was despite a CNN poll finding 66 percent of respondents in favor of CCB and 74 percent supporting a balanced budget amendment. It was obvious to the few impartial observers in the nation that so-called journalists were badly on the wrong the side of public opinion on this issue. Media opposition to CCB continued even after it passed the House 234-190 which certainly made it easier for Majority Leader Harry Reid ( D-Nev .) to prevent the bill from ever getting voted on in the Senate, a strategy the press applauded. We now know the passage of CCB likely also would have prevented last Friday's downgrade. What this means is that this year, House Republicans passed two plans that probably would have preserved America's AAA credit rating if they had cleared the Senate and been signed by the President. We also know that much like the White House and the Democrat Party, virtually every news outlet in this country with the exception of the minority of conservative ones opposed both of these pieces of legislation. Meanwhile, the only budget proposed by the Left – the President's – didn't get one vote in the Senate. For their part, Congressional Democrats were totally MIA in this process having failed to offer a budget for well over two years, an abdication of responsibility that curiously doesn't concern America's media while the nation struggles with a budget crisis that could result in a far more calamitous financial disaster than the one we experienced three years ago. Such folks were more fascinated and supportive of fantasy plans like the so-called “grand bargain” floated by the President during one of his many televised appearances. Because it included revenue increases – tax hikes to you and me! – the press were almost orgasmic despite nothing having been put on paper for anyone to thoroughly analyze and the near certainty that the offer was largely cynical given the metaphysical certitude Democrats would never have supported any plan containing Medicare and Social Security cuts. As a comical aside, the Congressional Budget Office months earlier commented about its inability to score budget proposals made during presidential speeches. Clearly, the media don't have such a problem, for Obama's “grand bargain” with or without the inconvenience of parchment or specificity was, as Goldilocks would say, just right. What wasn't right to them of course was the final bill that passed in the House last Monday 269-161 in a rare case of bipartisanship with half of the Democrats supporting it. Bipartisanship continued to carry the day Tuesday when the bill passed the Senate 74-26. This rare bout of unity seemed to infuriate the normally bipartisanship-loving press as they called Tea Partiers terrorists and hostage takers for their role in crafting a package that so many members of Congress from both sides of the aisle had the nerve to vote for. As MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell noted Monday, “Almost half of the Congress almost always votes against increasing the debt ceiling. The Party out of power leaves raising the debt ceiling to the Party in power.” “In fact,” O'Donnell continued, “last week's vote for a debt ceiling increase was the most bipartisan vote to increase the debt ceiling we have seen in a very, very long time.” You certainly couldn't tell that by all the finger-pointing at the Tea Party once S&P announced the downgrade. Much like the bipartisan support of the Iraq War resolution in October 2002, the Democrats quickly took on a “They Made Me Do It” posture once the agreement they supported became unpopular. True to form, the media were just as willing to give their Party cover now as they were then. Must be nice to know if your vote ends up being a political albatross, the press will be there to help you remove the burden. But all this assistance to the White House and its Party has come at a dear cost to the nation. If press members had been doing their jobs all year, the President and the Democrat leadership would have been forced to put legitimate, written counter-proposals on the table as they unceremoniously swatted aside those offered by Republicans. Maybe then a far more encompassing piece of legislation would have been in front of Congress in July with more sweeping short and long-term cuts that would have appeased the credit rating agencies while setting the nation on a more solid fiscal course. Instead, the media played willing accomplices to Obama and his Party with total disregard for the lack of leadership on display. As a result, we're now a double-A+ nation that appears to be heading towards a double-dip recession.
Continue reading …
On Sunday morning, CNN featured Islam in its “Faces of Faith” segment in the 8 am hour. The guest who came on to describe Ramadan and how too many American Muslims don’t feel they are respected was…Maria Ebrahimji, CNN’s own Director of Network Booking. Apparently, Ebrahimji, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, has embraced her role as a Muslim advocate inside CNN: Her first job after college, in the late '90s, was rolling teleprompter for legendary CNN international anchor (and also Muslim) Riz Khan [who became an anchor at al-Jazeera English]. Since then, Maria has steadily ascended CNN's ranks. After 9/11, Maria was booking a who's who of Muslims and authors on Islam to explain and defend Islam to millions of viewers. Welcoming the challenge but often feeling like the token Muslim on the inside, Maria says, “It's a role I have embraced in the 12 years I have been with CNN.” On the website for her book compiling stories of Muslim-American women, Ebrahimji proclaimed: “As a member of the mainstream media, I am constantly exposed to the stereotyping of my faith, and continue to work in my own circles to advocate for distinctive reporting on Islam in addition to participating in conferences and panels to discuss media coverage of my faith. I am excited to use the knowledge I have gained in my profession to offer a new approach to presenting the public with a more candid and realistic idea of my life as a Muslim, and as an American woman.” Inside CNN, Ebrahimji serves on several boards : as Vice Chair of the CNN Diversity Council and on the Turner Broadcasting Corporate Responsibility Council and Green Task Force. The Sunday appearance was Ebrahimji's second on-air appearance this year. On May 8, she appeared in the same Sunday morning forum to promote her new book and decry an “otherness epidemic,” and anchor T.J. Holmes really went after American “ignorance” of Islam: T.J HOLMES: What has the reaction been when you see a story like that with these two Muslim men pulled off a plane, inexplicably, maybe we'll get some more answers, but we have seen these types of stories before. MARIA EBRAHIMJI: We absolutely have and every time a story like this comes up it's very troubling to me as an American-Muslim but also as a journalist. Because part of what we do is tell stories about other people and we tell stories about what we hope would be a culture of civility in our country. And I think what this shows is there's still a great amount of fear in America about my religion in particular. And I think it also speaks to this concept of what I call otherness epidemic. HOLMES: Yes. EBRAHIMJI: We always want to have this other person that we're looking to, to stereotype or to sort of alleviate the fears that we have, so we look to American Muslims as that… HOLMES: What can we get from this that — can this help us along quite frankly, because still that intolerance and frankly ignorance still exists ? EBRAHIMJI: Absolutely, I think Americans can get from this book what you would get from talking to your next door neighbor, right, a sense of appreciation about our back grounds, our history, our culture, but also the idea that all of us are just like you and me.
Continue reading …