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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (105243)	3/1/2009 2:54:40 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542946

The 2010 election strategy looks good right now. --------------------------------- THE GOP'S 'VOICE AND INTELLECTUAL FORCE'.... We talked yesterday about how anxious Democrats and their allies are to "promote Rush Limbaugh as the public face of the GOP." As Greg Sargent reported, "key leadership staff in the House and Senate, and in all the political committees, have been encouraged by senior Dem operatives to push this message wherever possible." To help drive the point home, consider what viewers heard on "Face the Nation" this morning. Not missing any opportunity to make Rush Limbaugh the figurehead of the GOP, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called the brash talk show host the "voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party" on Sunday. Appearing on CBS's Face The Nation, Emanuel brought up Limbaugh without being prompted. Applauding the conservative radio personality for being upfront in his desire to see the president fail, Emanuel went to great lengths to make the case that Limbaugh, more than any other contemporary figure, is the leader of the GOP. Emanuel wasn't subtle. Indeed, he emphasized the fact that "whenever a Republican criticizes him, they have to run back and apologize to him and say they were misunderstood." The more Limbaugh talks, and the more he actively roots against the United States, the more Democrats like Emanuel will be exploiting this for all it's worth. In 2008, the top priority for Democrats and their allies was tying George W. Bush around the Republican Party's neck. In 2009, Bush has been replaced by a figure that's arguably far more loathsome: a drug-addled shock-jock who's actively rooting for America's decline. The key difference? In 2008, Bush hid from public view. In 2009, Limbaugh can't wait to jump in front of the cameras and share his twisted ideology with anyone who'll listen. He is, in other words, making the Democrats' job easier. —Steve Benen 12:15 PM washingtonmonthly.com

To: JohnM who wrote (105243)	3/1/2009 9:40:11 PM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542946

>>To be sure, most of A.I.G. operated the way it always had, like a normal, regulated insurance company. (Its insurance divisions remain profitable today.) But one division, its “financial practices” unit in London, was filled with go-go financial wizards who devised new and clever ways of taking advantage of Wall Street’s insatiable appetite for mortgage-backed securities. Unlike many of the Wall Street investment banks, A.I.G. didn’t specialize in pooling subprime mortgages into securities. Instead, it sold credit-default swaps.<< John - If Mr. Nocera's facts are accurate, which from what I've read elsewhere they are, then it wasn't the Ivy League Liberals who ran AIG that created the problem for the company. It was the Oxford or Cambridge Educated Liberals in London. At least, I would assume that it's safe to assume that's true, since according to one of the posters on this thread, evil deeds must, by default, be ascribed to liberals. It's nice to know that the actual Ivy League Liberals, who were running AIG's insurance business, were running it will. The hubris and foolhardiness of those financial guys is astonishing, though. - Allen