More From the Other Washington

Governor Locke selected for Secretary of Commerce Baltimore Sun Tribune

Previously Sims selected Deputy Secretary of HUD
Northwest Progressive Institute
Not to mention: Seattle Police Chief Kerlikowske for Drug Czar

Speaking of Housing:
Housing Price Decline Accelerates
by Dean Baker Center for Economic and Policy Research
and Selections:E-Voting Security Fixes...
by John Turner ARS Technica
and other Similarities:
San Francisco Chronicle May Shut Down
by: Robert MacMillan and Janet Kornblum, Reuters
Seattle Post-Intelligencer to go Web only…or be shut down by Classified Intelligence?

And President Obama Getting Warmer by Robert Scheer Truthdig (Un-State of the Union)
Or Cooler? Freeing Up Resources...for More War by: Norman Solomon, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Or Unbounded? Beyond Scarcity: Reinventing Wealth in a Progressive World
by: Joe Brewer, t r u t h o u t | Perspective *

[This sampling is not fully read yet (nfry) but forms a web of sorts with orginal sources in italics for the prior link. ]

* The pieces from Cognitive Policy Works .[Kerbel/Brewer]. in Previous Post of sorts have been read and are recommended as bold updated reflects [also .Lakoff. ].

Un-State of the Union

Joint Session of Congress Huffington Post
Preemptive Strike
CNN breakdown.
Unresponsive Reply:
MSNBC In the spirit of NO,
we send our hearts and spirit and must have seen it coming.

In all these areas, Republicans want to work with President Obama. We appreciate his message of hope, but sometimes it seems we look for hope in different places. Democratic leaders in Washington -- they place their hope in the federal government. We place our hope in you, the American people. In the end, it comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government. We oppose the National Democratic view that says the way to strengthen our country is to increase dependence on government. We believe the way to strengthen our country is to restrain spending in Washington, to empower individuals and small businesses to grow our economy and to create jobs.

Honestly? (my bold) I repeat, honestly? "In the end, it comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government."
Yet we may have something to agree with here in my italics.
And never forget: "We are Americans" and corporations are not.(at least not a word in the Republican response.)

Speaking of Code.[2-26-09: Lakoff]
And Deeper.[2-26-09: Kerbel ]

To unweave the Rove of the nattering nabobs: It is not the Democratic policy to increase dependence on government, any more than to not restrain spending in Washington, or not empower individuals and small businesses.

And Deeper: [2-26-09: Brewer]
And Deeper
and back again.
Maybe someone has.

And a missed Forward* or Bottom Line a suggestion or Un-Cola

* This was not on my RADAR, I don't know about my SONAR, but it is short and sweet and acts as forward and summary if not update to the Conservative Foray. And may mix well with a shot of this allegory of freedom and fields or courts.

[2-26-09: Bold added where dated and just a note that these are highly recommended. While I have not fully read all links, I have now heard both the President's speech and the Republican reply.]

I haven't done the math..

or the English...
But there is something difficult about this humor The Solution to the Budget Deficit: The Peter G. Peterson Intergenerational Fairness Tax Credit
and this (Eye of Be)Holder... justice.

Maybe some have but I would estimate that a grade level or three or degree or more would be required to understand the economics and the context of Dean Baker and Eric Holder.

BTW: Just because something is written so, does not mean, so it is received. For there is a difference between a grade level and a grade, just as there is a difference between a rise and a slippery slope. I don't know if humor is easier to understand than economics or justice, but it might not tell you who is getting it.

Reading (listening) between the lines.

For Howard Dean there is not much between the lines:
Getting something done "from the outside".

For President Obama there is much between the lines:
Getting attacks from "the Beltway press".
"a lot of criticism of it" (Stimulus Package)
"that could have been because of the name, because an effort, it's two thirds of it was actually spending."

Obama: What do you think a stimulus is?
"by necessity we are moving quickly"

Who owns the economy? It depends on if you are looking for responsibility or blame. Obama is looking at the responsibility of going forward without mistakes of the past, and "the Beltway press" is eager to pass the buck. Especially The Beltway Boys who are shooting clay pidgeons or is it cr...?(that game with dice)
[Hint "red herrings": Burris, Holder and the Fairness Doctrine. For me; no thumbs up or down, just side ways.]

Czar Replacement

Tossing this out:
Governor Dean for Office of Health Reform

And what about the Black Hole of Politico. Or is it Red Bull?
Speaking of Politico, Agriculture and Homeland Security.
Governors are CEO's. HELLO!
Of course government is not a business,
but tell that to Bush and to those who voted for the MBA President.
If it was, it would be in the red.
GOOD BYE! Rummy,Rove et al.
How has the Drug Czar and the war on drugs been doing anyway?
Fine for the pharmaceuticals I guess.
Speaking of hurting.

