Obama Unplugged, Take Two

Byron York notes that with the public worried about jobs, jobs, jobs (and the interplay of jobs and illegal immigration), Team Obama is worried about immigramt amnesty and gun control.

The disconnect is very familiar. Former Fed Vice Chairmen Alan Blinder just published a book about the Great Recession, and the Times had this to say:

He suggests that the president’s reluctance to focus “like a laser beam on the economy” — and his decision instead to take on health care reform too — resulted in “a scattershot approach” to policy that left people confused about his priorities and unconvinced that “things would have been much worse without the stimulus” and other rescue plans. Mr. Blinder contends that the public still believes what he calls “the false notion that the government gave away money to the banks. (It actually made loans and equity investments).”

“It is a measure of the Obama administration’s ineptitude in communication,” Mr. Blinder notes, “that the public came to see Geithner, Summers, & Company as tools of Wall Street while at the same time the bankers who were saved from oblivion came to hate the administration for vilifying and scapegoating them. Acquiring one of those two images was excusable, maybe even unavoidable. Acquiring both at the same time amounted to gross political negligence.”

 

Comments

[Neo]

At face value, Krugman is, sort of, correct .. the problem occurs when interest rate eventually have to rise.

With QE1, QE2 et al, the money supply is extended by having the Federal Reserve buying Treasury debt. When interest rates are finally eased, the larger the debt the faster the hyper-inflation.

Bottomline: if you follow the advice of Krugman, don't be part of the party in power when the Fed starts to let interest rates "float." You will be remembered as "the guys who made Jimmy Carter look good".

Apt metaphor: you don't have a crisis when you put a gun to your head .. the crisis begins when you pull the trigger

[narciso]

Recalls that classic Kevin Drum review of 'Confidence Men'

[Sue]

Scattershot? How did that word get past an editor? It might provoke someone to get granny's double barrell and shoot someone.

[boatbuilder]

Blinder should look in the mirror. His philosophy of spend and print has been applied with a vengeance by the current administration, for whom he has been a huge cheerleader. Perhaps if he had suggested publicly at some point that there is a huge distinction between TARP and "stimulus" the public might have caught on.

[narciso]

I often post Blinder's incoherent Op Eds from the Journal, like clay pigeons, for fisking purposes.

[boatbuilder]

I am taking a break from snowblowing. In a little over an hour I have cleared a 2' wide path from my back door to the driveway to the street. (about 75') The snow is too high for the snowblower bade, so I have to go into it, then back up and knock it down with a shovel, then clear again. It's going to be a long weekend.

[Jane - snowed in]

Boatbuilder,

They say not to bother until tomorrow because the wind will just blow it back.

[maryrose]

Jane and boatbuilder:
Glad you two are all right. Keep warm and safe.
NK: I hope you are ok. Connecticut really got walloped.
Obama has always focussed on the wrong things.Blinder has had blinders on this whole time. Bammy is out of sync with America. He's never been on the same page. This sequester HIS IDEA- is poetic justice. I love the mental image of dems and Obama scrambling. It's too late. The cuts are coming whether you like it or not.

[Buckeye]

The speech given by Dr. Carson at the National Prayer Breakfast, and JEF's reaction tell us a lot about the prez.

First of all, unlike the good Doctor, the prez never really lived as a black man in America. He knows black America well enough to exploit the misery, but it isn't who he is.

Secondly, the prez sure as hell isn't a brain surgeon.

[rse]

Tom-

You forgot his coming focus on universal preschool. I am reading $10,000 per child to states willing to go along starting at age 3.

That would go hand in hand with adding a social and emotional learning component to Head Start several months ago. At least formally. Informally it probably goes back to its beginning as a Be Bloom brainchild.

narciso will appreciate that my newsletters are quietly letting me know that the preschools are to use the Reggio Emilia template.

Maybe hatch more Revolutionaries when reality is disconnected with the world as it was supposed to be.

It is interesting to me on the gun control that Australia and the UK, which are much further along, on this sociocultural template for ed, also had organized efforts to first disarm their citizenry. Easier without the 2nd Amendment.

