• Clashes between looters and police across London • Violence spreads to Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool • Fires in Clapham, Croydon, Enfield and Peckham • Prime minister returns early from holiday • Twitter movement #riotcleanup gets under way • Read our latest news story on the riots • Read our latest summary of events so far 8.43am: The Guardian’s crime correspondent, Sandra Laville, has been looking at the extraordinary measures police adopted last night in their bid to contain the violence. She also predicts tougher tactics are on the way: Armoured vehicles have been brought in to clear the streets for the first time by police to tackle what senior officers say is the worst rioting and looting in living memory. “More than 6,000 officers — including 2500 mostly public order trained officers and 3,500 local officers — were on duty as violence spread from north, to east, west and south London last night. Fires burned in Croydon, Clapham Junction and Hackney as well as flaring up outside the capital in Liverpool. “Senior officers say the violence and looting was the worst in living memory last night; eclipsing the inner city rioting of the mid 1980s in Toxteth, Brixton and Tottenham at the height of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. “Armoured vehicles — known as Jenkels — were brought in during the early hours of the morning in Clapham Junction where much of the worst lootin and arson took place. The vehicles were driven onto Lavender Hill to push back a crowd of 150 looters who had smashed up Debenhams and other stores and businesses in the area. “Their deployment brought echoes of Northern Ireland during the Troubles to British streets and marked the start of what sources say are much toughter tactics against rioters. 8.40am: Some stark language from the Met, who have admitted that their reinforcements “box was empty” last night, meaning the overstretched force had to send non-specialist officers sent to deal with rioters. Pc Paul Deller, who was based in the control room co-ordinating the force’s response to the violence, has told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: We simply ran out of units to send. That’s not something we would normally expose those officers to a risk of, but last night decisions were made that we had to and that’s what we did. We threw everything we had at it.” Pc Deller, who chairs the Met’s Constables’ Federation, denied the “terrifying” scenes showed police had given up trying to protect property: We didn’t surrender the streets. Over 50 of my colleagues were injured last night defending those streets to the best of their capability. I don’t think at any point did we surrender.” 8.36am: Kent police have said that 10 men have been arrested in Medway following incidents of vandalism in Chatham, Rainham and Gillingham. A group of around 15 young men — who are believed to have travelled to the area by train — caused damage by setting several fires across the Medway towns. 8.34am: A quick catch-up of the situation in Birmingham, which saw its share of trouble last night: A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said staff were called to 34 incidents in Birmingham last night, the last of which came in at just after 3am this morning. The majority of calls were to reports of people being assaulted. Crews tended to 28 patients, of whom 13 went to hospitals across the city. Injuries included lacerations and bruising to the head, a dislocated knee, general cuts, bruising and swelling, the spokesman said. Assistant Chief Ambulance Officer Tracey Morrell said: The majority of incidents have been as a result of assaults, but thankfully most have not been too serious. However, the fact that over a dozen patients went to hospital gives you an indication of the levels of injury. 8.32am: Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington — an area that has seen a lot of the trouble — has told BBC Breakfast a curfew should be imposed. I have not heard of a curfew on mainland Britain in the past century. [It's] very difficult to impose. I’m not saying that it is definitely the way forward but it is something we have to consider. These young people, who seem to have no stake in society, are trashing their own communities. We cannot continue to have increasing numbers of looters on the streets night after night.” 8.30am: This from Brian Tyler who lives on the Old Kent Road in south-east London: Last night the men from the local mosque were out defending the area. One shop was broken into, but thanks to them the situation was kept under control. 8.29am: A colleague sends this from Stamford Hill in north-east London: My local cab company on Stoke Newington Church Street, Premier Cars, told me last night they weren’t taking any bookings for this week and that I’d have to ring back in the morning to find out availability. ‘Drivers aren’t working because the area is unsafe,’ the controller said. 8.27am: Some travel news now, courtesy of PA: Motorists and bus passengers had to contend with numerous road closures today following another night of violence on the streets. Among roads that remained shut were routes in one of the worst-hit riot areas — Croydon in south east London. Woolwich Arsenal main line station in south east London was shut, but many of the rail and Tube stations that had to close last night were open today. London Road in Croydon was closed due to a building fire and the town’s Duppas Hill Road was also shut. A building fire caused Montacute road in New Addington , south east London, to be closed, while another building fire meant Ripple Road in Barking , east London, was shut. Other road closures included Tottenham High Road in north London; Madeley Road in Ealing , west London; Rye Lane in Peckham , south London, and Station Road in Barking . There was better news for London Underground travellers, with Brixton station on the Victoria Line reopening today. 8.23am: My colleague Helen Clifton in Manchester has been speaking to Greater Manchester police, who are stressing that the trouble in Salford last night — which saw four or five cars damaged — was not connected with the riots elsewhere in the country. They say it was the kind of thing they are used to, adding that they remain ready to offer back-up to the Met if it is required. 8.19am: Trevor Reeves, the owner of the Reeves furniture store in Croydon, which was destroyed by fire last night, said on Radio 5 Live that he was “devastated” by what happened. He appealed for residents to support the rebuilding of his business, which he said would continue to trade from its second store in the area: We ask for the support of the community – if they want to buy furinture, give us a go first. We have been through two world wars and we are still here. There must be something in the genetic make-up. We are going to fight to rebuild this.” 8.16am: We’re getting some info on things in Colliers Wood, south London. Maria sends in this distressing account: At around 7.30-8 o’clock in the evening, lots of youths started congregating around the Tandem Centre retail park. There is a block of 12 flats on top of the shops and we used to live there. We just moved out a few days ago. I started following the buzz on Twitter that something was going to happen and I got a call from our friends from the flat. They were terrified. They could see teenagers surrounding the retail park. Youths started running towards the shops, and set the Jessops alight. Residents were stranded inside the building. Rioters broke into Jessops, Game, JD Sports and Argos and stole everything. Everything was smashed. They set Harvey’s and Mothercare on fire. I live quite a few streets away, and there was still so much smoke on the road and the smell was overpowering. Some friends managed to get away and stay here with us, but some were still inside terrified. None of us slept last night. It was a horrible, frightening experience. Please report this. It happened, and we are so afraid it will happen again. I will try to get some pictures, but please report this. I have no idea why this hasn’t been stopped. I have no idea how. 8.14am: This, too, is quite staggering: the Met say all London’s police cells are full and suspects are being taken to stations outside the capital (via @SkyNewsBreak) 8.12am: The Met are saying that 5,500 officers were deployed last night to cope with what they’re calling some of the worst violence in living memory. And a man in his 60s is in hospital with life-threatening injuries following last night’s violence. More details as soon as we have them … 8.08am: Here’s a snapshot of things in Ealing, west London, this morning, jotted as I headed in: If Ealing residents didn’t hear the looting and violence spreading westwards last night, they found ample evidence of the havoc wrought as they headed into work this morning. Haven Green, which was calm early yesterday evening, looked as though it had hosted a messy and raucous festival. Dozens of pigeons feasted on the scraps from bins upturned during the skirmishes as police stood beside their vans behind taped lines. The Broadway had attracted most of the rioters’ wrath: only shops with metal shutters had endured the night unscathed. Close to the station, the pavement was carpeted with glass from smashed shop windows and, improbably, glass from a broken champagne bottle. Cafes, little shops, restaurants and Tesco had all been hit and many had reclad their fronts in timber. One restaurant still had a metal chair embedded in its shattered glass front, a seemingly gravity-defying reminder of the night’s violence. As shopkeepers shook their heads and began sweeping up the glass, police officers directed commuters away from the front of Ealing Broadway station – now a crime scene. One officer, still in riot overalls from the night before, smiled tiredly when asked what the previous hours had been like. ‘Well, it was a riot,’ he said. 7.58am: Sam Jones here, taking over from Matt Wells for another day of live coverage. Please drop me an email — sam.jones@guardian.co.uk — or a tweet (@swajones) to let us know what’s going on where you live. 7.49am: Fire fighters are continuing to tackle a large blaze at a Sony distribution centre near Enfield , north London, which has sent plumes of thick smoke across the sky. 7.47am: The sheer frustation of many residents affecting by the rioting is evident. BBC Radio 5 Live is a must-listen for first-hand accounts this morning, broadcasting from Croydon, scene of many disturbances last night. In a report from Hackney, I heard the Rt Rev Adrian Newman, Bishop of Stepney, describe scenes there last night as “apocalyptic”. 7.44am: There has been a lot of debate – particularly in the comments section of our live blogs and others – about whether the police should be given water cannons to deal with the rioters, and whether the army should be called in. The home secretary, Theresa May, has just pretty much ruled on water cannon, in an interview on Sky News. The way we police in Britain is not with water cannon. The way we police in Britain is on the streets and with the communities. May said that she would consult senior police commanders today about any further resources they require. Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor of London, who has been manning the fort in the absence of Boris Johnson, was on BBC News last night, saying he did not want to see the army on the streets of London 7.36am: England’s friendly against Holland at Wembley tomorrow evening is under threat. With 70,000 football fans expected, it seems inconeivable that police will allow it to go ahead. Carling Cup ties involving West Ham and Charlton have already been cancelled. 7.34am: Three people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in London after an incident in Brent, north west London. At around 2.50am, a police officer was injured after a car was driven into him while he was trying to stop looters. He is in a stable condition in hospital. A second officer suffered minor injuries. 7.25am: In the comments, user Disgruntlednurse praises police in Bristol, saying they “kept on top of” the stituation there. Although damage around stokes croft/ M32 – in no way the wholesale rampage in other parts of the country. They kept in constant communication with us overnight so we could plan for any eventualities. 7.22am: More on the locally-organised clean-ups. A Riotcleanup website has been set up, which is posting locations of clean-up sites today. The locations posted so far are: Camden at 11am, meeeting outside Camden Town tube; Ealing at 10am, meeting at The Horse; Bethnal Green at 10am, meeting outside the Money Store; in Camberwell at 10am, meeting at the corner of Walworth Road and East Street and also 10am, a street clean outside Camberwell Church. In Birmingham , the plan is to meet at 10am at the Bull Ring centre. 7.14am: The story today will be about the reaction and the response. The home secretary, Theresa May, has been on ITV’s Daybreak programme. She said that those responsible for the riots would be brought to justice. She said: There is no excuse for these levels of criminality and it needs to be dealt with. These people need to see that there are consequences for their actions. We need robust policing but we also need to ensure that justice is done through the courts and this will begin today. Mrs May said there had so far been “strong leadership” from police and added that the government would ensure they had the resources in place to catch the rioters responsible. 7.10am: As we have been reporting, despite a police focus on Twitter, the real organisation has taken place on the closed BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) network. But while it has been the BlackBerry riots, it may be the Twitter cleanup, where the #riotcleanup hashtag is trending. 7.05am: Around the country, West Midlands Police arrested about 100 people in Birmingham after youths went on the rampage in the city centre’s retail area, near the Bull Ring shopping mall. Cars were set alight in Liverpool , and police officers were pelted with makeshift weapons including golf clubs as they tried to contain the gangs. Merseyside police have advised people in the Toxteth area to stay indoors. In Bristol , police dealt with around 150 rioters and residents were urged to avoid the city centre. Nottinghamshire Police said officers dealt with a number of sporadic disturbances in the St Anne’s area of Nottingham overnight. The local police station was attacked, up to 40 private vehicles were damaged, windows of houses were smashed and a container of 200 tyres was set alight, according the force. In Kent, five people were arrested by police following trouble in the Medway area. The force said fires had been set across Chatham, Rainham and Gillingham overnight. 6.45am: Good morning. After a third day and night of rioting and looting, disturbances spread from the centre of London to the outer fringes of the city and to other cities, with similar scenes repeated in Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Bristol. Welcome to our latest live blog. Here’s a summary of the Monday’s events: • Rioting spread throughout London from Monday afternoon onwards and into the early hours of Tuesday morning. Police struggled to cope with multiple outbreaks of looting as well as sustained violence in several places, most notably on an estate in Hackney. • Sustained looting, violence and attacks on property stretched from Ealing in the west, Enfield in the north, Hackney in the east, and as far south as Croydon. Shops and businesses were looted while scores of cars and buses were set alight. Huge fires were started in Enfield, where a Sony distribution centre on an industrial estate was destroyed, and in Croydon where a large furniture showroom and nearby homes were engulfed, with fires continuing around London Road. • David Cameron cut short his holiday in Italy and arrived back in the country in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Cameron plans to chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee. London mayor Boris Johnson also plans to return to the city later in the day. • Trouble has spread to other cities in the UK, including Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool. In Bristol, police reported 150 rioters moving through the city centre. In Nottingham, police had to deal with a crowd of 100. Merseyside police faced burning cars and criminal damage in south Liverpool, while there was repeated looting in the centre of Birmingham and violence elsewhere in