Republicans devour book criticizing New Deal

From Politico...

There aren’t any sex scenes or vampires, and it won’t help you lose weight.

But House Republicans are tearing through the pages of Amity Shlaes’ “The Forgotten Man” like soccer moms before book club night.

Shlaes’ 2007 take on the Great Depression questions the success of the New Deal and takes issue with the value of government intervention in a major economic crisis — red meat for a party hungry for empirical evidence that the Democrats’ spending plans won’t end the current recession.

That's the thing...there's no way of telling if the New Deal really worked because WWII came along and ended the Depression. And of course the Democrats' economic policy is GD dirty socialism - but in these times it's worth a shot. Or even better...let's start World War Three!

Iran convicts American journalist of espionage

From Politico...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called for the immediate release of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi — convicted two days ago of spying by a court in Tehran — saying “the charges against her are baseless.”

“We hope that the actions will be taken as soon as possible by the authorities in Iran, including the judiciary, to bring about the speedy release of Ms. Saberi and her return home,” Clinton told reporters, adding that her trial was “nontransparent, unpredictable and arbitrary.”

Saberi, a 31-year-old freelancer who has worked for several news organizations, including National Public Radio and the BBC, was convicted of espionage on Saturday and sentenced to eight years in prison during a one-day, closed-door trial. She was initially detained about three months ago for working as a journalist without proper credentials.

Gotta have one of these.

Otherwise you're no journalist...you're just a damn spy.

School security ten years after Columbine

(CNN) -- In the wake of the tragic shootings at Columbine High School, some schools across the country turned themselves into near-fortresses.

They installed metal detectors and security cameras, banned backpacks, required students to carry IDs and posted police in the hallways -- all in the name of keeping students safe.

Now, 10 years after those highly publicized shootings in which two young men killed 13 people and themselves, school security has taken another dramatic turn.

Some of the noticeable security measures remain, but experts say the country is exploring a new way to protect kids from in-school violence: administrators now want to foster school communities that essentially can protect themselves with or without the high-tech gear.

Give the kids guns so they can defend themselves. I'm going to Hell.

Obama to visit CIA amid criticism

(CNN) -- President Obama on Monday will visit CIA headquarters amid criticism from an ex-CIA chief that he compromised national security last week by releasing Bush-era memos on interrogation tactics.

What was in that memo that people didn't already know about? Do we interrogate suspected terrorists by peeing on their faces?

Clinton: US policy towards Cuba failed

Eh! Ooh! Damn commies![/old man]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that US policy towards Cuba has failed, welcoming an offer to talk from the Cuban president.

She said the US was "taking a serious look" at how to respond to President Raul Castro's comments, which she called an "overture".

Mr Castro had said he was ready for discussions covering human rights, political prisoners and press freedom.

The US passed a law this week easing restrictions on Cuban Americans.

The move will allow Cuban Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money home more easily.

Somali pirates attack another U.S. ship

Somali pirates have attacked and damaged an American ship carrying humanitarian aid. But the ship and crew are safe under Navy escort.

A US Central Command spokesman says the Liberty Sun reported being attacked around 11:30 yesterday morning. The vessel's owner, Liberty Maritime Corporation, said the pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. The ship was en route from Houston to Mombasa, Kenya.

The military spokesman, Navy Captain Jack Hanzlik, says the Liberty Sun has a crew of about twenty.

Accused Nazi accessory remains in U.S.

John Demjanjuk, who is accused of being a Nazi death camp guard is back home after his deportation to Germany was stopped by a federal court.

Family spokesman Ed Nishnic, who's also Demjanjuk's former son-in-law, says his family will continue to fight the deportation.

"Don't forget he was extradicted back in 1986 wrongfully for something he didn't do by the very same people that tried to have him extradicted again," Nishnic says.

The arrest warrant in Germany claims Demjanjuk was an accessory to about 29,000 deaths.

Obama names "border czar"

A former federal prosecutor will oversee issues on the US-Mexico border, including drug violence and illegal immigration through the Southwest.

An anonymous Obama administration official says Alan Bersin will be named the so-called border czar today. Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to announce his appointment.

The Obama administration has promised to crack down on border violence and drugs and arms trafficking.

Tax day - with hours to go

It's tax day, and procrastinators have one day to file federal income tax returns or seek an extension.

But if you haven't done it yet, you can do it online for free. Internal Revenue Service spokesman Eric Smith says many people are eligible to file their taxes electronically, for free, through the IRS website.

"You can do your return for free, fill it out for free, send it to the government for free," Smith says. "If your income is $54,000 or less, you qualify."

The IRS also says if it's been tough financially, failing to file will just make things worse.

