Health Care…and Wall Street
I wasn’t going to lead with this topic but I watched the entire health care summit on Thursday, and it’s really quite comical to have someone like Democratic Congressman Charlie Rangel featured prominently in terms of the House leadership only to learn minutes after the forum had broken up that he had been admonished by the House Ethics Committee for taking corporate-funded junkets to the Caribbean. That pretty well sums up the state of affairs these days. Our system, one that perpetuates the reelection of these bozos, is a sham and throwing some of the bums out in November is far from the solution.
But on the healthcare issue, first we had the run-up to the event. I’ll comment on the other side.
According to the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, by 49%-43%, those surveyed oppose passage of a healthcare bill like those that Democrats have drafted. [The latest Newsweek survey has it 49%-40% against.] Americans by a 52%-39% margin oppose using the procedure known as reconciliation, whereby a 51-vote majority rather than the 60 is needed to bypass a potential Senate filibuster. But reconciliation is where we are now headed.
“In short, Mr. Obama has staked his entire presidency on today’s summit.
“If you are not convinced, just listen to the president’s own radio broadcast last weekend: ‘What’s being tested in the healthcare summit is not just our ability to solve this one problem, but our ability to solve any problem.’ Consider what three years without effective government in Washington could mean, not only for America but for the entire Western world.
“The absence of effective U.S. leadership will dash any hopes of progress in foreign policy, whether on broad issues such as energy, trade and climate change or on security threats such as Afghanistan, Iran and the Middle East.
“But even more troubling would be the economic and financial effects. Gridlock over healthcare would imply similar stalemates on taxes, public spending, the budget, macroeconomic stimulus and financial reform. As a result, an active response to any future financial crisis might become impossible. Even worse, any important action to control U.S. government borrowing could be ruled out. If the financial markets seriously reached this conclusion, all the debates about government debt and public spending in Britain, Greece and other countries would be a waste of breath. A genuine loss of confidence in America’s fiscal outlook would create a financial crisis so horrific that actions by the British or European governments would be swept away like beach huts in a tsunami.”
“A mere three days before President Obama’s supposedly bipartisan healthcare summit, the White House released a new blueprint that Democrats say they will ram through Congress with or without Republican support. So after election defeats in Virginia, New Jersey and even Massachusetts, and amid overwhelming public opposition, Democrats have decided to give the voters what they don’t want anyway.
“Ah, the glory of ‘progressive’ governance and democratic consent….
“The larger political message of this new proposal is that Mr. Obama and Democrats have no intention of compromising on any incremental reform, or of listening to Republicans, or any other, ideas on health care. They want what they want, and they’re going to play by Chicago Rules and try to dragoon it into law on a narrow partisan vote via Congressional rules that have never been used for such a major change in national policy. If you want to know why Democratic Washington is ‘ungovernable,’ this is it.”
“(What) should be remembered are the three broad questions that the discussion showed are the real source of division:
“Is the goal comprehensive or incremental change? This basic difference emerged at the very outset of the summit, in an exchange between Mr. Obama and Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander.
“Democrats want a comprehensive approach that overhauls insurance practices, expands coverage, changes Medicare and attacks costs all at once.
“Republicans don’t simply question that approach, but flatly reject it. ‘We’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t do comprehensive well,’ Mr. Alexander said. Then, uttering the phrase that became the mantra of the day for his side, he said Republicans want to throw out the big bills already passed in favor of a ‘step-by-step’ approach.
“Is access or cost the top priority? Democrats want to expand coverage to nearly all Americans, because they think that is a laudable societal goal and because they say the absence of universal coverage actually is driving up costs….
“Republicans essentially argue the opposite: Washington’s top goal ought to be to hold down costs first, and then rely on those lower costs to bring about expanded coverage by making it easier for people to obtain and keep coverage….
“Should government or markets set the standards? This area of dispute helps explain why the two parties can’t reach a consensus even on points on which they seem to agree: allowing insurance policies to be sold across state lines, and allowing individuals and small businesses to come together to form big pools to buy insurance jointly.”
It ended up being government should set minimum standards vs. individuals and market forces taking the lead.
“Those are honest disagreements. The problem is that, in closing, Mr. Obama held out only modest hope that they can be resolved in the month or so he gave lawmakers: ‘I don’t know frankly whether we can close that gap,’ the president said.”
“As usual, the quality of the comments got worse the closer you got to the party leadership. The Democratic Senate leader, Harry Reid, gave remarks that veered between the misleading and the incoherent. Statements from Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, were partisan spin. The Republican leaders, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, were smart enough to stand back and let Senator Lamar Alexander lead the way, which he did genially and intelligently. While Alexander was speaking, Reid and Pelosi wouldn’t even deign to look at him….
“(You also) got to see the Obama presidency encapsulated in one event. At the very end, the president summarized some possible points of agreement between the two parties, offered some concessions and asked Republicans to see if they could make some on their own.
“As always with the Obama compromise offers, this offer seemed to be both sincere and insincere. Embodying the core contradiction of the Obama presidency, the president seemed both to want to craft a new package and also to defend the strictly Democratic approach. I think he’s a bipartisan man stuck in a partisan town, but maybe he’s an iron partisan fist in a velvet postpartisan glove.”
“If we’re lucky, Thursday’s summit will turn out to have been the last act in the great health reform debate, the prologue to passage of an imperfect but nonetheless history-making bill. If so, the debate will have ended as it began: with Democrats offering moderate plans that draw heavily on past Republican ideas, and Republicans responding with slander and misdirection.
“Nobody really expected anything different. But what was nonetheless revealing about the meeting was the fact that Republicans – who had weeks to prepare for this particular event, and have been campaigning against reform for a year – didn’t bother making a case that could withstand even minimal fact-checking.”
“Mr. Obama (did not help) himself by his manner. The summit highlighted, even showcased, something unappealing and unhelpful there, a tendency to attempt to show dominance and command by patronizing, even subtly bullying, even trimming. All people in public life have moments like this – most people do, in whatever walk – but you’re not supposed to have them when you’re trying to sway minds, reach out and build support.
“Which left me doubting that was what he was actually trying to do.