the city, with an empty police station being set on fire. • The Metropolitan police in London reported that 334 people have now been arrested, while 69 people have been charged and two cautioned. In Birmingham, police said around 100 people have been arrested. London riots London Liverpool Mark Duggan Protest Richard Adams Matt Wells Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Clashes between looters and police across London • Violence spreads to Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool • Fires in Clapham, Croydon, Enfield and Peckham • Prime minister returns early from holiday • Twitter movement #riotcleanup gets under way • Read our latest news story on the riots • Read our latest summary of events so far 8.43am: The Guardian’s crime correspondent, Sandra Laville, has been looking at the extraordinary measures police adopted last night in their bid to contain the violence. She also predicts tougher tactics are on the way: Armoured vehicles have been brought in to clear the streets for the first time by police to tackle what senior officers say is the worst rioting and looting in living memory. “More than 6,000 officers — including 2500 mostly public order trained officers and 3,500 local officers — were on duty as violence spread from north, to east, west and south London last night. Fires burned in Croydon, Clapham Junction and Hackney as well as flaring up outside the capital in Liverpool. “Senior officers say the violence and looting was the worst in living memory last night; eclipsing the inner city rioting of the mid 1980s in Toxteth, Brixton and Tottenham at the height of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. “Armoured vehicles — known as Jenkels — were brought in during the early hours of the morning in Clapham Junction where much of the worst lootin and arson took place. The vehicles were driven onto Lavender Hill to push back a crowd of 150 looters who had smashed up Debenhams and other stores and businesses in the area. “Their deployment brought echoes of Northern Ireland during the Troubles to British streets and marked the start of what sources say are much toughter tactics against rioters. 8.40am: Some stark language from the Met, who have admitted that their reinforcements “box was empty” last night, meaning the overstretched force had to send non-specialist officers sent to deal with rioters. Pc Paul Deller, who was based in the control room co-ordinating the force’s response to the violence, has told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: We simply ran out of units to send. That’s not something we would normally expose those officers to a risk of, but last night decisions were made that we had to and that’s what we did. We threw everything we had at it.” Pc Deller, who chairs the Met’s Constables’ Federation, denied the “terrifying” scenes showed police had given up trying to protect property: We didn’t surrender the streets. Over 50 of my colleagues were injured last night defending those streets to the best of their capability. I don’t think at any point did we surrender.” 8.36am: Kent police have said that 10 men have been arrested in Medway following incidents of vandalism in Chatham, Rainham and Gillingham. A group of around 15 young men — who are believed to have travelled to the area by train — caused damage by setting several fires across the Medway towns. 8.34am: A quick catch-up of the situation in Birmingham, which saw its share of trouble last night: A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said staff were called to 34 incidents in Birmingham last night, the last of which came in at just after 3am this morning. The majority of calls were to reports of people being assaulted. Crews tended to 28 patients, of whom 13 went to hospitals across the city. Injuries included lacerations and bruising to the head, a dislocated knee, general cuts, bruising and swelling, the spokesman said. Assistant Chief Ambulance Officer Tracey Morrell said: The majority of incidents have been as a result of assaults, but thankfully most have not been too serious. However, the fact that over a dozen patients went to hospital gives you an indication of the levels of injury. 8.32am: Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington — an area that has seen a lot of the trouble — has told BBC Breakfast a curfew should be imposed. I have not heard of a curfew on mainland Britain in the past century. [It's] very difficult to impose. I’m not saying that it is definitely the way forward but it is something we have to consider. These young people, who seem to have no stake in society, are trashing their own communities. We cannot continue to have increasing numbers of looters on the streets night after night.” 8.30am: This from Brian Tyler who lives on the Old Kent Road in south-east London: Last night the men from the local mosque were out defending the area. One shop was broken into, but thanks to them the situation was kept under control. 8.29am: A colleague sends this from Stamford Hill in north-east London: My local cab company on Stoke Newington Church Street, Premier Cars, told me last night they weren’t taking any bookings for this week and that I’d have to ring back in the morning to find out availability. ‘Drivers aren’t working because the area is unsafe,’ the controller said. 8.27am: Some travel news now, courtesy of PA: Motorists and bus passengers had to contend with numerous road closures today following another night of violence on the streets. Among roads that remained shut were routes in one of the worst-hit riot areas — Croydon in south east London. Woolwich Arsenal main line station in south east London was shut, but many of the rail and Tube stations that had to close last night were open today. London Road in Croydon was closed due to a building fire and the town’s Duppas Hill Road was also shut. A building fire caused Montacute road in New Addington , south east London, to be closed, while another building fire meant Ripple Road in Barking , east London, was shut. Other road closures included Tottenham High Road in north London; Madeley Road in Ealing , west London; Rye Lane in Peckham , south London, and Station Road in Barking . There was better news for London Underground travellers, with Brixton station on the Victoria Line reopening today. 8.23am: My colleague Helen Clifton in Manchester has been speaking to Greater Manchester police, who are stressing that the trouble in Salford last night — which saw four or five cars damaged — was not connected with the riots elsewhere in the country. They say it was the kind of thing they are used to, adding that they remain ready to offer back-up to the Met if it is required. 8.19am: Trevor Reeves, the owner of the Reeves furniture store in Croydon, which was destroyed by fire last night, said on Radio 5 Live that he was “devastated” by what happened. He appealed for residents to support the rebuilding of his business, which he said would continue to trade from its second store in the area: We ask for the support of the community – if they want to buy furinture, give us a go first. We have been through two world wars and we are still here. There must be something in the genetic make-up. We are going to fight to rebuild this.” 8.16am: We’re getting some info on things in Colliers Wood, south London. Maria sends in this distressing account: At around 7.30-8 o’clock in the evening, lots of youths started congregating around the Tandem Centre retail park. There is a block of 12 flats on top of the shops and we used to live there. We just moved out a few days ago. I started following the buzz on Twitter that something was going to happen and I got a call from our friends from the flat. They were terrified. They could see teenagers surrounding the retail park. Youths started running towards the shops, and set the Jessops alight. Residents were stranded inside the building. Rioters broke into Jessops, Game, JD Sports and Argos and stole everything. Everything was smashed. They set Harvey’s and Mothercare on fire. I live quite a few streets away, and there was still so much smoke on the road and the smell was overpowering. Some friends managed to get away and stay here with us, but some were still inside terrified. None of us slept last night. It was a