Here in Boston, only the Fort Point Post Office branch near South Station will remain open until midnight for last-minute paper filers.

Rescued ship captain returns home today

Capt. Richard Phillips, the American cargo ship captain rescued by the American Navy from Somali pirates, will return to the United States on Wednesday with his crew after reuniting with them in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, his company said.

Good job, troops.

Families move away to find work

Unable to find work in Keosauqua, Iowa, Dustin and Michelle Wellman took their last $200, packed their belongings into a 1999 Dodge Neon and drove 1,000 miles with their four-year-old son back to Robertsdale, Ala., the town where Mr. Wellman grew up.

Sucks that jobs are harder to find.

Finally, an Answer on Bank Lending

How are banks using the aid they have received from the federal government? A chief investigator, Neil Barofsky, told Congress in a hearing yesterday that banks are providing new loans to customers, retiring debt, or buying mortgage-backed securities. This answer is the first of its kind since the government launched the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Barofsky dismissed the doubts that banks could disclose such information.

"One thing is clear," he said. "Complaints that it was impractical, impossible, or a waste of time to require banks to detail how they use TARP funds were unfounded."

Barofsky told the Senate Finance Committee that some responses were general, but others provided granular detail on spending, including identification of specific loans made possible with TARP money.

The government has given some $300 billion to the banks so far, and has committed to spending billions more. Barofsky's testimony came as the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, released its own assessment of the bailout and called on the Treasury Department to increase transparency and oversight.

Treasury's Neel Kashkari, manager of the bailout, called these recommendations a thoughtful step forward in a letter to GAO.

But some lawmakers are frustrated with the freedom that TARP has given banks. Barofsky estimated that $2.9 trillion in taxpayer money is at risk.

This is a huge, unprecedented financial commitment, said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the committee's chair.

"It strains the comprehension of taxpayers and policymakers alike," Baucus said.

Lawmakers showed willingness to increase G.A.O.'s power to follow the money wherever it goes. Baucus and Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, have introduced legislation that would give GAO access to financial records and other data of banks participating in the aid program.

"I start with the premise that the public's business ought to be public," Grassley said, "and the expenditure of this money Ive put in the category of public."

New GM chief says bankruptcy "probable"

DETROIT — The new chief executive of General Motors, Frederick A. Henderson, said Tuesday that bankruptcy was “more probable” than ever for the automaker but that he still hoped to successfully restructure the company out of court.

I'm surprised and glad that they aren't getting bailed out. If the American automakers aren't willing to make better cars, their industry deserves to die. Hopefully the big three will get their act together so the employees can keep their jobs.

Obama takes new budget to Capitol Hill

by Seth Graham and Ben Tan

Up yours, not spending!
President Barack Obama makes his way to Capitol Hill as House and Senate committees begin work on a budget for the coming fiscal year.

Amid a growing deficit, the budget tops $3.6 trillion. House Minority Leader John Boehner believes the president's plan takes the country down the wrong path. "The president's budget spends too much, taxes too much, and it borrows too much," Boehner said. "It raises taxes on every American family and small business," he added.

Both the House and Senate plan to slash his proposed 11 percent increase in discretionary spending.

President Obama's Online Meeting

Smoking is very bad for you okay.
President Barack Obama has announced an online, town hall style meeting on the White House's web site this Thursday.

In a new video, Obama says he wants Americans to ask him questions directly.

"One of my priorities as president is opening up the White House to the American people," the President said, "so that folks can understand what we're up to and have a chance to participate themselves."

Obama will take questions on the economy and other topics at WhiteHouse.gov.

Men do not like older women

Maureen Trickett, an event organizer for 8minuteDating.com, had an idea based on all the hype surrounding younger men dating older women. She decided last year to plan an event specifically for that demographic - a night of speed dating for women-of-a-certain-age and the boyish men who love them.

Trickett posted the event online, and women quickly signed up. But the men - they were slow to show interest.

Understandable...it's not like they all look like Demi Moore.

Actress Natasha Richardson dies at 45

Some sad news...

Acclaimed actress Natasha Richardson, the wife of actor Liam Neeson and daughter of acting legend Vanessa Redgrave, died Wednesday of a critical head injury resulting from a skiing accident; she was 45.

Barney Frank: "We own this company"

CNN) -- As the tide of outrage over AIG bonuses continued unabated Wednesday, a congressional committee became the epicenter of the issue as Edward Liddy, CEO and chairman of the troubled insurer, prepared to answer questions about executive bonuses.

On Wednesday's "American Morning," Rep. Barney Frank, who chairs the House Finance Committee, shared what was legally and legislatively within the government's power on recovering the AIG bonuses and reforming the whole financial incentive system.