“The way the meeting was arranged, the president was the teacher, the lecturer. Arrayed before him were the bright if occasionally unruly students. He was keen to establish that it was his meeting – he decides who speaks next and who should wrap up, he decides what is and is not ‘a legitimate point.’ He was Mr. President, they were John and Lamar. He wielded a shiny pen like an anchorman eager to show depth and ease. He even said, ‘There was an imbalance in the opening statements because – I’m the president.’ Yowza. Grace shows strength, accommodation shows security. This showed – well, not strength. When Rep. Eric Cantor attempted to make a sharp point, the president took the camera off him by calling for his aides and conferring with them as Mr. Cantor spoke.
“One thing about Mr. Obama is that he is in many ways an unusually true-to-form political figure. Nothing forces him off his subject. Opposition doesn’t deflect him. He also, as he demonstrated in the 2008 debates, likes to speak long to take the oxygen out of the room, to tire his opponents and leave them having to decide which of his many statements to address first….
“What the meeting made clear is what the Democrats are going to do – not step back and save the moderates of their party but attempt to bully a bill through the Congress.
“This is boorish of them, and they’ll suffer for it.”
“In the end, after all the bipartisan cooing, the President’s 20-minute closing argument explained where the debate really is. Democrats won the election and they are going to do what they want to do, starting next week and on a partisan vote if they can shanghai enough Members.
“The point of yesterday’s session was to give a soothing, moderate political gloss to a government healthcare takeover that will raise costs, greatly expand the entitlement state, and reduce choice and competition – the opposite of everything Mr. Obama claims.”
Some of the above commentary, even Ms. Noonan’s, was far too easy on the president. I was jotting down my own notes about him during the event, scribbling, “Just who is this guy?” “Just let him run at the mouth.” “I am right!” [Obama’s air of superiority.]
Responding to a Republican who said such and such an issue should be addressed at the next summit, our president, who has been telling us for a year there is nothing more important than the healthcare issue, shot back, “We won’t do another of these because people don’t have 7-8 hours to spend on it.”
This summit was a sham, through and through, and as I’ve consistently said, the healthcare legislation, which at 2,400 pages better have some good ideas, still doesn’t attack what should be item one. Not affordable healthcare. Keeping people alive once they enter the hospital! You know how I’ve been harping on this fact…that 100,000 a year die of infections picked up in our facilities each year? Check this out…from a Reuters story this week.
According to a new study, the first to detail the ever-worsening problem of hospital-acquired illness, some 48,000 patients die annually from pneumonia or blood poisoning picked up in the hospital. Those who developed the blood infection sepsis not only died at a rate of one in five, but the survivors stayed in the hospital 11 days longer after surgery, at a cost of $32,900 per patient.
What am I missing? A real president would have assembled the congressional leadership a week after his inauguration and said, look, we can work together and pick off these issues, one by one, paying for them as we go, but I’m giving you a deadline of six months or I’ll do everything in my power to keep you guys from going on summer recess.
Yes, I believe as the Republicans do that the critical issue of healthcare reform should be tackled on an incremental basis. I believe that the issue of fraud is important and not to be scoffed at as the president did on Thursday. I believe, as Sen. Coburn hammered home, that a huge part of our healthcare problem is that we take too many tests. I believe there should be far more of a very public emphasis on prevention, much of which can be accomplished at little cost with some very effective public service announcements, for crying out loud. Look how effective all our pronouncements on washing one’s hands proved to be in combating H1N1. The president led that effort. We need more of that.
But the bottom line of what is being rammed through is that we can’t afford the healthcare plan in its present form. One of the summit’s chief performers was the aforementioned Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Over the years, Coburn has consistently decried how much Washington spends. To wit:
“For the past several weeks the American people have been inundated with analysis about what’s wrong with Washington largely from the perspective of Washington insiders who are frustrated about health care and political retirements. We’re told that gridlock, procedural holds, partisanship and extreme ideology are preventing members of Congress from working together. While some of this analysis is true – Washington is petty, partisan and shortsighted – few are acknowledging that Congress does enjoy remarkable unity in one critical area: spending beyond our means.
“In the past two years, an institution supposedly paralyzed by gridlock has succeeded in passing the most consequential pieces of legislation it handles every year – appropriations bills – by 3-to-1 margins. In the past few weeks, Congress has increased the debt limit from $12.1 trillion to $14.3 trillion but made no effort to eliminate any wasteful or duplicative spending. Since 1994, both parties have worked together to create 90,000 new earmarks, with only a handful of earmarks going down to defeat.
“The problem, therefore, is not gridlock. The problem is that Congress is working in a bipartisan fashion to make our economic future less secure. The facts show that Congress is controlled by a supermajority of members from both parties who believe it is fine to borrow and spend far beyond our means and avoid hard choices….
“If we try to borrow our way out of insolvency, we could face a collapse in the value of the dollar, skyrocketing interest rates, hyperinflation or all of the above. Our decision to give potential adversaries enormous leverage over both our foreign policy and domestic economy is a national security crisis waiting to happen….
“President Obama’s appointment of a debt commission to address spending is an indirect rebuke of the spending supermajority when a direct rebuke would be more helpful. The American people believe we already have a commission to confront our debt. It’s called the United States Congress. If members of Congress aren’t up to that task, we don’t need a new commission, we need a new Congress….
“The problem in Washington is simple: The future of our republic is at risk not because we disagree but because we agree intensely about spending our way into oblivion. We are broke, but not broken. The American people have the power to put our nation on a sustainable course and end the spending supermajority that threatens our future.”
Amen, Senator, but your conclusion is still not the answer.
Two weeks ago I cited former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s statement that “spending is untouchable.” For Sen. Coburn and the few of his ilk that seek to do something about it, it’s an impossible task, which is why a new healthcare entitlement is such a huge issue.
Greenspan’s successor, Ben Bernanke, weighed in on the deficits in his semi-annual congressional testimony, saying that if they aren’t addressed you’ll see problems such as those noted by Sen. Coburn above. Bernanke was then asked how quickly the deficits could become an issue in terms of the economy.
“It could become a problem tomorrow if bond markets are not persuaded that Congress is serious about bringing down the deficit over time.”
That’s why I sounded the alarm myself last WIR. Our day of reckoning could be here sooner than we think. The other crises in the world, however, such as in Greece and Spain, are lending support to our dollar and Treasury markets for now.
