Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Obama Addresses the RTCA Dinner (VIDEO)
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Thursday, June 18, 2009
Dr. Nancy Synderman being realistic on Health Care (VIDEO)
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Maybe it's a good thing...
Maybe it's a good thing that Tom Daschle didn't get the damn HHS job.
UPDATE (11:32am): This from Huffington Post. It's on the bottom of the very story I linked to above. Daschle felt the heat.
UPDATE (11:32am): This from Huffington Post. It's on the bottom of the very story I linked to above. Daschle felt the heat.
A spokesman for the former majority leader called the Huffington Post to insist that Daschle is "still committed to the public plan" and was not urging Obama to drop it from his proposal.
"He was saying that we shouldn't let any issue derail what would be health care reform," said Eileen McMenamin, Director of Communications at the Bipartisan Policy Center. "He definitely did not say there should be no public plan."
Daschle, said McMenamin, did believe that a public plan could be administered by the states. And his chief concern with Obama'a approach was not the policy basis but the politics of getting it through Congress.
Hmmm....
It seems that the New York Times has changed its headline on the Obama poll...
Obama Poll Sees Doubt on Budget and Health Care
Not much better, especially after you...you know...read the numbers in the poll. But certainly more accurate.
I really, really, really, really doubt complaints from this blog had anything to do with the change.
Headline honesty...
At least CBS is honest in its reporting of the same NYT/CBS Poll...
Y'see? It notes the high marks for the Economy and overall popularity, but notes the areas where he's weak. This is all I ask.
Poll: No Dent In Obama's Popularity
CBS/NY Times Survey Finds Approval Stays At 63%; High Marks On Economy, Foreign Policy, Though Not Auto Industry Or Deficit
(CBS) Republican criticism of Barack Obama's handling of the economy and other issues does not appear to be having much effect on the president's popularity, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds. Mr. Obama's overall approval rating now stands at 63 percent, unchanged from last month. Just one in four Americans says they disapprove of the president.
Y'see? It notes the high marks for the Economy and overall popularity, but notes the areas where he's weak. This is all I ask.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
WTF?!?!?
Please, someone explain what the hell's up with Headline Writers nowadays?
Here is the story on the President's recent poll numbers from the New York Times: In Poll, Obama Is Seen as Ineffective on the Economy
Okay.
But looking at Question Five of the poll, you know...where the question is put to people directly, it says: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the economy? The answers were as follows:
57 percent approve
35 percent disapprove
7 percent don't know.
I can go ahead and ask my Father, the Mathematics Professor for confirmation, but...those numbers seem to...well...how does one put this??...show that the public approves of the way the President is handling the economy.
In fact, they represent a one point uptick (for a poll that's been hovering around 55-61 points since the beginning of February). Even Keith Olbermann, whom I normally trust without fail, pissed all over the numbers.
Of course, the lead paragraph of said story is as follows:
Riiiiight.
Let's take down the score, then move the goalposts.
Sure, if you want to ask how's the President doing on the Economy, you're going to get the same basic answer we've gotten for the last four months. There's no story there. So let's make one up. Let's telescope on the specifics of what people don't like, and we'll make headlines.
Liberal media my black #$!$$...
Here is the story on the President's recent poll numbers from the New York Times: In Poll, Obama Is Seen as Ineffective on the Economy
Okay.
But looking at Question Five of the poll, you know...where the question is put to people directly, it says: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling the economy? The answers were as follows:
57 percent approve
35 percent disapprove
7 percent don't know.
I can go ahead and ask my Father, the Mathematics Professor for confirmation, but...those numbers seem to...well...how does one put this??...show that the public approves of the way the President is handling the economy.
In fact, they represent a one point uptick (for a poll that's been hovering around 55-61 points since the beginning of February). Even Keith Olbermann, whom I normally trust without fail, pissed all over the numbers.
Of course, the lead paragraph of said story is as follows:
A substantial majority of Americans say President Obama has not developed a strategy to deal with the budget deficit, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, which also found that support for his plans to overhaul health care, rescue the auto industry and close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, falls well below his job approval ratings.
Riiiiight.
Let's take down the score, then move the goalposts.