Mental and physical disarmament. I am reading some more blueprints today from yet another prof I had not heard of until a footnote reference sent me their way.

Footnotes and bibiographies are proving to be the undoing.

[Sue]

Buck

He didn't even play one on Tv. I bet he is intimadated as hell by Dr. Carson. A real black man who is really smarter than the smartest man in the room.

[rse]

cathy f-

I you are around I have a commenter concerned with what is going on in Catholic schools and how they are wide open to a social justice emphasis. She posted late last night. Please comment if you think you can help her.

I directed her to the Holland & Henriot template too.

[Jane - snowed in]

"A real black man who is really smarter than the smartest man in the room."

Betcha they are plotting how to demonize him right now.

Did you see him last night talking about how his mother with a 3rd grade education made them read and write book reports and then pretended she could read them?

[Old Lurker]

Neo, apt metaphor #2 is the guy who jumped off the Empire State Building and when asked by an observer on the 50th floor how it was going, he replied "So far, so good".

Or #3 which I have reported here before from my Mother's advice "It is not the drinking that causes hangovers...it is the stopping."

[maryrose]

Thank God for Dr. Carson. He's the hope for the future. Bill Cosby has been ridiculed for sending a similar message. Obama could care less.
Chubby:
The Pope is the last word in terms of faith and morals. Pope Benedict is very conservative. Cardinal Dolan will go to the mattreeses with Obama on this. Obama being the wuss he is doesn't stand a chance.
squaredance: I don't know what state you are from but here in Ohio ,religion is really strong. On Easter Sunday it is standing room only. 15 parishes were re-instated when our Bishop{originally from Boston} tried to close them to save money. All parishioners are vitally involved in keeping them afloat. My husband and I attend some of the inner-city churches to help them financially.The basic tenets are strong as is our faith. Some prog loser like Obama will not shake our resolve. You give him and his ilk too much power. Remember they have to answer to God for their actions.
cathyf: I agree in part however, the basic faith Catholics have is unwaiverable.

[maryrose]

TC:
I am glad you are OK!
OL: Nantucket is getting hammered.

[maryrose]

Most of the catholic votes for Obama sprang from the misguided social justice school of thought. Of course abortion appears to be the exception in their confused brains.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Have we heard from Dave and Mad jack? South Shore is where all the power outages are - and the Cape has an issue with flooding.

[marlene]

Watch Obama's face during Dr. Carson's speech. He looks like a bratty teen-ager who needs his face smacked.
We should have a snowfall pool to see which New England state gets the most snow. We won't have totals until tonight when it stops snowing.

[Old Lurker]

Maryrose, I know Nantucket is getting hammered. My first clue was my inability to log onto my exterior cameras (this is my first winter storm in the new house) so I can watch. Here has been my highly caffeinated thought process this morning:

No cameras most likely means Comcast is down so my server is not communicating with the world. The house is heated and the interior temps are monitored by the alarm company which has not called to report a problem. The alarm communicates via Comcast (assumed down) and backup via Verizon. When I call the house, my machine answers so I assume the Verizon channel is OK. The house has a generator which must be working or my machine would not have answered... And then I have the the ability to monitor the amount of propane in my underground tank hour by hour and I see it is being used at the expected rate which hopefully means the generator is running and therefore the heat is working.

I hope :-)

Finally I have a caretaker and a backup caretaker so hopefully they will check in later.

I am learning about the stress side of second home ownership.

[Old Lurker]

Ah the value of belts and suspenders.

Caretaker #1 just did a walk through and all is fine. He had to violate Gov Patrick's do-not-drive order though.

[matt]

The amazing thing is that enough Wall Streeters still supported Obama and enough people still believed his BS that he won.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

PT Barnum rules the world, matt.

[maryrose]

matt and Iggy:PT Barnum is on his last term.As each day goes by we come closer to the end of his Reign of Terror.
OL: Thank God ,all is well.
marlene: I think you are going to win the most snow award. 30+ inches in Portland is going to be hard to beat.
Oh Menendez.This is how it started for Torricelli. NYT weighing in.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

How close are you to the water OL? I've been on Nantucket when they got 12 inches of snow. It was actually quite fun.