As for the economic recovery, Alan Greenspan described it as “extremely unbalanced,” meaning big corporations and the rich are carrying the load, while “short-term credit is literally withdrawn.” Commercial real estate is doing a number on the lenders most likely to aid small business. Related to this, the FDIC reported that U.S. banks posted their sharpest decline in lending last year since 1942. Of such inaction recoveries fail.
And Bernanke continued to offer that the Fed will keep interest rates low for “an extended period” because the recovery is far from strong and that the rate of unemployment will decline very slowly. Certainly the recent rise in weekly jobless claims lends credence to this theory. Forget that fourth quarter GDP was revised upward to 5.9%, and that the first quarter number may be solid as well, it’s what happens after and as of today I see zero reason to be optimistic.
But let’s jump across the pond to address the European crisis, particularly Greece and Spain. Public sector workers struck for a second time over the government’s austerity plans in the former. The European Union is demanding Greece lower its budget deficit 4% over this year and the government is proposing a hike in the VAT, higher fuel prices, and benefit cuts.
At the same time, many point to Spain as a bigger immediate issue. The housing bubble here was responsible for more overbuilding than has ever occurred in the history of mankind, but the banks’ books are loaded with unsold homes and they haven’t recognized the losses yet. It’s a stranglehold on the economy and the unemployment rate among the young is a staggering 45% (20% overall). One of the many issues here, as in much of Europe, is it’s difficult to fire workers.
None of this is good for either’s prospects, as unrest inevitably spreads across the continent (watch out May Day!), but you see how the solutions to addressing both Greece and Spain’s debt, as well as that of Italy, Ireland and Portugal, do nothing to promote growth and, being in the euro fold, they aren’t able to devalue their currency to encourage exports as they could before the euro, or do anything independently. They can’t spend because they’re already broke, but now they are forced to cut existing expenditures because the EU is insisting on it. How do they get out of this hole? We’ll know over the coming months…we won’t have to wait any longer.
But before we leave Greece, last week I imagine a few of you may have thought I was over the top on my Goldman Sachs comments. You aren’t feeling that way a week later after the Federal Reserve and the Securities Exchange Commission each announced they’re investigating Goldman’s role in the Greek government’s financial collapse.
Ben Bernanke offered up that he’s looking into whether Goldman and others manipulated foreign laws to play with Greece’s books, and then trade against their own positions. It’s all about the derivatives they were pushing like some drug cartel kingpin. Goldman maintains everything it did was above board. Right.
Bloomberg had a story by Richard Teitelbaum on Goldman’s role in the AIG fiasco because Republican Congressman Darrell Issa (Calif.) got hold of a document itemizing the mortgage securities on which banks such as Goldman had purchased $62.1 billion in credit-default swaps from AIG.
“These were the deals that pushed the insurer to the brink of insolvency – and were eventually paid in full at taxpayer expense. The New York Fed, which secretly engineered the bailout, prevented the full publication of the document for more than a year, even when AIG wanted it released….
“The public can now see for the first time how poorly the securities performed, with losses exceeding 75 percent of their notional value in some cases. Compounding this, the document and Bloomberg data demonstrate that the banks that bought the swaps from AIG are mostly the same firms that underwrote the CDOs in the first place.
“The banks should have to explain how they managed to buy protection from AIG primarily on securities that fell so sharply in value, says Daniel Calacci, a former swaps trader and marketer who’s now a structured-finance consultant. In some cases, banks also owned mortgage lenders, and they should be challenged to explain whether they gained any insider knowledge about the quality of the loans bundled into the CDOs, he says.”
So, yes, Goldman and the others underwrote the poisonous securities and then bet against them, not just in the case of AIG, but it’s one of the issues now being investigated when it comes to Greece, Italy and others overseas. And the suppression of the list was nothing more than a cover-up on the part of the New York Fed, at a time when it was run by current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
But nothing will happen to any of those most responsible. Nothing. I’ve screamed and wished the offenders the worst. All we can really do is hope the rest of their lives are in some shape or form miserable, filled with sleepless nights, but such a plight won’t befall the arrogant bastards who perpetuated much of this mess. They couldn’t care less. They’ve got theirs. Screw the rest of us.
Turning to the overseas markets, the hot economist of the moment is Harvard’s Kenneth Rogoff, who wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see a number of sovereign defaults over the coming years. Rogoff is also particularly concerned about China and the collapse of a “debt-fueled bubble” within 10 years. “You’re not going to go a decade without having a bump in the business cycle,” he says, though since my largest investment is in China, I hope China’s day of reckoning is closer to ten years from now than two or three. When China collapses, Rogoff adds, “It would cause a recession everywhere surrounding” the country, including Japan and South Korea, and be “horrible” for Latin American commodity exporters.
[Strategist Marc Faber, for the record, said this week, “I think the Chinese economy will decelerate very substantially in 2010 and could even crash.”]
China’s National People’s Congress begins March 5 and we can expect some policy statements emanating from this confab as various leaders, including Premier Wen, weigh in. China’s two-week holiday is over…so it’s back to work. That’s right, my friends at XYZ Co. in Fujian province. Get to work! [Trading volume in my stock has dried up to zero.]
In Japan, there was some solid economic news, with the latest reading on exports soaring (in no small part due to China), industrial production in January was strong, as were retail sales, the best level in 18 months. But, deflation continues and consumer prices have now fallen 11 consecutive months.
In Taiwan, GDP rose a better than expected 9.2% for the fourth quarter over year ago levels and the first quarter is expected to be higher. And India sees growth of 8.8% for fiscal 2010; not too shabby.
Yes, the Europeans would kill for about 1.2% these days. Consumer spending in France is down, German business confidence is down. Germany’s unemployment rate ticked up to 8.7% in February. Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King said Britain’s recovery was “fragile,” and, just as in the U.S., bank lending across Europe is drying up. Heck, think about it. All Europeans are seeing on their television screens and reading in their newspapers is discussion on Greece’s debt crisis, plus 20% unemployment in Spain, etc. Hardly the stuff that engenders confidence and a buoyant consumer.