horrible, frightening experience. Please report this. It happened, and we are so afraid it will happen again. I will try to get some pictures, but please report this. I have no idea why this hasn’t been stopped. I have no idea how. 8.14am: This, too, is quite staggering: the Met say all London’s police cells are full and suspects are being taken to stations outside the capital (via @SkyNewsBreak) 8.12am: The Met are saying that 5,500 officers were deployed last night to cope with what they’re calling some of the worst violence in living memory. And a man in his 60s is in hospital with life-threatening injuries following last night’s violence. More details as soon as we have them … 8.08am: Here’s a snapshot of things in Ealing, west London, this morning, jotted as I headed in: If Ealing residents didn’t hear the looting and violence spreading westwards last night, they found ample evidence of the havoc wrought as they headed into work this morning. Haven Green, which was calm early yesterday evening, looked as though it had hosted a messy and raucous festival. Dozens of pigeons feasted on the scraps from bins upturned during the skirmishes as police stood beside their vans behind taped lines. The Broadway had attracted most of the rioters’ wrath: only shops with metal shutters had endured the night unscathed. Close to the station, the pavement was carpeted with glass from smashed shop windows and, improbably, glass from a broken champagne bottle. Cafes, little shops, restaurants and Tesco had all been hit and many had reclad their fronts in timber. One restaurant still had a metal chair embedded in its shattered glass front, a seemingly gravity-defying reminder of the night’s violence. As shopkeepers shook their heads and began sweeping up the glass, police officers directed commuters away from the front of Ealing Broadway station – now a crime scene. One officer, still in riot overalls from the night before, smiled tiredly when asked what the previous hours had been like. ‘Well, it was a riot,’ he said. 7.58am: Sam Jones here, taking over from Matt Wells for another day of live coverage. Please drop me an email — sam.jones@guardian.co.uk — or a tweet (@swajones) to let us know what’s going on where you live. 7.49am: Fire fighters are continuing to tackle a large blaze at a Sony distribution centre near Enfield , north London, which has sent plumes of thick smoke across the sky. 7.47am: The sheer frustation of many residents affecting by the rioting is evident. BBC Radio 5 Live is a must-listen for first-hand accounts this morning, broadcasting from Croydon, scene of many disturbances last night. In a report from Hackney, I heard the Rt Rev Adrian Newman, Bishop of Stepney, describe scenes there last night as “apocalyptic”. 7.44am: There has been a lot of debate – particularly in the comments section of our live blogs and others – about whether the police should be given water cannons to deal with the rioters, and whether the army should be called in. The home secretary, Theresa May, has just pretty much ruled on water cannon, in an interview on Sky News. The way we police in Britain is not with water cannon. The way we police in Britain is on the streets and with the communities. May said that she would consult senior police commanders today about any further resources they require. Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor of London, who has been manning the fort in the absence of Boris Johnson, was on BBC News last night, saying he did not want to see the army on the streets of London 7.36am: England’s friendly against Holland at Wembley tomorrow evening is under threat. With 70,000 football fans expected, it seems inconeivable that police will allow it to go ahead. Carling Cup ties involving West Ham and Charlton have already been cancelled. 7.34am: Three people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in London after an incident in Brent, north west London. At around 2.50am, a police officer was injured after a car was driven into him while he was trying to stop looters. He is in a stable condition in hospital. A second officer suffered minor injuries. 7.25am: In the comments, user Disgruntlednurse praises police in Bristol, saying they “kept on top of” the stituation there. Although damage around stokes croft/ M32 – in no way the wholesale rampage in other parts of the country. They kept in constant communication with us overnight so we could plan for any eventualities. 7.22am: More on the locally-organised clean-ups. A Riotcleanup website has been set up, which is posting locations of clean-up sites today. The locations posted so far are: Camden at 11am, meeeting outside Camden Town tube; Ealing at 10am, meeting at The Horse; Bethnal Green at 10am, meeting outside the Money Store; in Camberwell at 10am, meeting at the corner of Walworth Road and East Street and also 10am, a street clean outside Camberwell Church. In Birmingham , the plan is to meet at 10am at the Bull Ring centre. 7.14am: The story today will be about the reaction and the response. The home secretary, Theresa May, has been on ITV’s Daybreak programme. She said that those responsible for the riots would be brought to justice. She said: There is no excuse for these levels of criminality and it needs to be dealt with. These people need to see that there are consequences for their actions. We need robust policing but we also need to ensure that justice is done through the courts and this will begin today. Mrs May said there had so far been “strong leadership” from police and added that the government would ensure they had the resources in place to catch the rioters responsible. 7.10am: As we have been reporting, despite a police focus on Twitter, the real organisation has taken place on the closed BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) network. But while it has been the BlackBerry riots, it may be the Twitter cleanup, where the #riotcleanup hashtag is trending. 7.05am: Around the country, West Midlands Police arrested about 100 people in Birmingham after youths went on the rampage in the city centre’s retail area, near the Bull Ring shopping mall. Cars were set alight in Liverpool , and police officers were pelted with makeshift weapons including golf clubs as they tried to contain the gangs. Merseyside police have advised people in the Toxteth area to stay indoors. In Bristol , police dealt with around 150 rioters and residents were urged to avoid the city centre. Nottinghamshire Police said officers dealt with a number of sporadic disturbances in the St Anne’s area of Nottingham overnight. The local police station was attacked, up to 40 private vehicles were damaged, windows of houses were smashed and a container of 200 tyres was set alight, according the force. In Kent, five people were arrested by police following trouble in the Medway area. The force said fires had been set across Chatham, Rainham and Gillingham overnight. 6.45am: Good morning. After a third day and night of rioting and looting, disturbances spread from the centre of London to the outer fringes of the city and to other cities, with similar scenes repeated in Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Bristol. Welcome to our latest live blog. Here’s a summary of the Monday’s events: • Rioting spread throughout London from Monday afternoon onwards and into the early hours of Tuesday morning. Police struggled to cope with multiple outbreaks of looting as well as sustained violence in several places, most notably on an estate in Hackney. • Sustained looting, violence and attacks on property stretched from Ealing in the west, Enfield in the north, Hackney in the east, and as far south as Croydon. Shops and businesses were looted while scores of cars and buses were set alight. Huge fires were started in Enfield, where a Sony distribution centre on an industrial estate was destroyed, and in Croydon where a large furniture showroom and nearby homes were engulfed, with fires continuing around London Road. • David Cameron cut short his holiday in Italy and arrived back in the country in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Cameron plans to chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee. London mayor Boris Johnson also plans to return to the city later in the day. • Trouble has spread to other cities in the UK, including Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool. In Bristol, police reported 150 rioters moving through the city centre. In Nottingham, police had to deal with a crowd of 100. Merseyside police faced burning cars and criminal damage in south Liverpool, while there was repeated looting in the centre of Birmingham and violence elsewhere in the city, with an empty police station being set on fire. • The Metropolitan police in London reported that 334 people have now been arrested, while 69 people have been charged and two cautioned. In Birmingham, police said around 100 people have been arrested. London riots London Liverpool Mark Duggan Protest Richard Adams Matt Wells Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Lawrence O’Donnell: ‘Most Bipartisan Vote to Increase the Debt Ceiling We Have Seen in a Very, Very Long Time’