Political Calculus

Or Real Economics?More Trickle Down for New Orleans?
Or just what the doctor ordered.
Just say no economics>

Trickle Down Employment or Intelligent Design?
Or is the tripartite design of the stimulus the design that gives an alternative to bipartisanship or return to partisanship?

I'm guessing recalculations might be in order.
P.S. Has Louisiana's economy really not been hit as hard a most or is it like the global warming scam? It would seem that following Katrina and with the slow trickle down of aide, the needs and opportunities could be the reason or is it season. I am inserting irony here, others can insert the facts or economics of comparative recovery from disasters. Does this translate to hope or luck in Louisianna and for whom?

[Did we include apoplectic in the Four Eh?*]

* or montage

(Eye of Be)Holder Courage

While I still have some digging into the adequacy of the choice of words there is the issue of the adequacy of our media and the markets and the arts of communication.

Post Lesson?

Monkey Business Speaking of Hart? Or Not!
Pre-Con-Science?

[Bad humor is like.."If you have to explain it, it isn't funny". But maybe also (sorry Sarah) Satire is, if you get it, you aren't really being funny. The cartoon in poor context can be understood, but is in the wrong context, and serious business.]

Media Intersect or Round File?

Bucking the Buckets
The Usual Flow
Play it Backward or call Joe the Plumber?
Palin anyone? Yeah Right, 'nuf said?

Culture War
or
Bi-Partisan Deconstruction.
Get 'em Done!

NOT EVEN or...(nfry)

Monkey Business

I had a better punchline but a call intersected my thought process, regarding the media cacophony regarding a recent tragedy.

Get Over It! Was the cry that I lost and we may be better for it, but local reaction as well, is overblown. That line may return to me or be better lost, but the carton* and the shock are part of freedom of the press, and the surprise should be moderated by this intersection:
The New York Post and The Washington Times- No Shock!
The Washington Post and The New York Times- No Awe!
Not to mention the bottom line of shock and awe.
Duh-Oh! Thanks Homer** or is it But-Head?

[* I can't recall this choice of word, but was somehow multi-tasking. Carton is a word for package, but I still feel a blank. Carton is also a place where the missing are hoped to be linked with their loved ones. I was already into the packaging of the next lines, so it may have been fortunate to have skipped a clue. I knew I would return but not for this difficulty.

** The comedy is sometimes a tragedy as in Greek and that is probably the root of many problems if not the media.]

[Duoh! Cartoon. Now...That's the ticket. Hmmmm?

[I separate the tragedy of the dangerous monkey and the disgusting cartoon.]

Conservative Foray (4A)

The right wing rhetoric suffers
from four faults or defaults:
Anecdotal
Apocryphal
Anachronistic
Academic[*]

In particular:
Lew Rockwell
Anne Wortham
Betsy McGaughey
Floy Lilley **

I did not select these, they were being spread by a victim of the victim hoods.

[* This 4A was held in draft, and pondered till I arrived at the right Initialism. Speaking of design and initialism the origin was:
often A$$ Backward Oops!! - Pardon my Cheney , I meant acronym-ism.]

**[Hopefully I have these in descending order.]
[(CTTC)Cutting through the Cr@p:
I would love for economists to cut through some of this.]
[Academic is a word like politician and lawyer that have developed a poor reputation, not to mention rhetoric and Swift Boaters. Or Bottom Line? ]

[(CTTC2.0)I have two bold links above that I would like economists to examine, in particular in light of the bad rap Keynesian economics keeps taking. In that regard, on a lighter and less silly or harsh note; Greenspan seems to be learning, or has he, and in regards to the Floy piece and the bottom line;
is there not some synergy that needs to be worked out? Meaning current efforts cannot be compared to past efforts directly, while problems that are missed will be the devil in the detail. The Carbon Market may be a solution, but not if the Market period is the problem. In other words, I have not looked too deeply into the hot air side (climate matters) of the equation, but feel that the thin air problem (financial matters)is deeper. To re-embed in aphorism, there is bang for your buck and there is the value of your bang. And there is likely more that matters.

Speaking of Nightmares:

or the flight of the American Dream:
Protect Social Security and Medicare!
On the strength of a name* in economics it takes two wings.