And a few words on real estate. This week we saw data on January existing home sales that was putrid; January new home sales hit a record low; and December data from S&P/Case-Shiller was lousy. Oh, sure, this last one’s 20-city index showed price improvement for a 7th consecutive month, but it’s still down 3% from December 2008. The median price of new homes in January fell to $203,500, down 5.6% from last December (I recognize I’m mixing apples and oranges; this isn’t a mistake), and then there is the price trend for existing home sales, which requires a little explanation.
I have based all my predictions on the median price for this category and said in 2008 that we would bottom in this benchmark April-May 2009….and then “sit there for an extended period.” So we’ve had the following.
Jan. 2009…$164,700
Feb. 2009…$168,200
Mar. 2009…$170,000
Apr. 2009…$166,500
May 2009…$174,800
June 2009…$181,800
July 2009…$181,300
Aug. 2009…$177,200
Sept. 2009…$175,900
Oct. 2009…$172,000
Nov. 2009…$170,000
Dec. 2009…$170,500 [was revised down big]
Jan. 2010…$164,700 [preliminary]
Yup, back to Jan. 2009 levels, though I was in my rights to say we bottomed in April. But in terms of accuracy we’ll see what happens from here. I admit it’s easy to build a case that we will see further price declines because the stimulus programs are coming off, including the first-time homebuyer tax credit, April 30, and foreclosures are obviously a big issue as well.
Regardless, the bottom line remains the same. This economy is not going to see a true, lasting recovery without a better housing market and real job growth and today there is neither. I get a kick out of those who make it more complicated than it is. The fiscal condition of state and local governments (see below) only compounds the situation.
Street Bytes
–Stocks finished up for the month of February to the tune of 2.6% for the Dow Jones, but on the week they slipped a little, with the Dow finishing down 0.7% to 10325, while the S&P 500 lost 0.4% and Nasdaq 0.3%.
Bonds rallied on the perception the recovery is not quite as strong as some believed. In addition, there are zero inflation pressures, as Ben Bernanke testified again.
–The FDIC said 9% of the banks in the U.S. will fail.
–The National Governors Association said states face budget holes totaling $134 billion over the next three years. States cut 18,000 jobs alone in January and far more layoffs are to come.
–Shares in AIG tumbled on word it lost about $11 billion last year, indicating it is experiencing larger claims than it expected. What else is new?
–In New York City, 738 educators are collecting city pensions of more than $100,000. The Teachers Retirement System is the costliest of the five pension plans the Big Apple is responsible for. As one expert told the New York Post, “All the pension funds are ticking time bombs.”
–Federal prosecutors launched a criminal investigation into Toyota’s safety issues, while Toyota executives, including CEO Akio Toyoda, appeared before Congress to take their lumps. During the testimony they were forced to admit that the fixes currently underway may “not totally” resolve the problems of unintended sudden acceleration in its vehicles.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took his own lumps over the National Transportation Safety Administration’s failure to vigorously pursue company recalls, with LaHood pitifully insisting NTSA had taken corrective action at “every step of the way.”
What’s clear is Toyota felt it was above the law. Its arrogance, typical of many an Asian operator, came shining through as a result of this episode.
“This is not to let Toyota off the hook simply because all products carry risk. Toyota executives have already admitted that they had underplayed the reports of sticking accelerators. They seem finally to have made a very serious, almost frantic, effort to correct what can be corrected – the floor-mat and sticky-accelerator problems – while continuing to investigate the more elusive possibility (never proved, perhaps never provable) of some additional electronic glitch.
“But it is no disrespect to the memory of those killed, and the sorrow of those left behind, to simply admit that even the highest technology produced by the world’s finest companies can be fallible and fatal, and that the intelligent response is not rage and retribution but sober remediation and recognition of the very high price we pay – willingly pay – for modernity with all its wondrous, dangerous bounty.”
–China is now importing more oil from Saudi Arabia than the United States does, with the U.S. receiving under 1 million barrels a day for the first time in two decades
–About five weeks ago, when word came that Palm was hooking up with Verizon, an event I was waiting for, I went to my local Verizon dealer and asked when the models would come in. A week, I was told. Then another week, and another, and another. Finally, after four weeks, the dealer hadn’t received them because he was told he was too small, yet he was selling a ton of the competition. Frustrated, I bought the model I wanted from Radio Shack nearby and accepted Sprint as the carrier.
I bring this up because on Thursday we learned that Palm had reduced its revenue goals on weak demand and the shares, already struggling on rumors of troubles, tumbled anew. While I haven’t taken my Palm Pre out of the box as yet, I’m told the performance is good but clearly the company doesn’t know how to execute. Here was a case where I wanted a phone and couldn’t get it. The only reason why I stuck with them is for future business reasons, and having met Roger McNamee, a leading investor in the company. For its part Palm is blaming Verizon for not committing to the partnership, which is something I experienced firsthand.
Palm has about 5% of the smartphone market, while Apple has 18% and BlackBerry 43%.
Meanwhile, McNamee’s co-investor at private-equity shop Elevation Partners, U2’s Bono, worked against himself when he appeared in commercials for BlackBerry last summer despite being the lead investor in Palm and now he’s paying a price in the collapsing share price. Elevation had bankrolled Palm’s reemergence with $500 million.
–Talks between Iceland and the Netherlands and UK over how to repay about $5 billion in debt it owes the two broke down without agreement. This goes back to the collapse of Icesave online bank in October 2008, which hit savers in both countries particularly hard. The Dutch and UK governments already repaid savers themselves and now they want to be taken care of.
Iceland is holding a referendum on Icesave repayment March 6, with opinion polls suggesting a majority of voters don’t want the government to pony up, but at the same time, if Iceland doesn’t, any hopes of it joining the EU can be kissed goodbye. Many in Iceland obviously believe that would be for the best, Icelanders savoring their independence. The issue then becomes, however, who would do business with them?
–The European Commission launched a preliminary antitrust investigation into Google’s search engine and related search-advertising service. This is worrisome for Google, because it will not be the first such probe into whether it penalizes competitors in its search rankings. Google’s share of searches in Europe is 90%, higher than in the U.S.
And three Google executives were convicted in an Italian court for violating privacy laws, “the first case to hold the company’s executives criminally responsible for the content posted on its system,” as reported by the New York Times’ Rachel Donadio.