[narciso]

Oh wonderful, rse, where the Brigatte Rosse, came from, what could go wrong?

[caro]

I am suffering from PSSDE.*

*Post Storm Snowfall Depth Envy

But I am glad you are all safe and warm.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Caro,

Wish you were here to take some pix.

[narciso]

What I was referring to;

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_red_brigades.html

[Old Lurker]

Jane glad you are alive and connected.

We are right on the ocean facing due south from the east end of the island. So we look right into the mouth of storms coming up the east coast. Not that I'm counting or anything, but we are 1,168 feet from mean high tide and 18' above sea level. (the insurance company required certification of both numbers which is why I know them!) I have one neighbor who will lose his house before it gets mine. In our village beaches facing due east are eroding badly and many houses have been lost, but their sand is washed in our direction so that our 1168' seems to be growing rather than shrinking.

Mo money. Mo Problems.

As the smart guy said.

[caro]

I would like that, Jane.

If Mad Jack checks in, I am wondering how the flooding might be on the Pocasset River.

[NJJan]

A friend of my daughter lives in Gorham, ME and posted on Facebook they have a total of 32.9" so far!

[Old Lurker]

Caro, speaking of your pix and your outstanding talent, please come see us next time you and Jane are slumming on Nantucket. I have a blank wall with your name on it. After we had dinner with you, my wife and I visited your website and saw a painting style that would be perfect for us.

:-)

[maryrose]

Caro:
You just love that pure powder to ski in. Park City and Alta have such great snow. Now the Northeast gets a turn

[narciso]

Recall he is about 'fundamental transformation' and it becomes clear;

http://www.jammiewf.com/2013/report-menendez-pal-melgen-billed-medicare-millions-for-unnecessary-medical-procedures/

[narciso]

Thirty three inches, how do you dig out of that.

[caro]

Thanks, OL, I am really looking forward to the Nantucket sail early this summer.

[boatbuilder]

Caro--Mad Jack is OK but the power is out. He's in Hyannis so no report on the Pocasset River.

[peter]

Very fortunate here in the suburbs of Long Island, only about a foot and my neighbor used his snow blower and cleared my sidewalk. And we still have power.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

I have 3 feet of snow covering front and back doors. I'm bored to tears but thank God I have power (altho it is still blowing like crazy). I consider myself very lucky.

[AliceH]

Tweet via CotS:

@ElBloombito

Nemo esta un estupido name para un stormo. Yo soy renamingo el stormo to Snowbracabra! #Snowbracabra

Ha!

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

LOL, Alice.

[Mark Folkestad]

Fox specifically mentioned Sturbridge as having had "over thirty inches" a few minutes ago. Jane's got serious bragging rights this time.

[narciso]

Nemo was the little fish, why not Loki, for those who follow the Avengers. But I agree Bloomberg es un idiota 'vente' had to go Italian for that last part.

[Mark Folkestad]

From Old Lurker's talk about his second home on Nantucket, I am thinking that Jane has just ruled that island out as her new conservative enclave. Perhaps images of palm trees are swaying in her daydreams?

[bgates]

Did you see him last night talking about how his mother with a 3rd grade education made them read and write book reports and then pretended she could read them?

And Obama snorted and thought, "Big deal - I've been doing that with my staff for decades."

[caro]

Thanks for the news on the Cape, BB.

maryrose, you have me pegged!

[Beasts of England]

OL@10:38 - 'So far, so good!'. Now I have a little chile relleno on my iPhone. But worth it!

[Thomas Collins]

Cleared a path to the street. We'll see whether the wind will undo the shovel work. Snow consistency was somewhere between dusty and hard packed, so shovelling was bearable.

I hope those we haven't heard from are doing OK.

[Beasts of England]

Nantucket getting hammered? Gotta be a limerick in there somewhere...

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

I am thinking that Jane has just ruled that island out as her new conservative enclave.