*(nfry)

[An earlier post links reference to a flight that was based on experience, which coincidentally, Ed Schultz happens to note in regards to the less fortunate one more recently.]

More Wings!

Breaking news or fixing King County:
Dow Constantine joins the race for King County Executive.

Previously (see the race above) Larry Phillips announced.

[At this time I am neutral as far as I can tell, but I will review my links for that sake. see bold in no particular order.]

Happy President's Day

Speaking of Shout Out:
Just where did George Washington say:
"Government is brute force." ?
Really! Not to mention where does the question mark go?
So even though it is neither president's actual birthday
and not our first president's till next Sunday,
I do him the reference here:Better context

At his inauguration, Washington stated, "This Constitution is really in its formation a government of the people . . . in which all power is derived from and, at stated periods, reverts to them. . . . It is purely a government of laws, made and executed by the fair substitutes of the people alone. . . [The American form of government is] a new phenomenon in the political and moral world, and an astonishing victory gained by enlightened reason over brute force."

[UPDATE:ARARA not... ]
In this regard for wondering:
From LewRockwell.com
and Where thin air meets hot air,
there is More Scrutiny Needed.

And more on Thrasymachus:
Or the Mealymouth Debates.*

The Nature of Justice. The question which opens this immense dialogue is: what is justice? Several inadequate definitions are put forward, but the most emphatically presented definition is given by a young Sophist, Thrasymachus. He defines justice as whatever the strongest decide it is, and that the strong decide that whatever is in their best interest is just (review again the Athenian position in Melian Debate). Socrates dismisses this argument by proving that the strong rarely figure out what is in their best interest, and this can't be just since justice is a good thing.

*No disrespect for the Athenian position but a play on the media or maybe the right. (Actually I did just review it, and then the history that Athenians were defeated by the Spartans or Typhoid. ) Story aside I wish to note my leap based on the words that preceded and how one leaps. To this: Some expect their thinking or success to not be based on others. While they may be right in parts, together they cannot stand without facing the wrong. Freedom in particular does not stand or fall alone. And in view of some wrongs, must not. Yet arguments on economics and the environment are a case of not even being able to survive without some outside force. Or a case of the case for a free market, not being able to survive without the workings of the market as it actually exists, while anachronism and stories run through it. [Bumper stickers and name calling aside, there is a tendency to oversimplify, but here goes. It may be a case of the bubbleheaded elite and who blows it for whom.]But I guess that is just disrespect for the Athenian position and respect for the review.

Myths for review:
Ruin your health with the Obama Stimulus...
Thin air meets hot air...

ARARA not big deal compared to New Deal

AKA: Jobs Bill / Stimulus Package
Compared to GNP and federal budget:
more to come.(xe.com)
But anacronistic comparisons to Iraq War?
Less than New Deal, and second New Deal.

[Update 2-16-09]
This post originated on the premise that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARARA) is supposed to be the biggest economic bill in history, which the above Factbook (xe.com)link clearly disputes. But the saintliness and ruinousness of the New Deal may be just what Obama ordered. In other words: hopefully, lessons learned.

More to learn?
Next Stimulus
Bill Rekindles
Plan Bolder

Speaking of Shout Out and the American Dream: I woke up and googled Apples and Oranges Economics and then this was in my email from Thrasymachus.

SHOUT OUT!

Glenn Beck said: George Washington said:
Government is brute force...
Interesting context...

Better context

At his inauguration, Washington stated, "This Constitution is really in its formation a government of the people . . . in which all power is derived from and, at stated periods, reverts to them. . . . It is purely a government of laws, made and executed by the fair substitutes of the people alone. . . [The American form of government is] a new phenomenon in the political and moral world, and an astonishing victory gained by enlightened reason over brute force."

Questionable context: "Being brute force, it can never do un-alloyed good."

Regardless of source, I agree. That is the nature of forces.

Key word: un-alloyed if it exists. Or unalloyed Fox.

"a royal huff"

"Our Addiction to Fake Outrage": Could it be self-righteousness or open markets?* Information should be free flowing but...needs a filter not a Drudge. That is the dilemma: who?

Certainly not trickle down; talk about "bucket shops".

Progressive Strategies: Social Darwinism? Forgetting nature and God.

People forget to credit their environment, and take for granted what they got and expect others in different environments to do as well and take the blame for theirs. Shoe is on the other foot, or foot in mouth, shoot it. Grass is greener, blah, blah, blah, dot, dot, dot,** etc.