‘The verdict, though subject to appeal, could have sweeping implications worldwide for Internet freedom: It suggests that Google is not simply a tool for its users, as it contends, but is effectively no different from any other media company, like newspapers or television, that provides content and could be regulated.”
Italy is a natural for such a move because it’s where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s media empire holds sway and there are several measures pending in parliament that would put controls on the Net, with critics offering that Berlusconi is only looking to stifle competition. The issue comes down to whether Google is a service provider or a content provider.
–Meanwhile, Cisco Systems is joining Google in the ultra-high-speed broadband chase as the FCC prepares to finally unveil its national broadband strategy. Companies such as AT&T and Comcast are expected to feel the heat from the FCC to invest more in their networks. But whereas Google is going it alone, Cisco would hope to benefit from its existing partnerships with the telecom giants.
–As part of the discussion over Greece’s debt crisis and a possible German-led bailout, Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos said Germany never paid adequate reparations for the Nazi invasion and occupation of his country. Not helpful, Theodoros. Then again I’m still upset myself that the Nazis took out Papa Boule in “The Train.”
–The World Health Organization said “it was premature to conclude that all parts of the world have experienced peak transmission of the H1N1 pandemic influenza.”
–To me, the most important provision in the credit card reform that has now been enacted is mandating that credit card issuers mail or deliver your bill at least 21 days before your payment is due. The one I use the most used to give me all of 7 days upon receipt, so when I was away this created a bit of a problem….until I read them the riot act and they’ve been much better ever since.
–Former Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis left with $83 million in pension and other parting gifts, according to a securities filing. Now that it has been proved this guy was lying through his teeth, perhaps he should donate some of this to a charity of our choosing, if it’s not already part of his SEC settlement.
–NBC paid $820 million for the TV rights to the Winter Olympics, as well as sizable production costs, and it was felt the network would generate $650 million to $700 million in revenue, but super ratings will lead to a higher figure. American success is the prime reason for the boost.
–Sirius XM Radio posted a small profit for the fourth quarter as it added subscribers, with CEO Mel Karmazin saying the company expects to add 500,000 for the year, though yours truly dropped the service. Just don’t need it.
–The BBC is scaling back its operations by at least 25%, including the closure of two radio stations and some television ones, though it maintains it will improve the quality of its lead outlets. The excellent web site will also see significant cutbacks.
–And ABC News said it was scaling back its operations 25% in an effort to get ahead of changing dynamics in its industry, according to the president, David Westin.
–For those of you who are familiar with the Plaza in New York City, the transformation of it from a hotel to a combination hotel/condo/retail center has gone miserably. The sole eatery in the shopping area could be bolting, breaking a ten-year lease it signed in February 2008, 29 of the 181 luxury condos are on the market, three condo owners have sued the developer for fraud, 10 owners have sold at big losses (one poor sap purchased 14 months ago for $14.6 million and just sold for $8.5 million, not that I’m shedding any tears for the guy), and the overall strategy has been a total disaster.
–The other day, shares in Priceline.com hit their highest level since the Internet bubble burst in 2000. This is one of the better feel-good stories on the Street and William Shatner’s terrific spots for the company have only helped. Good for them.
Foreign Affairs
Iran: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an immediate embargo on Iran’s energy sector, but the chances of this happening now appear to be slim and none as Russia said on Wednesday it would not support “crippling” sanctions against Iran. Oleg Rozhkov, a top Foreign Ministry official, said, “We are not going to work on sanctions or measures which could lead to the political or economic or financial isolation of this country. What relation to non-proliferation is there in forbidding banking activities with Iran? This is a financial blockade. And oil and gas. These sanctions are aimed only at paralyzing the country and paralyzing the regime.”
As for China, a Foreign Ministry spokesman there said, “China believes that in the current stage all relevant parties should continue deepening diplomatic efforts to maintain and push forward the process of talks and negotiations.”
So while many of us agree gasoline sanctions (Iran needing to import 40% of its gasoline) are the only way to go, we can talk until we’re blue in the face but it just isn’t happening.
“The president will not bomb Iran’s nuclear installations for precisely the same reasons that George W. Bush did not bomb Iran’s nuclear installations: Because we don’t know exactly where they all are, because we don’t know whether such a raid could stop the Iranian nuclear program for more than a few months, and because Iran’s threatened response – against Israelis and U.S. troops, via Iranian allies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Lebanon – isn’t one we want to cope with at this moment. Nor do we want the higher oil prices that would instantly follow. No American president doing a sober calculation would start a war of choice now, while U.S. troops are actively engaged on two other fronts, and no American president could expect public support for more than a nanosecond.
“But even if Obama does not bomb Iran, that doesn’t mean that no one else will. At the moment, when Washington is consumed by health care and the implications of Massachusetts, it may seem as if Obama’s most important legacy, positive or negative, will be domestic. In the future, we might not consider any of this important at all. The defining moment of his presidency may well come at 2 a.m. some day when he picks up the phone and is told that the Israeli prime minister is on the line: Israel has just carried out a raid on Iranian nuclear sites. What then?”
I strongly believe history will show Israel had a window last November when I was predicting it would strike for a number of reasons, including the calendar. With each passing week since, Iran’s program, in one form or another, advances, even as other facets may suffer a setback from time to time due to sabotage on the part of Israeli or other agents.
But now Israel faces a real dilemma. The assassination of the Hamas commander in Dubai has proved to be such an embarrassment in the way it was handled, I find it hard to believe Israel can act anytime soon against Iran (read one to two months) if they needed to because of the public relations disaster it finds itself in. It has to mend fences before moving on and this will take time. Israel needs the support of governments in Britain, France, Germany and Australia and right now it doesn’t have that.
Officials in Dubai have identified 26 suspects in the case, all of whom used forged passports of citizens of the above nations, plus Ireland. Some Israeli pundits are saying, so what, the Hamas terrorist deserved to meet his fate, but while many leaders of the same above countries wouldn’t necessarily disagree, the fact the Mossad operation was so reckless, and discovered, gives the same governments no cover with their people. It’s indefensible when its own citizens were unwitting pawns. So in the humble opinion of your editor, this whole episode ends up having everything to do with the timing of any move to take out Iran’s nuclear facility at Natanz, for starters.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, where Iran’s proxy, Hizbullah, has been in the government since 2007, Prime Minister Saad Hariri has been talking ceaselessly about Israel’s repeated threats to wage war on all of Lebanon because of Hizbullah’s presence. Israel “is looking for excuses for war,” Hariri told an Italian newspaper this week. Such talk isn’t helpful.