FTR I have no idea how the island was named "Jane's Island" - does anyone remember? And it is certainly not my choice, altho palm trees do sound nice.

I'd do Nantucket in a heartbeat but it's pretty well inhabited with Chrissy Mathews types. (Including Chrissy) OL has some serious rehab to do.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

--I'd do Nantucket in a heartbeat--

Speaking of limerick material...

[Mark Folkestad]

Jane, you do yourself a disservice. It is, and always shall be, "SAINT Jane's Island". We must be precise.

[Mark Folkestad]

But, Jane, you and others of our tribe can come visit me when I'm settled at "Flawed Mark's Island", and we can have a brainstorming session on the specifications for your island.

[marlene]

Gorham,ME is near Portland and they will probably win the grand prize for snowfall in Maine. The wind is just wild,the snow is blowing into huge drifts.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

--After we had dinner with you[caro], my wife and I visited your website and saw a painting style that would be perfect for us.--

Caro, or anyone else, could you link the site with your paintings? Used to have it but can't find it.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Here it is Iggy.

(Hope that's ok Caro)

[Old Lurker]

And God Made a Liberal

LUN if nobody has posted this yet it is great!

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

"SAINT Jane's Island"

Now we know for certain it wasn't named after me.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

Thanks, Jane.
What a unique style caro has.

[AliceH]

Of course, I can speculate on plausible and non-ironic explanations for this, but just read this sentence and tell me it didn't make you raise your eyebrows just a bit:

"The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, Mass., lost electricity and shut down Friday night during the storm."

[maryrose]

Caro:
I absolutely love your paintings! You combine wonderful color with Western themes. Fabulous!

[Beasts of England]

Ig@1:29 - Ha!

[Old Lurker]

And read her Bio and tell me you don't feel inadequate, Maryrose!

[maryrose]

OL:
What an enjoyable link. All true and the images are spot on.

[maryrose]

Yes I do OL. I am constantly amazed by the plethora of talent here at JOM.

[Dave (in MA)]

Have we heard from Dave and Mad jack? South Shore is where all the power outages are

We made out OK here. I think we got roughly 2'; definitely a top 10 storm, but not as bad as the '97 April fool storm.

[Dave (in MA)]

Heading out to use my Wovel™...

[maryrose]

DaveinMA:
Don't shovel too much. This kind of heavy snow is heart attack city.

[Frau Regenmantel]

No wonder daddy yells "Kay-roooooo" when he goes out walking. He must have visited her beautiful site.

L.L. Bean did not answer the phone just now other to say they were in a storm.

Puny Cleoville had a short, temper tantrum of a hail storm yesterday afternoon and our temp this morning was in the low 30s. My b-i-l in the San Bernardino mountains (near San Gorgonio)is snowed in and dragging out his snow blower. If Dorner is near Big Bear, his rear is cold. Again, to quote Larry Elder, "Nutcase!"

[daddy]

Good Morning! Polar bear Update (from the Wall St Journal)

Are Polar Bears Really Disappearing?

Short Answer: Yes, if you're a Scientist on a Government Grant promoting Polar Bear Decline, but No, if you're a member of the real world without an AGW Agenda.

I knew I was in trouble when the biologist from the Manitoba Conservation Department sat down next to me. "The bears look good," he said. "I haven't seen them this fat in years." We'd both been hanging around the tiny town of Churchill, Manitoba, ground zero for everything having to do with polar bears...

What worried me wasn't what the biologist had to say, but what the woman who had occupied that same seat three minutes earlier had said about the very same bears. A publicist for an environmental advocacy group, she shook her head ruefully. "It's just so sad," she exhaled. "They all look so skinny that it's hard to look at them."

Etc.

[Annoying Old Guy]

OT, but I have to gloat - I just got back from meeting Col. Allen West and hearing him talk. He's even better in person. I did not, however, have the guts to hold up a "Jane Wins Again" sign.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Awww Bummer AOG - that would have been great!!!

[Jack is Back! (On his iPad)]

AliceH,

In re your 2:25 above.