August 8, 2011 No Comment
Obama advisers , Democrat senators , and terminally stupid ideologues that have been for almost two days blaming Standard and Poor's downgrade of America's debt on the Tea Party have all been ignoring a very inconvenient truth. According to MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, “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” (video follows with transcript and commentary): LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: 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. That’s why Sen. Barack Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling when the Republicans had a majority in the United States Senate. It’s not that Sen. Obama was really opposed to raising the debt ceiling. He was just playing a political game with it trying to highlight Republican responsibility for the debt. This year we saw something we hadn’t seen before: some Tea Party members of Congress claiming that they would do anything to prevent an increase in the debt ceiling no matter what. It turned out – big surprise – a lot of them were lying, and they did in fact vote for an increase in the debt ceiling. In fact, 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. For the record, the House vote last Monday was 269-161 with 174 Republicans and 95 Democrats for, 66 Republicans and 95 Democrats opposed. In the Senate, last Tuesday's vote was 74-26 with 45 Democrats and 28 Republicans for, 6 Democrats and 19 Republicans opposed. Beside being “the most bipartisan vote to increase the debt ceiling we have seen in a very, very long time,” this could have been one of the most bipartisan votes on something of consequence in years. Yet all the blame for the downgrade according to White House officials, leading Democrats, and their media minions goes to the Tea Party. I guess the Left only likes bipartisanship when they exclusively get their way.
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• Full-scale alert as violence spreads across capital • Disorder breaks out in Birmingham city centre • Prime minister, mayor and home secretary return The prime minister cut short his holiday and flew back to Britain as London witnessed devastating scenes of violence stretching the emergency services beyond limit on a third night of rioting in the capital. Buildings were torched, shops ransacked, and officers attacked with makeshift missiles and petrol bombs as gangs of hooded and masked youths laid waste to streets right across the city. The sheer number of incidents – including in Hackney, Croydon, Peckham, Lewisham, Clapham and Ealing – seemingly overwhelmed the Metropolitan police at times, who had poured 1,700 extra officers onto the streets. Disturbances continued into the early hours on a breathtaking scale, and they spread outside London for the first time with riots reported in Birmingham and Liverpool. David Cameron, forced to break off from holiday in Tuscany, was this morning due to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, Cobra. He was travelling on a UK military flight leaving Italy at 3am. Asked why the prime minister had now decided to return, a Downing Street source said: “The situation has become more serious.” Officers from Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Surrey and City of London were drafted in to support the Met. But apparent “copycat” riots continued to spread in the wake of Tottenham’s riots on Saturday precipitated by the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan, 29, a father of four, last Thursday. So far 225 people have been arrested and 36 charged. The violence erupted in daylight in Hackney, east London, where police confronted rioters hurling missiles and setting fire to bins and cars. One officer could be seen lying on the ground after being struck on his shield by a missile. In Hackney’s Pembury Estate, the centre of the violence in east London, masked youths – both men and women – helped carry debris, bins, sticks and motorbikes, laying them across the roads to form a flaming boundary to the estate. Several buildings were set alight in Croydon, south London, one massive fire consuming the 100-year-old Reeves furniture store. The fires were so severe that approach roads into Croydon were thick with smoke leaving some residents struggling to see or breathe. “Words fail me. It’s just gone, it’s five generations. My father is distraught at the moment. It’s just mindless thuggery,” said owner Trevor Reeves. A bus was torched in Peckham as police struggled to respond to the spread of sporadic incidents. Witnesses said a 100-strong mob cheered as a shop in the centre of Peckham was torched and one masked thug shouted: “The West End’s going down next.” A baker’s next door was also alight. One onlooker said: “The mob were just standing there cheering and laughing. Others were just watching on from their homes open-mouthed in horror.” A trail of bins and abandoned vehicles were ablaze in Lewisham. At Clapham junction, looters – some as young as 14 – moved from shop to shop laughing as they smashed shop windows and clearing shelves of stock, unimpeded by over-burdened police. Tim Godwin, acting Metropolitan police commissioner, made a direct appeal to parents to get their children off the streets. “I do urge now that parents start contacting their children, and ask themselves where their children are,” he said. “There are far too many spectators who are getting in the way of the police operation to tackle criminal thuggery and burglary.” He said “significant disorder” had broken out in many communities. These included incidents in Camden, Bethnal Green where a Tesco was looted and two officers hurt, Stratford, Notting Hill, Colliers Wood and Dalston. Reassuring Londoners police were there in numbers, Godwin added: “We remain steadfast and determined.” The unrest spread beyond London with West Midlands police confirming outbreaks of disorder in Birmingham city centre. Shops including a branch of Louis Vuitton had windows smashed and were looted. An unmanned police station in Handsworth was torched. Extra officers were being sent into the streets of Britain’s second city. Merseyside police also confirmed ‘a number of isolated outbreaks of disorder,” including burning cars and criminal damage in south Liverpool. Boris Johnson, mayor of London, also cut his holiday in North America short and was returning overnight. Kit Malthouse, London’s deputy mayor of policing, said: “I don’t think anybody could have predicted this sort of horrendous spectacle.” As the home secretary, Theresa May, broke off her holiday to return to London, she condemned the “sheer criminality” of the violence. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said one-third more officers were available on Monday nightthan on Sunday, when shops were ransacked and torched in Brixton, south London, and trouble reported in Enfield, Edmonton, Walthamstow and Islington. Kavanagh vowed to deliver “speedy justice” for Londoners, condemning the waves of looting as “disgusting behaviour, ripping apart people’s livelihoods and businesses”. In a bid to contain the trouble , Scotland Yard introduced special powers in four areas – Lambeth, Haringey, Enfield and Waltham Forest, allowing stop and search without reasonable suspicion. The section 60 powers were invoked at midnight on Sunday. One incident of stop and search in Hackney was reportedly the catalyst for violence which erupted in Mare Street shortly after 4pm, and saw local hooded youths battle police. The Guardian understands senior officers are prepared to add more areas to the list. The special powers have been perceived as targeting certain ethnic groups, thus fuelling tensions. Meanwhile, the maker of the BlackBerry smartphones, Research in Motion, said it would co-operate with a police investigation into claims its popular BlackBerry Messenger service played a key role in organising the London riots. Brixton bore the brunt of Sunday’s violence. The Lambeth council leader, Steve Reed, said: “We are asking the mayor’s office for additional police for tonight and the next few nights.” Condemning the “copycat activity”, he said: “Somebody described it as gangs of kids doing Supermarket Sweep. It was Curry’s where they were after plasma screen TVs, and H&M and Foot Locker where it was clothes and trainers. It wasn’t about social issues, it was an opportunity to go on the rob.” Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, visiting Tottenham, said the violence would leave “big scars” on the community. Surveying the wreckage after the torching of businesses and homes in Tottenham High Road, he spoke to Steve Moore, who lost his jewellery shop in Saturday’s violence. “I’m devastated, it’s completely gone. My shop just doesn’t exist anymore,” Moore told him. Referring to the “copycat” violence across London, Clegg said: “Let’s be clear, the violence we saw last night had absolutely nothing to do with the death of Mr Duggan. It was needless, opportunist theft and violence – nothing more, nothing less.” Boris Johnson released a statement describing the scenes of violence and destruction as “utterly appalling”. “I understand the need for urgent answers into the shooting incident that resulted in the death of a young man and I’ve sought reassurances that the IPCC are doing exactly that,” he said. “But, let’s be clear – these acts of sheer criminality across London are nothing to do with this incident and must stop now.” Three police officers were taking to hospital after a car was deliberately driven at them in Chingford Mount, Waltham Forest, where a shop was looted on Sunday. An inquest into Duggan’s death was due to open on Tuesday though there seemed to be conflict between Scotland Yard and the IPCC over complaints by his family over “lack of contact” following his shooting. On behalf of Scotland Yard, Kavanagh said: “I want to apologise to the Duggan family because I think both the IPCC and the Metropolitan police could have managed that family’s needs more effectively”. Rachel Cerfontyne, who is in charge of the investigation, said: “Following my meeting with the family yesterday I am very clear that their concerns were not about lack of contact or support from the IPCC. Their concerns were about lack of contact from the police in delivering news of his death to Mark’s parents.” She added that “if necessary” the complaint would become part of the IPCC’s investigation. London riots London Metropolitan police Police Theresa May Caroline Davies Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Title: There You Go/Give My Love To Rose Artist: Johnny Cash Marshall Grant, the bassist and last surviving menmber of Johnny Cash’s original backing band, ‘The Tennessee Two’, died Saturday at the age of 83. Here’s some great footage from way way back. Boom-chicka-boom.
Continue reading …Title: There You Go/Give My Love To Rose Artist: Johnny Cash Marshall Grant, the bassist and last surviving menmber of Johnny Cash’s original backing band, ‘The Tennessee Two’, died Saturday at the age of 83. Here’s some great footage from way way back. Boom-chicka-boom.
Continue reading …Most of the time, in political history and in economics, things travel along a fairly predictable and relatively stable pathway. Debate is contained within a fairly narrow set of conventional and familiar choices. When it comes to economic policy, the Federal Reserve can lower interest rates or raise them a little. The government can pump a little more spending into the economy or a little less depending on the rate of growth. The economy generally starts moving again relatively quickly after a recessionary slowdown. In terms of political history, the more progressive party and the more conservative party have periods where one or the other is more powerful, but they each tend to have enough power to slow each other down, to check and balance each other. They resolve their legislative differences through a pattern of competition and compromise that is, again, fairly predictable and stable, and in periods of national crisis they come together and get big things done. These long periods of relative stability and predictability aren’t nirvana — most people’s quality of life and economic condition may not be getting better and might be getting gradually worse, as we have seen in the last 30 years of our country’s history. And lots of problems tend to go unresolved in these periods as well, as they don’t tend to be periods of major reforms or progressive advance, and people on the bottom end of society don’t tend to get lifted up. But stability and predictability at least keeps society chugging along, the economy keeps moving, and citizens have a sense of what they can expect from their government. Every so often, though, things get so out of whack that we come to a moment of maximum crisis. In these moments, conventional wisdom not only doesn’t work but actually makes things far worse. It happened with our economy in the Great Depression of the 1930s, and it happened with our political system in the Civil War era of the 1850s-60s. We are now, on a worldwide scale, in such an economic moment. What is even scarier is that increasingly it feels like we are simultaneously moving toward such a moment in our political system as well. At least in the 1930s, the political system worked well: voters kicked out the political party who had screwed things up, and the new government got things done that helped lift us out of the depression. And at least in the 1860s, the economy was functioning reasonably well in the Civil War era. Right now, it feels like both our economy and our politics are increasingly dysfunctional, and that is an incredibly dangerous place to be. Whatever happens next in our country’s politics, the economy has become completely derailed. We stopped maintaining the tracks, we stopped checking the brakes and engines on the train, and we have a hell of a crash on our hands. Between the U.S. and Europe, our answer has been to keep bailing out banks (when countries who owe a lot of money to bondholders are bailed out, it isn’t the people or government of that country that is bailed out, it is the bankers who own the bonds) hoping that one more bailout will solve things. When government spending goes up and tax collections go down because of the terrible economy, and the bankers demand we “tighten our belts,” it just makes things worse. The Federal Reserve, which has already poured tens of trillions of dollars into saving the banking system, and already has kept interest rates at historically low numbers for years, is mostly out of weapons to fight this battle. The train has already wrecked, but there’s another locomotive with weak brakes coming full speed down the same track. The only answer is to reject conventional wisdom economics, and start to look at big ideas that go against the established economic ideology, the ideology dominated by the Chicago school economists who believe that free markets solve all problems and that bankers are the masters of the economic universe. Both Europe and the U.S. need to take off the chains that tie us to these monstrously big megabanks, and their utterly corrupt ratings agencies. These enormous banks, far more than any other institution, caused the big train wreck of the economy with their too complex financial “innovations” and their big housing bubble, and now they are making things far worse by using their political and market power to force round after round of government austerity programs and bailouts. It is the big banks as well that have created the black hole of a housing market where prices continue to drop, more and more homeowners are going underwater on their mortgages, and