* the nature of information is that what shocks, gets attention (and awe), and feeds the market, rather than information that puts things together which is more complicated, much like the difference between war and nation building. On top of that to expect government not to have harder work to create laws and execute them(laws not people) and then the difficulty of the fourth branch has certainly not evolved in a straight line.

** another word for fertilizer is making the rounds

Happy Birthday Friends!

Darwin
Lincoln
Harvey
Thrasymachus

Now the background on two: Harvey is not a rabbit but a real friend and today is his birthday. It is probably not Thrasymachuses birthday, but his namesake's was yesterday and he preemptively stomped off "in a royal huff". Possibly because I gave him that nickname. That, after he had earlier complimented me with a reference to Jabberwocky. Hence this looking glass.

A Necessary Recovery Compromise

Update: ThinkProgress.org "A Necessary Recovery Compromise"
[And Further OurFuture.org "Darn Good First Step"*]


Also a reply to Right Wing Fear Monger: "Conservative Media Echo Chambers..."

Link not what your country can do...(below)

It is hard for the country to get on the same page when some can't read or graffiti all over it. But I hate to give art a bad name. And maybe if they are not being charged for it, they should at least not be encouraged or paid for it. But oh the fear that would create for the market.

* speaking of fear in the minds of mice

"Can't Get There From Here"

OurFuture.org by Robert Borosage
Been there done that.
Re: Bottom link.
That is the only place to get from.
Here at least, and getting others there.
If this is loopy, yes.
But there is a lot of there there,
and not enough here here or is it hear?

My point being, there is a lot of fear from change, and facing it will change a lot. And that must be faced as well, as opposed to one fell swoop without the following and follow up. So in the words that others parse, there is hope it seems. While others seem to fear the seem and just rip.

[Or is there more here? I am not being too critical of the OurFuture.Org piece or too supportive of this TruthOut.Org piece from Christian Science Monitor, but in balance there is some chance for change. It hinges on the parsing of the words like nationalizing and the partnership and interdependence of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve for the sake of the economy(not to mention individuals and businesses) not just the markets.]

[UPDATE: We got this far: congratulations Huffington Post. (Sam Stein)]
[Not to mention Keith Olbmerman and Jonathan Alter confirming my analysis. "Necessary but not sufficient..." ]

[UPDATE 2-12-09: A Necessary Recovery Compromise ThinkProgress ]
[ALSO addressing Right Wing Fear Mongers: "Conservative Media Echo..."]

"More Scrutiny Needed!"

Bloomberg Commentary by Betsy McCaughey
Not necessarily the one to do it.

Update: 2-13-09 [Shout Out: Media Matters]

[Update 2-12-09 "Conservative Media Echo Chamber..."
Also more on Misinformation... ]

[from dialogue with Thrasymachus * ]
...the last paragraph was an eye opener if you believe it. Well not really; it confirms my world view or rather your world view. Health care should be a growth industry and cost is no object.

But second: health-care reform is made up of more than just government programs, and will not replace the healthcare industry or the insurance industry, so it is very easy to cherry pick and hits the nail on the head with my last post:

It might be easier to agree what not to do, than what to do, as long as failure is an option. But failure is not an option; it is a choice. This may seem like lost words, but failure is a potential outcome. And it can no more be simply allowed**, than freedom. Maybe this is Philosophy 701, but the Washington Post is not up to Journalism 201, let alone the economy.

And this gal is not not up to Journalism 101. WWWWWH? (that too...or also)

BTW: I really did some ridiculous math (further amendment to my blog) that went on in the comment section. If the $800 billion (jobs bill) were purely partisan or completely extremist (utopian?) and the choice were between more Bush tax cuts, and all food stamps (which I can't imagine anyone proposing) (but probably some on the right might) the Bang for the Buck would be negative .71 / dollar or positive .73 / dollar. But that is only if some would have it only their way. HOWEVER it seems even a balanced partisan bill would result in closer to zero effectiveness. This is extreme rhetoric(and math), but seems to demolish the moderate approach as well. It does however prove the importance of new thinking rather than more of the same.

* a nickname for an emailer
** see previous post for these asterisks and below link for Bloomberg

hmmm?

New Thinking on the Economy
by Dean Baker,
co-Director of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

also Beat the Press

[This points to an interesting problem or ROR:
(see labels for explaination)

The government is not getting its money's worth when buying bad assets. Anyone who understands how the economy works and the market works should not wonder. That is how it works. That is the point of buying bad assets, whether one wonders whether it should be done or not. If someone else would buy them the same would apply. The housing bubble* is a similar mechanism within the greater mechanism that is the financial problem.