Afghanistan: Friday saw another series of suicide attacks on Kabul, killing at least 17, many of them Indian citizens. What’s particularly worrisome about this episode is that Pakistan is opposed to India’s growing influence in Afghanistan and you could draw a line to Islamabad if you so choose. As to the mission in southern Afghanistan in the town of Marjah, the methodical operation has nonetheless claimed 14 NATO service members. The Kabul attack was likely meant to show that the insurgency survives despite recent hits to its leadership. Separately, the U.S. death toll in Afghanistan is now 1,000.
Meanwhile, it’s clear the Dutch will be pulling out their 2,000 troops this year after the collapse of the government of Prime Minister Balkenende. Support among the people for maintaining the presence is just 35% compared to 58% who favor withdrawal, after 21 Dutch deaths.
Related to the above, Defense Secretary Robert Gates addressed NATO officers and officials in a speech on Tuesday, warning that public and political opposition to the military in Europe was not only affecting operations in Afghanistan, but threatened the alliance’s broader security goals.
“The demilitarization of Europe – where large swaths of the general public and political class are averse to military force and the risks that go with it – has gone from a blessing in the 20th century to an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace in the 21st.”
A perception of European weakness, Gates warned, could provide a “temptation to miscalculation and aggression” by hostile powers. [Brian Knowlton / New York Times]
Only 5 of 28 NATO nations, incidentally, are reaching their spending commitments on defense: 2% of GDP. By comparison, the U.S. spends more than 4%.
[Late Friday it was reported that Germany’s plan to send 850 additional troops to Afghanistan had cleared a last hurdle in parliament.]
Iraq: In just one week, Sunday, March 7, Iraq holds the most important election in its history for the purposes of forming a new government and there are huge policy implications for both Iraqis and America. I said last week that Vice President Biden and his predecessor Dick Cheney were both wrong to claim success because we need to wait a year or two.
“For good or ill, this is likely the year we will begin to see the broad outlines of post-occupation Iraq. The early signs are not good, with the latest being the decision over the weekend of the leading Sunni party, the National Dialogue Front, to withdraw from the elections.
“The political situation is far less certain, and I think less stable, than most Americans believe. A retired Marine colonel I know, Gary Anderson, just returned from Iraq and predicts a civil war or military coup by September. Another friend, the journalist Nir Rosen, avers that Iraq is on a long-term peaceful course. Both men know Iraq well, having spent years working there. I have not seen such a wide discrepancy in expert views since late 2005….
“Looking back now, I think the surge was the right thing to do. In rejecting the view of the majority of his military advisers and embracing the course proposed by a handful of dissidents, President Bush found his finest moment. That said, the larger goal of the surge was to facilitate a political breakthrough, which has not happened.
“All the existential questions that plagued Iraq before the surge remain unanswered. How will oil revenue be shared among the country’s major groups? What is to be the fundamental relationship between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds? Will Iraq have a strong central government or be a loose confederation? And what will be the role of Iran (for my money, the biggest winner in the Iraq war thus far)?”
Ricks, a longtime critic of the invasion, nonetheless concludes we should maintain our military presence, not exit as planned.
“(To) echo the counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen, just because you invade a country stupidly doesn’t mean you should leave it stupidly. The best argument against keeping troops in Iraq is the one some American military officers make, which is that a civil war is inevitable, and that by staying all we are doing is postponing it. That may be so, but I don’t think it is worth gambling to find out.”
And then there is Ahmed Chalabi. Back on 1/23/2010 in this space I wrote, “Someone needs to take him out.”
This week, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, briefed Iraqi leaders on the latest U.S. intelligence concerning Chalabi, the man who lobbied the Bush administration to invade Iraq in 2003 and is now working closely with Iran.
As reported by David Ignatius of the Washington Post, who received a summary of Odierno’s comments, some of the allegations are:
–“Iran provides money, campaign materials, and political training to various individual candidates and political parties [in Iraq].
–“Iran interferes in Iraq’s political process, urging alliances that not all Iraqi politicians favor, in an effort to consolidate power among parties supported by Iran. For example…Ahmed Chalabi met with IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps] Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani and Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki in late November to discuss the merger of two slates of Shiite candidates backed by Iran.
–“Iran supports de-Baathification efforts engineered by Ahmed Chalabi for the purpose of eliminating potential obstacles to Iranian influence. Chalabi is also interested in Iran’s assistance in securing the office of prime minister.
–“According to all-source intelligence, Ahmed Chalabi visited Iran at least three times since last year. Additionally, he met with key Iranian leaders in Iraq on at least five occasions.”
A White House official told Ignatius, “The Iranians are everywhere, all over the place – overtly, covertly, you name it. They’re putting chips on red and black and whatever is in between.”
So to repeat…both Biden and Cheney are a little premature to call Iraq a success. They’ve forgotten my principle of waiting 24 hours.
China: Beijing continues to warn the United States to “speak and act cautiously” to avoid further strains in the relationship, including on arms sales to Taiwan, for which China suspended military exchanges. Numerous planned visits have been canceled, though China allowed the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to dock in Hong Kong. The controversial $6.4 billion arms sale to Taipei, however, could become more complicated if Washington proceeds with Taiwan’s request for new F-16s, which all experts agree Taiwan needs because their existing air force is obsolete. The ball is in the White House’s court.
North Korea: China has “strongly urged” Pyongyang to drop its call for an end to sanctions before returning to nuclear disarmament talks. Beijing is attempting to get the North to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country as a meaningful step. But while six-party talks might resume, no one really expects the North Koreans to give up their weapons cache.
Turkey: The Islamist government jailed 20 former and serving military officers (among 50 initially taken in) amid charges of an alleged coup plot. Tensions are high but Prime Minister Erdogan and President Gul appear to be doing their best to resolve the crisis and both have met with the army chief of staff. No doubt, however, the divide between the Islamist-rooted government and a military responsible for the ouster of four governments since 1960 continues to deepen.