foreclosures continue unabated. That black hole of housing will keep this country locked into a flat-lined economy for as far as the eye can see, unless and until policymakers finally stand up to the bankers and force them to write down those mortgages. It is, in fact, writing down debt — major amounts of it — that will be the biggest thing that helps this economy recover. We need less debt in our entire economy, and rather than kowtowing to the ones that wrecked the train by one bailout and self-defeating austerity program after another, we should be demanding that they write down a very large share of the debt they themselves helped create- in housing, in government debt, in our trade debt, and in other forms of debt. We need to do something else that bankers hate as well: encourage just a little bit of inflation. Worrying about inflation overheating when you have this amount of economy-wide debt, and the biggest danger in front of you is deflation from a dead economy, is quite literally insane. If inflation went to 4 or 5 percent, it would be a good thing right now because it would make all that debt easier to pay off, and it would mean that the economic engine would start running again. Finally, we need to focus our efforts — focus like a laser beam, as my old boss Bill Clinton used to say — on creating good jobs with good wage levels. Continually cutting spending in a moment like the one we are in now is utterly self-defeating, because every time you cut, more jobs are lost, more income and the spending that fuels the economic engine is lost. Right now is exactly when we need to be rebuilding our falling-apart infrastructure, hiring more teachers, investing in more job training and R&D, and helping the industries of the future get a solid start here in America. Not just the best but in fact the only way to balance our federal budget in the long run, as we learned in the 1990s, is for every American in the workforce to have a job, a job whose wages are heading up not staying flat. So stop listening to these Wall Street bankers and their entirely corrupt ratings agencies that rated thousands of derivative deals and credit default swaps AAA when they were pieces of absolute junk. Stop listening to the crazies who think we can cut our way to prosperity, because it has never worked and won’t work now — especially now. We need a strong and expanding middle class far more than we need big Wall Street banks with good balance sheets and big bonuses for their execs. The ancient Israelites had something they called “the year of our Lord” where all debts were forgiven. In Jesus’ very first sermon, he announced that he had come to “bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to the captives, bring the blind new sight, set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the year of our Lord.” We need some good news for our poor (which more and more of us are becoming). We need liberty for the captives of big banks and right-wing economic policy. We need the new sight that comes from taking off the blinders of the conventional wisdom that is strangling us to death. We are all downtrodden except for a very wealthy set of elites who are trying to economically enslave us, and we need to be set free. And we most assuredly need a modern version of the year of our Lord, where unsustainable debt is written down by these bankers who have had their run of the store for far too long. It is time for big, bold new ideas that will clean up the train wreck, rebuild the tracks and engine, and finally get it moving again. And it would help a lot if those new ideas were motivated by these kinds of 2,000-year-old values.
Continue reading …Most of the time, in political history and in economics, things travel along a fairly predictable and relatively stable pathway. Debate is contained within a fairly narrow set of conventional and familiar choices. When it comes to economic policy, the Federal Reserve can lower interest rates or raise them a little. The government can pump a little more spending into the economy or a little less depending on the rate of growth. The economy generally starts moving again relatively quickly after a recessionary slowdown. In terms of political history, the more progressive party and the more conservative party have periods where one or the other is more powerful, but they each tend to have enough power to slow each other down, to check and balance each other. They resolve their legislative differences through a pattern of competition and compromise that is, again, fairly predictable and stable, and in periods of national crisis they come together and get big things done. These long periods of relative stability and predictability aren’t nirvana — most people’s quality of life and economic condition may not be getting better and might be getting gradually worse, as we have seen in the last 30 years of our country’s history. And lots of problems tend to go unresolved in these periods as well, as they don’t tend to be periods of major reforms or progressive advance, and people on the bottom end of society don’t tend to get lifted up. But stability and predictability at least keeps society chugging along, the economy keeps moving, and citizens have a sense of what they can expect from their government. Every so often, though, things get so out of whack that we come to a moment of maximum crisis. In these moments, conventional wisdom not only doesn’t work but actually makes things far worse. It happened with our economy in the Great Depression of the 1930s, and it happened with our political system in the Civil War era of the 1850s-60s. We are now, on a worldwide scale, in such an economic moment. What is even scarier is that increasingly it feels like we are simultaneously moving toward such a moment in our political system as well. At least in the 1930s, the political system worked well: voters kicked out the political party who had screwed things up, and the new government got things done that helped lift us out of the depression. And at least in the 1860s, the economy was functioning reasonably well in the Civil War era. Right now, it feels like both our economy and our politics are increasingly dysfunctional, and that is an incredibly dangerous place to be. Whatever happens next in our country’s politics, the economy has become completely derailed. We stopped maintaining the tracks, we stopped checking the brakes and engines on the train, and we have a hell of a crash on our hands. Between the U.S. and Europe, our answer has been to keep bailing out banks (when countries who owe a lot of money to bondholders are bailed out, it isn’t the people or government of that country that is bailed out, it is the bankers who own the bonds) hoping that one more bailout will solve things. When government spending goes up and tax collections go down because of the terrible economy, and the bankers demand we “tighten our belts,” it just makes things worse. The Federal Reserve, which has already poured tens of trillions of dollars into saving the banking system, and already has kept interest rates at historically low numbers for years, is mostly out of weapons to fight this battle. The train has already wrecked, but there’s another locomotive with weak brakes coming full speed down the same track. The only answer is to reject conventional wisdom economics, and start to look at big ideas that go against the established economic ideology, the ideology dominated by the Chicago school economists who believe that free markets solve all problems and that bankers are the masters of the economic universe. Both Europe and the U.S. need to take off the chains that tie us to these monstrously big megabanks, and their utterly corrupt ratings agencies. These enormous banks, far more than any other institution, caused the big train wreck of the economy with their too complex financial “innovations” and their big housing bubble, and now they are making things far worse by using their political and market power to force round after round of government austerity programs and bailouts. It is the big banks as well that have created the black hole of a housing market where prices continue to drop, more and more homeowners are going underwater on their mortgages, and foreclosures continue unabated. That