How the economy works is different than how economics works. The economy is the thing. Economics is an equation. They both need tweaking and can work the way they are designed, but will tweak someone. Unfortunately an equation in economics will work only to the extent that everything (that is needed or wanted) is included in it. The economy works regardless but almost everything is included, except they are tweaking when they do the economics. And speaking of bubbles, they leak.

It might be easier to agree what not to do, than what to do, as long as failure is an option. But failure is not an option; it is a choice. This may seem like lost words, but failure is a potential outcome. And it can no more be simply allowed**, than freedom. Maybe this is Philosophy 701, but the Washington Post is not up to Journalism 201, let alone the economy.]

* housing equals assets except for the financial blowing of the economics.

** meaning failure should be prevented, and freedom promoted(are these not good points to work on?)

[Speaking of link(and equations): the stimulating if not shaky journalism below.(nfry)]

[only glanced at but likely recommended read: and see comments and embedded Krugman. For now: They'll be back.]

[That was Shwartznegger but later Ron Reagan covers similar territory with a guest who earlier slammed the stimulus. That was in December, so it was not the current plan. Which should be called what is: ARARA for Jobs! or just the begining or what is a quick and practical start. But does have a good chart on "Bang for the Buck", which depending on the math(see comments), could make a 1 trillion dollar difference in effectiveness.] [Post comment comment: of course this is as ridiculous a hypothesis as Plato's Republic, but for the sake of dialogue, a totally bipartisan package, could be seen to have potential for zero stimulus, as dollar for dollar is not really a bang.]

Not to mention...

Left, Right and Center.

I really did not know there was one.;-)

Speaking of not...
some sorting I don't need to.

Not to mention - optimists.

Label (X)

LABELS

Label (IX)

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Label (VIII)

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Label (VII)

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Label (VI)

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Label (V)

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Label (IV)

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Label (III)

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Labels (II)

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Labels (II)
Labels (III)
Labels (IV)
Labels (V)
Labels (VI)
Labels (VII)
Labels (VIII)
Labels (IX)
Labels (X)

perfect the enemy

How French.
How bipartisan.
How Bush.

and D'enemy Stimulus
(at least it is a list)

word of the day: polarity(I was going add an Ironic label but everything seems to be.) But it does come down to who gets to spend and who gets to pay and the theory that government can't solve our problems but people like corporations can, and more freedom is the solution. Like freedom to fail? And freedom to make bundles failing.

Labels label in draft.

[Support the Stimulus:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
A!ra!ra!
To end an error and an era!
a-ra-ra, A ra ra, ARARA, A rah rah EH?

A rah rah for jobs!
More embedded - shell

word of the day

Just my word:
bailout

Sort of a bubble up! [Corrections are being made to the earlier portion of the bailout to clawback to reality. Imagine: A CEO from a corporation needing to take help from TARP expecting that maybe his talents will be more valued at corporations that do not need TARP.]

Local Selection of RON SIMS

King County Executive Ron Sims
selected Deputy Secretary of HUD

King County Council Larry Phillips is in the wings. Having preemptively thrown his hat in the ring for King County Executive.

Rumblings are that he will be fighting for credibility from some factions of his own party for his apparent neglect of unincorporated parts of the county exemplified by the closing of pools. [FULL DISCLOSURE: This is not from the links here but from my participation as King County Committeeman for my Legislative District Democratic Party.]

Pass the Trillion.

The problem with some Democrats? They listen. The problem with others, they play by the rules. Grayson is the new Democrat, Franks the old Democrat. OK, I am trying not to spin this, but others spin about the situation.

I find it hard to blame the Republicans for holding the line for what they believe, right or wrong. I find it hard to urge the Democrats to hold the line by taking back from the table what may have been put in the package to appear non-partisan or to please certain pockets. But that is the nature of politics and the transparency is apparently being worked on. There still may be some passing the buck but it is about what works and change. Ching, ching, no pun.

BIG HINT: There is a table at the table;
Fiscal Economic Bank for the Buck Moody's basically seems to dispute what Republicans think(or at least say) works. In fact it seems that spending is 2 to 6 times more effective than tax cuts depending on the focus. In fact there is little bang for the buck Bush style. But this is apparently on GDP and that may not be an effective metric. One must still follow the money.

[filed]more for later
Stimulus package: Jobs gained or saved? Christopher S. Rugaber AP
Senate to demand big changes in stimulus bill. Zachary Coile, SF Chronicle

[for tinkering]
Poetic Justice
hiatus or sabbatical
Stop that!
Tinkering...
American Recovery
Previous post may take unwinding