Yes, I did make the following prediction on 1/2/2010:
“Turkey’s military will make another, more serious attempt at a coup to bring down the Islamist government. It won’t succeed but will lead to a very tense period there as Prime Minister Erdogan reestablishes control. This will not be good for the West.”
However, lest I take credit for an accurate call, the above arrests are in conjunction with a 2003 alleged plot, not something current for today; though the year is young.
India/Pakistan: Senior officials from both sides held their first official talks since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Kashmir, not terrorism, remains the core issue.
Ukraine: Viktor Yanukovich was sworn in as president Thursday, after Prime Minister Tymoshenko dropped her election appeal. But Tymoshenko, against all hope, wants to stay on as PM and her refusal to step down only prolongs political paralysis at a time all focus should be on an economy that shrank 15% last year.
For his part, Yanukovich is going to Brussels first, Monday, before Moscow, to show his commitment to developing relations with Europe, an interesting (and smart) move.
Russia: President Vladimir Putin criticized the oligarchs controlling the energy sector for failing to invest more heavily. Putin is right that when demand returns, investments not made, as promised years ago, cannot be brought to fruition overnight to meet the demand. “We were counting on the owners being responsible. Unfortunately, far from all of them showed responsibility.” One of those he had harsh words for was Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire who is now the controlling stakeholder in the New Jersey Nets basketball team.
And Moscow is digging out of its biggest snowstorm ever, 26 inches over two days, which is kind of funny because last fall, it was Mayor Yuri Luzhkov who talked of controlling the weather through technology to force precipitation to fall before it could reach the capital; his goal being sunny holidays and no snow in the winter because it cost too much to remove and wreaked havoc on Moscow’s already horrendous traffic.
But now no one seems to know what happened to the weather altering plans that were to have taken effect.
Britain: Prime Minister Gordon Brown has a new challenge ahead of the election, claims of bullying at No. 10 Downing Street.
Northern Ireland: Incredibly, no one was hurt when a car bomb went off at a Newry courthouse, the first large car bomb exploded in the North since 2000. There remain diehards who are determined to scuttle the peace process.
Australia: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned his country is now under a permanent and increased threat of terrorist attack; a homegrown threat from Islamist radicals born or raised in Australia.
Separately, Rudd gave Japan an ultimatum to end its whale hunt in Antarctic waters. This is an old campaign promise of his and an election is due later this year. Seeing as Japan is Australia’s second-biggest trading partner behind China, the move could backfire.
Nigeria: President Yar’Adua returned after three months’ treatment in Saudi Arabia, but he didn’t appear before the public and no one knows his condition.
Colombia: The nation’s high court ruled President Alvaro Uribe cannot run for a third term, a blow for the United States.
Chile: We wish our friends well after what appears to be a devastating earthquake hit a few hours ago.
Random Musings
–In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, 59% said they are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working in this country. Separate from a coup, maybe we should have a constitutional amendment limiting the president to one public appearance a week.
–There’s been an extraordinary development in New York State politics as Governor David Paterson’s bid for a full term has been shattered by revelations he was involved in witness tampering to shield an aide from prosecution, the aide having been accused by a woman of assault, this on top of earlier allegations the governor tolerated domestic abuse accusations against the man who was also his closest confidante.
The Daily News issued a front page editorial, calling on the governor to step down.
“Having demeaned his high office, having exposed a character flaw that plays out as a truth deficit, Paterson is punchline rather than punch. He does not have the capacity to confront the state’s economic challenges.
“His reaffirmation of plans to run for election, while signaling that, maybe, he would change his mind, was the act of a man who has developed only a passing acquaintance with reality. Well before this bizarre escapade, the voters had measured Paterson as unsuited to the Executive Mansion. Now, it will be a wonder if they don’t storm the place.
“These sorry circumstances are solely of the governor’s making….
“Paterson must relinquish command so that Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch can advance the interests of 19 million citizens as Albany makes epochally hard choices in cutting spending. Unelected though he is, Ravitch has excelled in crisis management.”
Friday afternoon, Paterson announced he would not seek a full four-year term but would remain governor. This is turning into a bad episode of “Family Guy.”
–For all the mistakes that were made in not identifying “underwear bomber” Abdulmutallab, we’ll give the Obama administration, and Attorney General Erick Holder, credit for the arrest and conviction of Najibullah Zazi, Zazi having pleaded guilty to three terrorism-related counts that should keep him in prison for life.
In court, Zazi was asked: Your purpose in going to Pakistan?
The Defendant: To fight alongside with the Taliban against the U.S. …Also, our plan was to go to Afghanistan and fight with the Taliban. While we were in Peshawar, we were recruited by Al Qaeda, instead. We were taken by Al Qaeda to training camp in Waziristan, where we received weapons training. During the training, Al Qaeda leaders asked us to return to the United States and conduct martyrdom operation. We agreed to this plan.
“For sure, everybody involved in the Zazi case deserves congratulations. But it would be easier to take Holder’s larger claims seriously if he wasn’t packing the department full of lawyers who previously represented terrorists.
“Last November, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), a Judiciary Committee member, demanded to know exactly how many Justice Department lawyers previously defended terrorist-detainees.
“Among them: Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who lawyered for Osama bin Laden’s driver, and Jennifer Daskal, who was the detainee point-person for Human Rights Watch.
“That just doesn’t cut it. He’s presiding over an astonishing conflict of interest, and it must end before civilian terror trials commence.”
“The U.S. government isn’t prepared to cope with a widespread cyber attack, former top Bush and Clinton administration officials said last week….
“Federal agencies don’t have the legal authority to turn off people’s cell phones and terminate Internet and cell phone service to stop an attack.
“Cell phone and Internet service providers may be reluctant to cooperate with federal agencies to cease Internet or cell phone services, pointing to the need for security agencies to include them in their cybersecurity planning to coordinate responses before an attack.
“Citizens would be hard-pressed to know what to do during an attack if major news organizations are inaccessible.
“Federal agencies do not adequately control federal employees’ access to social networking sites while at work, even though those sites may be used to spread malware and viruses during an attack.
“Governors may be reluctant to surrender power to the federal government, forcing the president to nationalize the National Guard.”