black hole of housing will keep this country locked into a flat-lined economy for as far as the eye can see, unless and until policymakers finally stand up to the bankers and force them to write down those mortgages. It is, in fact, writing down debt — major amounts of it — that will be the biggest thing that helps this economy recover. We need less debt in our entire economy, and rather than kowtowing to the ones that wrecked the train by one bailout and self-defeating austerity program after another, we should be demanding that they write down a very large share of the debt they themselves helped create- in housing, in government debt, in our trade debt, and in other forms of debt. We need to do something else that bankers hate as well: encourage just a little bit of inflation. Worrying about inflation overheating when you have this amount of economy-wide debt, and the biggest danger in front of you is deflation from a dead economy, is quite literally insane. If inflation went to 4 or 5 percent, it would be a good thing right now because it would make all that debt easier to pay off, and it would mean that the economic engine would start running again. Finally, we need to focus our efforts — focus like a laser beam, as my old boss Bill Clinton used to say — on creating good jobs with good wage levels. Continually cutting spending in a moment like the one we are in now is utterly self-defeating, because every time you cut, more jobs are lost, more income and the spending that fuels the economic engine is lost. Right now is exactly when we need to be rebuilding our falling-apart infrastructure, hiring more teachers, investing in more job training and R&D, and helping the industries of the future get a solid start here in America. Not just the best but in fact the only way to balance our federal budget in the long run, as we learned in the 1990s, is for every American in the workforce to have a job, a job whose wages are heading up not staying flat. So stop listening to these Wall Street bankers and their entirely corrupt ratings agencies that rated thousands of derivative deals and credit default swaps AAA when they were pieces of absolute junk. Stop listening to the crazies who think we can cut our way to prosperity, because it has never worked and won’t work now — especially now. We need a strong and expanding middle class far more than we need big Wall Street banks with good balance sheets and big bonuses for their execs. The ancient Israelites had something they called “the year of our Lord” where all debts were forgiven. In Jesus’ very first sermon, he announced that he had come to “bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to the captives, bring the blind new sight, set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the year of our Lord.” We need some good news for our poor (which more and more of us are becoming). We need liberty for the captives of big banks and right-wing economic policy. We need the new sight that comes from taking off the blinders of the conventional wisdom that is strangling us to death. We are all downtrodden except for a very wealthy set of elites who are trying to economically enslave us, and we need to be set free. And we most assuredly need a modern version of the year of our Lord, where unsustainable debt is written down by these bankers who have had their run of the store for far too long. It is time for big, bold new ideas that will clean up the train wreck, rebuild the tracks and engine, and finally get it moving again. And it would help a lot if those new ideas were motivated by these kinds of 2,000-year-old values.
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enlarge Oh, thank God. I was so worried we would change horses in midstream — when Geithner’s economic guidance has done so much for the entire country: Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has told President Obama he plans to remain in his job through the fall of 2012, keeping in place Obama’s longest-serving economic adviser after the first-ever U.S. credit downgrade and renewed fears of a second recession. Geithner, who has been battling financial crises since 2007 as a top Federal Reserve official and then Treasury secretary, considered leaving the administration after Congress raised the federal debt ceiling and reached an agreement with Obama to tame the national debt. But several developments have made his departure more difficult. The debt ceiling was raised with only hours to spare. The deal to tame the debt fell short of what Geithner and Obama wanted. The economy has suddenly taken a turn for the worse. And on Friday, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating for the first time. And the White House, worried that it would be hard to find a suitable replacement, pressured him to stay. Geithner told the president Friday morning that he would remain in his post. Hours later, he had to go to the White House to meet with Obama again and tell him the nation would likely lose its AAA credit rating. On Sunday afternoon, Geithner joined an emergency conference call involving the seven major economic powers to discuss the impact of the downgrade. “Secretary Geithner has let the president know that he plans to stay on in his position at Treasury,” Treasury spokeswoman Jenni LeCompte said in a statement. “He looks forward to the important work ahead on the challenges facing our great country.”
Continue reading …S&P Downgrade Creates Pressure On Super Committee To Cut, Cut, Cut Even More…Even Though We Know It Won’t Work
August 8, 2011 No CommentThis will be absolutely devastating. Even though we know these draconian cuts will not heal the economy but will actually make things worse (all you have to do is look at the results from similar measures in the UK and Europe), you have to wonder about our so-called leaders and their fervent faith in the same economic voodoo that has never worked to date . Because with the same cast of characters, I think we can assume the same kind of outcome. At most, I expect the closing of some small tax loopholes that will count as “revenue” — and the rest will be taken out of the hides of the most vulnerable. Moral of the tale: When a corrupt rating agency says, “Gee, I notice you haven’t cut your safety net programs for the elderly and poor all that much,” the craven politicians respond, “How much would you like me to cut , sir?” WASHINGTON — The downgrade of the United States government’s credit rating by Standard & Poor’s is almost sure to increase pressure on a new Congressional “supercommittee” to mute ideological disagreements and recommend a package of deficit-reduction measures far exceeding its original goal of at least $1.5 trillion, lawmakers said Sunday. Even before the panel is appointed, its mission is expanding. Its role is not just to cut the annual budget deficit and slow the explosive growth of federal debt but also to appease the markets and help restore the United States’ top credit rating of AAA . Otherwise, taxpayers may eventually have to pay more in interest for every dollar borrowed by the Treasury. The report certainly got the attention of Capitol Hill. “I think this is one of the most telling, important moments in our country’s history right now,” Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Sunday on the NBC program “Meet the Press.” He added: “This poses a set of choices not just about a recession. It’s about a financial crisis and the structure of our economy, which really has been misallocating capital.” In the S.&P. report on Friday outlining the reasons for removing long-term Treasury debt from its list of nearly risk-free investments, the company cited doubts about the ability of the two political parties to bridge their gulf on fiscal policy. Credit rating agencies have thus emerged as a powerful constituency whose concerns are taken seriously by Congress. S.&P. did not advocate a specific mix of increased revenue and spending cuts. But it did say that overhauling entitlement programs was “key to long-term fiscal sustainability” and that the debt deal “envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare.” Oh, if only we had real leaders in our political establishment. And if pigs had wings, they could fly.
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