Kiran Chetry, CNN anchor: When he appears before your committee today, what type of assurances are you guys seeking from Mr. Liddy with regard to these bonuses?

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts: Well, I don't have a lot of confidence in Mr. Liddy's view at this point. When he said that first he couldn't get the money back because they had contractual rights but also that he was worried about not retaining them, it left me unconvinced he's really going to be trying.

The notion that we want to retain these people, that we want to pay the people who messed it up in the first place so they don't leave, is just backward to me. I think we would probably be better off if they did leave.

We are going to ask him to fully be cooperative in our effort, but I think the federal government has to take the lead on the lawsuits. We own this company in effect, and we're not asking that these bonuses be rescinded because we have lent money to the company.

I'd love to see the government rip AIG a new one.

AIG Executive Faces Grilling on Capitol Hill

AIG chief Edward Liddy will testify on Capitol Hill later this morning about almost $200 million in bonuses at the financial giant.

He will defend the payments that have caused outrage among politicians and taxpayers.

The bonuses went out in an effort to keep employees from fleeing the troubled financial products department. Liddy though still admitted the bonuses are probably distasteful in talks with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

Geithner said he will deduct the cost of the bonuses from the pending $30 billion cash infusion to the insurance giant, bringing the total amount of taxpayer money to AIG to around $200 billion.

Geithner's statement was an attempt to calm the general publics outrage over the bonuses. AIG has beefed up security outside its suburban Connecticut office, amid reports of death threats and irate phone calls to employees, some of whom have submitted resignations.

Meanwhile, NYU finance professor Roy Smith said AIG can't afford to lose the top talent that received those payments.

"To risk having many of those people walk out of you, and have to replace them with people who are postal workers, is probably a foolish thing to do."

Liddy himself did not get a bonus. They range from $1,000 to $6.5 million.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo reported that 73 AIG employees nabbed $1 million or more in bonuses, all of them in the derivatives unit that brought the company down.

Something is deeply wrong with this outcome, Cuomo wrote to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Frank now urges the Obama administration to fight the bonuses, more of which may be owed to AIG executives under various contracts.

Some Congressmen are threatening to slap such bonuses with a 60-100% tax.

President Barack Obama said Monday that the bonuses were an outrage, and has ordered Geithner to take all legal measures to block them.

Other members of Congress have taken shots at the AIG executives. Representative Sam Johnson (R-TX) said they should be "turned over to the marines," and Charles Grassley (R-IA) is raising eyebrows too.

"They need to either do one of two things...resign or go commit suicide."

Grassley also said the corporation is acting irresponsibly by giving bonuses made of taxpayer money in a Fox News interview yesterday.

And he's not the only one. Other lawmakers are working on a bill to tax those bonuses at one hundred percent. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said if the executives don't give the bonuses back, then they'll take them by force.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT), chair of the Senate Banking Committee is also calling for the repeal of the bonuses.

Connecticut lawmakers said yesterday they hope to change a state law thats being partially blamed by AIG as a reason for the bonuses.

The Wage Act allows employees to sue for twice the full amount of contractually owed wages in this case $330 million as well as attorneys fees if the employer refuses to pay.

One administrative worker said Financial Products has a reputation for paying out huge bonuses.

In her first year after being transferred there from another branch, the woman's annual bonus jumped from $12,000 to $40,000.

New Yorkers celebrate St. Patty's Day

From NYTimes.com...

Tens of thousands of marchers proceeded up Fifth Avenue on Tuesday for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, the festive mood of the procession — believed to be the 248th — tempered by the deteriorating economy in both the United States and Ireland.

New York City ranks behind Boston, Philadelphia, Tampa, Cleveland, Baltimore, Chicago and other cities in the proportion of residents who list Irish as their primary ancestral group, but the St. Patrick’s Day parade is nonetheless a political rite of passage for politicians and notables.

Even as the parade began at Fifth Avenue and 44th Street at 11 a.m., a group of lesbian and gay Irish organizations demonstrated 13 blocks away, at 57th Street, criticizing the organizers for their policy barring gay groups (though not individuals) from marching.

The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, who is the city’s most prominent openly gay official, has stayed away from the parade since being told she could not wear even a pin, button or sash indicating gay pride. She plans to take part in a large St. Patrick’s Day reception in Washington on Tuesday evening, at the invitation of President Obama.

For many spectators, the attention was on the sacrifice of service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

My plan for today is, of course, to get drunk, go to South Boston carrying a boom box playing "I'm Shipping Up to Boston", walk into a bar and punch the first guy I see.