–In a totally meaningless straw poll, Congressman Ron Paul nonetheless captured the top slot among the activists attending the Conservative Action Political Conference, CPAC, with 31% of the vote, followed by Mitt Romney with 22% and has-been Sarah Palin with 7%. What is incredibly stupid about the folks at this convention is that Ron Paul is a wingnut and the furthest thing from a Reagan conservative. In fact Ron Paul went on CNBC last week and started talking about how there was “no proof Iran is building nuclear weapons,” among other insane statements.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has potential for 2012 but he has to stop pandering to the far right. Just be yourself, Governor.
Meanwhile, keynote speaker Glenn Beck said of his fellow Republicans/Conservatives, “It’s not enough just to not suck as much as the other side,” adding, “One party will tax and spend; one party won’t tax but will spend: It’s both of them.” As for the presidency of George W. Bush, Beck said, “anybody who thought that George Bush was spending and it made any kind of sense was a madman.”
–On a related topic, now the Tea Partiers are going after “41,” Republican Senator Scott Brown, for voting to support the Democrats’ $15 billion jobs bill. Thousands evidently posted angry comments on his Facebook page.
Now I have to admit I didn’t read the entire jobs bill, though I wasn’t enamored by much of what I saw. However, as Kathleen Parker wrote in her Washington Post op-ed, it’s pretty stupid to label any attempt at bipartisanship, “treason.”
Parker cites John Avlon, author of a new book titled “Wingnuts,” which “traces the mainstreaming of the hyperpartisan hunt for heretics to the George W. Bush administration.”
Writes Avlon: “Hunting for heretics pretends to be a principled fight for ideological purity, but behind that mask is an uglier impulse, an attempt to intimidate and insist on conformity…a reminder of what the Czech dissident-turned-president Vaclav Havel once wrote:
“ ‘Ideology offers human beings the illusion of dignity and morals while making it easier to part with them.’”
As Kathleen Parker notes, some conservatives, such as William Kristol, say the Tea Partiers are the best thing that has happened to the Republican Party, but Parker adds that it was Kristol’s father, neocon founder Irving Kristol, who said conservatives couldn’t align themselves with libertarians “because the latter have no values.”
–Back to Sarah Palin, the phony from Alaska, daughter Bristol is going Hollywood, appearing in a Disney cable network show titled “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.” But I thought Mom was anti-Hollywood?
–A few weeks ago, Delaware Lieutenant Governor Beau Biden gave as one of his reasons for not running for his father’s senate seat a case of child sex abuse that he was prosecuting. Turns out it really is a huge case, with pediatrician Dr. Earl Bradley facing nearly 500 charges of child abuse. Biden said he “knows of no other that has this many victims.” Dr. Bradley, who is being held on $2.9 million bail, videotaped many of his victims as far back as December 1998. Of course the fellow should be executed, quickly.
–We note the courage of math teacher David Benke, who helped avert disaster at Deer Creek Middle School in suburban Denver when he subdued a gunman who had wounded two students and could have done far more damage.
–Desiree Rogers left her job as White House social secretary after coming under fire for the Salahi gate-crashing incident at the Obama’s first state dinner. Good riddance. “Arrogance” was her calling card.
–Scientists have found that a Spanish-style siesta after lunch does wonders for the body and brain, which is a pretty common occurrence here at StocksandNews. Matthew Walker, a psychologist at Cal-Berkeley, said, “Sleep not only rights the wrong of prolonged wakefulness but, at a neuro-cognitive level, it moves you beyond where you were before you took a nap.”
–I recently renewed my passport but I just saw that passport fees could be going up by at least $35 shortly, so if you’re close to needing to renew, or to get your first one, do it now. Then you can take the $35 you’ll eventually save and spend it at your favorite watering hole, thus helping the local economy rather than giving the government more funds that it will only spend unwisely. And that’s your simple economics lesson for this week.
–Finally, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin on President Obama’s strategy for space, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.
“Many said the president’s decision (to eliminate funding for a moon mission in favor of Mars) was misguided, short-sighted and disappointing. Having the experience of walking on the moon’s surface on the Apollo 11 mission, I think he made the right call.
“If we follow the president’s plan, our next destination in space, Mars, will be within our reach. Rich in potential resources – including water, an atmosphere, and oxygen in the soil – Mars invites human exploration and eventual habitation. But perfecting the technology necessary to succeed in our eventual journey is a wise first step. Empowering the private sector to carry crews and cargoes into orbit faster is a critical second step.
“The new NASA budget makes sense for many important reasons. First, the president is signaling that this agency deserves the full support of this administration and Congress, even as priorities are sorted out and other budgets are cut. Second, getting long-range space flight right requires getting near-Earth orbit perfect. Third, forestalling the moon mission in favor of perfecting the technologies that will allow us to reach Mars within some defined period ahead is sound. We should not rush it and experience an avoidable tragedy….
“The new direction that Mr. Obama has set in this budget is the kind of bold initiative we have needed for many years. Mankind must explore and America must lead – in all aspects of space exploration, not least manned space exploration. But we must be willing to embrace real vision and reach for Mars with the patience that leadership has always required….
“Yes, there will be risks. But a great nation has always known the risks of exploration are far outweighed by the discoveries and better lives that exploration brings to our country. With this budget, the president is preparing us for a brighter American future in space. I believe he deserves our support.”
If it’s good enough for Buzz, I’m satisfied. But I’m disturbed that the president, who steps before the cameras at the drop of a hat, has not done so in this case because he’s afraid to remind Americans that the exploration of space is expensive at a time when he’s trying to gain support for a $1 trillion health plan.
Pray for the men and women of our armed forces, and all the fallen.
Gold closed at $1118
Oil, $79.63
Returns for the week 2/22-2/26
Dow Jones -0.7% [10325]
S&P 500 -0.4% [1104]
S&P MidCap -0.2%
Russell 2000 -0.5%
Nasdaq -0.3% [2238]
Returns for the period 1/1/10-2/26/10
Dow Jones -1.0%
S&P 500 -1.0%
S&P MidCap +1.6%
Russell 2000 +0.5%
Nasdaq -1.4%
Bulls 41.1
Bears 23.3 [Source: Chartcraft / Investors Intelligence]
Bortrum is back! Check out his new column. And don’t forget my scintillating podcast, which I normally complete around 9:00 a.m. Saturdays.