Sure, if you want to ask how's the President doing on the Economy, you're going to get the same basic answer we've gotten for the last four months. There's no story there. So let's make one up. Let's telescope on the specifics of what people don't like, and we'll make headlines.
Liberal media my black #$!$$...
5 Things You Need To Know about the President's Financial Reform Plan
I can't claim credit for this. This originally appeared as part of a slideshow on the Huffington Post, but since the text was so much more valuable (and well written) than the pictures were interesting, I thought I'd provide them here:
1. The Financial Services Oversight Council: President Obama wants to install a single agency that’s charged with overseeing the entire financial system -- and which would make sure that government regulatory bodies actually work together. Call it a National Department of Risk.
Bottom line: Presumably, someone will be watching out for those now-ubiquitous “systemic risks.”
2. A Bigger, Beefier Fed: Under Obama’s plan, chairman Ben Bernanke and the Fed will keep their newly expanded powers. The Fed will oversee, well, almost any financial institution. If companies don’t behave, the Fed can now “compel corrective actions” and has “emergency authority.”
Bottom line: Don’t mess with the Fed. Wall Street will continue to have to placate the central bank.
3. Leverage, So Outdated: Obama’s reforms will require companies like the failed Lehman Brothers to have certain levels of cash on hand for emergencies, and to cover consumer deposits. Safety nets, in other words.
Bottom line: The days of cheap loans are likely gone, both for corporations and consumers. Capital requirements could also dampen Wall Street earnings.
4. Safer Financial Innovation: The Obama plan will rein in those combustible and exotic financial products like over-the-counter derivatives and credit default swaps. The plan also aims to remedy loan securitization.
Bottom line: The company that gives you a loan will now have a stake in making sure you’ll pay it, which should help prevent another mortgage crisis.
5. The Consumer's New Best Friend: Say hello to the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which will try to protect Main St. from complex mortgages, credit cards and predatory lenders. Think of it as the FDA for finance.
Bottom line: Curbing abusive practices from lenders and financial companies will certainly help. But no word on whether or not this new agency will make your credit card statements any easier to read.
1. The Financial Services Oversight Council: President Obama wants to install a single agency that’s charged with overseeing the entire financial system -- and which would make sure that government regulatory bodies actually work together. Call it a National Department of Risk.
Bottom line: Presumably, someone will be watching out for those now-ubiquitous “systemic risks.”
2. A Bigger, Beefier Fed: Under Obama’s plan, chairman Ben Bernanke and the Fed will keep their newly expanded powers. The Fed will oversee, well, almost any financial institution. If companies don’t behave, the Fed can now “compel corrective actions” and has “emergency authority.”
Bottom line: Don’t mess with the Fed. Wall Street will continue to have to placate the central bank.
3. Leverage, So Outdated: Obama’s reforms will require companies like the failed Lehman Brothers to have certain levels of cash on hand for emergencies, and to cover consumer deposits. Safety nets, in other words.
Bottom line: The days of cheap loans are likely gone, both for corporations and consumers. Capital requirements could also dampen Wall Street earnings.
4. Safer Financial Innovation: The Obama plan will rein in those combustible and exotic financial products like over-the-counter derivatives and credit default swaps. The plan also aims to remedy loan securitization.
Bottom line: The company that gives you a loan will now have a stake in making sure you’ll pay it, which should help prevent another mortgage crisis.
5. The Consumer's New Best Friend: Say hello to the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which will try to protect Main St. from complex mortgages, credit cards and predatory lenders. Think of it as the FDA for finance.
Bottom line: Curbing abusive practices from lenders and financial companies will certainly help. But no word on whether or not this new agency will make your credit card statements any easier to read.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The President's Interview on Bloomberg (Link)
The Bloomberg Interview with the President is here.
If I can find actual video, I'll post it. But these yahoos look as uncooperative as ABC News.
If I can find actual video, I'll post it. But these yahoos look as uncooperative as ABC News.
The President's Interview on CNBC (VIDEO)
I don't think CNBC has gotten this "embedding" thing figured out yet.
The spaces you see between this sentence, and the video are not mine. Nor is the permanently floating CNBC logo in the middle of your viewer.
The spaces you see between this sentence, and the video are not mine. Nor is the permanently floating CNBC logo in the middle of your viewer.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Obama's Speech to the A.M.A. on Health Care (VIDEO)
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