Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (57760)	10/8/2006 12:14:32 AM
From: regli	Respond to of 116555

Hamilton strikes me as a very conventional fellow that never wants to look at the other side of an issue. Given what has happened on the political front, I consider anybody naive or compliant who DISMISSES conspiracy theories. I am not saying that all of them are true but when a country goes to war based on lies dished to the public, it seems utterly naive not to be extremely suspicious when pricing events take place at just the right time before an election. We talk too much about Orwell here to believe that the people in power would suddenly behave like angels when it comes to the economy, the most important driver for the election and in particular when it concerns the most important commodity influencing the sentiment of the electorate. BTW, I also don't think that the 4 year cycle performance of the stock market is an accident as it tracks the election cycle far too closely.

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (57760)	10/8/2006 2:16:18 PM
From: regli	Respond to of 116555

Editorial 'No Further Fallout' White House stonewalling and the Jack Abramoff scandal washingtonpost.com Sunday, October 8, 2006; B06 REMEMBER WHEN President Bush promised to restore honor and integrity to the Oval Office? He doesn't either, it would seem. A report by the House Government Reform Committee, based on three years of e-mails and billing records from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's former law firm, detailed how Mr. Abramoff and his team billed clients for hundreds of contacts with White House officials and dispensed coveted tickets to sporting events and concerts to favored officials, including adviser Karl Rove and Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, then the White House political director. A particular recipient of Mr. Abramoff's favors was his former assistant, Susan B. Ralston. She had gone to the White House to work for Mr. Rove but stayed in close touch with her former boss -- more than half of Mr. Abramoff's 66 contacts with the White House were with her. Mr. Abramoff turned to her as a conduit to Mr. Rove and others, seeking her help in placing allies in government or obtaining other favors, not always successfully. Ms. Ralston, in turn, used Mr. Abramoff as a personal Ticketmaster service, taking free tickets to Bruce Springsteen and Andrea Bocelli concerts, Capitals, Wizards and Orioles games. When Ms. Ralston was looking for four floor seats for a Wizards game -- valued at $1,300 -- Mr. Abramoff emailed back, "For you? Anything!" You might think a White House worried about honor and integrity would want to look more closely at Mr. Abramoff's dealings. You might think it would be concerned about whether Ms. Ralston violated the rules that prohibit administration officials from taking gifts valued at more than $20, though there is an exception for gifts based on preexisting friendships. You might think it would want to make clear that -- whether technically permitted by the rules or not -- this is unacceptable behavior from government officials. Not this White House, which has been resolutely incurious about Mr. Abramoff's activities and equally unwilling to provide information about it -- making it impossible to know how many of the reported contacts are classic Abramoff puffery and how many real. "Nothing more will come from the report, no further fallout from the report," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Friday. Ms. Perino's comments were occasioned by Friday afternoon's announcement that Ms. Ralston was resigning. Not, mind you, because she did anything wrong but because, as Ms. Perino said, "she did not want to be a distraction to the White House at this important time." White House lawyers won't bother to figure out whether Ms. Ralston violated the gift rules, officials said, because she's leaving anyway -- and, according to counselor Dan Bartlett, "without any animosity from us." Indeed, Mr. Bartlett said, "She's been a tireless worker for the president, and we will be sad to see her leave." A White House even a little concerned about honor and integrity might have managed to summon up a tiny hint of criticism -- not to mention a promise to make sure its employees behave in a way that befits the term public servant. A White House with nothing to hide would release information about Mr. Abramhoff's his meetings and contacts with its officials.