Happens more than you would think. Plant takes its 4,160 feed back from the swichyard to power its equipment, instrumentation and control including the emergecy core cooling system. Some delicate relays in the mix. When it loses balance, it shuts itself down and kicks in the emergency diesel generators for back power. No big deal.

Just a reminder that even power plants have to get their power from somewhere too:)

[NkoniPad]

So coastal ct is fine -- a typical nor 'easter here. JOM homeport got 19 ", but 20 miles to the east coastal ct got double that 35- 40 inches -- boolah boolah times at Yale. Same for the north fork of LI 2+ feet there. The little town we're in was plowed out promptly -- even our little street with 8 houses on it was blacktop and dry by this afternoon. No power losses in the area. Regular routine tomorrow morning tennis, yoga and maybe some afternoon snow showing in the woods.

[NkoniPad]

Showing = shoeing

[Jack is Back! (On his iPad)]

Clint's on the AT&T from PebbleBeach. No empty chair. Just had Andy Roddick and Aaro Rodgers on after hitting their tee shots on to 17.

[Jack is Back! (On his iPad)]

NK,

Good to know you have survived America's first Super Hype of 2013.

[NkoniPad]

Blinder uses the worn excuse of every central planner whose economic and public policies have ben exposed as abject failures -- or worse. "poor communication". Until now, Blinder's money printing/debased dollar policies have merely been failures-- when the debt bomb goes off and general inflation compounds the food and fuel inflation we've suffered-- interest rates will have to rise, and a truly terrible recession will hit.

[pagar]

http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/video-former-fbi-agent-confirms-cia-nominee-john-brennan-a-convert-to-islam/

No words needed!

[Neo]

Five myths about Obama’s drone war
1. Drones are immoral.
2.Drone strikes cause inordinate civilian casualties.
3.Drones allow us to fight wars without danger.
4. Drones are technologically complex weapons that only rich nations can afford.
5. Obama will be remembered as the drone president.

Actually, history will determine if 5 is true. Make that Four myths.

[narciso]

You know that may be true, as with St. John Philby, but there are other reasons;

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-09/after-freezing-prices-argentina-bans-all-advertising#comment-3228823

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

Wow, pagar.
Brennan refers to Jerusalem as AL Quds in the speech embedded in that video.
If he isn't a muslim he might as well be.

[narciso]

Like I say, there are precedents from this, then of course, there's that fellow who is a Muslim, and runs the CTC, rather ably,

[DrJ]

I've just finished with a government bureaucracy that would amaze even Franz Kafka. I'll try to keep it short.

At the end of 2010 I purchased an instrument from an auction outside of Montreal. It was a great deal financially and the President of the company who made the instrument helped me set it up when he came out for skiing.

Part of the purchase price was payment of Quebec and Canadian taxes, which we could recover by completing a few forms. We had one year in which to submit the forms, and we did so in June 2011.

In March 2012 our request was denied from the Canada Revenue Agency, with the stated reason that they did not receive our paperwork in the one year window. I sent it all certified, so we appealed the ruling. FAXes were requested for various paperwork

In December 2012 our appeal was rejected because we sent the forms to the wrong address.

However, Quebec stated that if refunds were requested from both the Provincial and Federal governments, all of the forms were to be sent to them, and they would route the Federal forms. The Canada Revenue Agency was not aware of this (!) and was unable to contact the Quebecois by telephone because all they spoke there was French. So we FAXed a copy of their forms, and the claim finally was allowed.

Meanwhile, Quebec had sent a check earlier but to the wrong address (we had it right on the forms). We contacted them by email (the web site was in French) and they finally corrected the addressing without admitting error.

Both checks arrived this week. The total amount in question? About $400. I think I paid my bookkeeper that much to do all of the paperwork and follow-ons. Fortunately I have an international telephone plan.

And this sort of bureaucracy is going to run our healthcare system?

[narciso]

Considering this fellow's rather jaundiced view of the GOP, these last few years, the review seems pretty good;

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323807004578282212160724672.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

OTOH Taranto seems to give too much of the benefit of the doubt to Dorner,

[Beasts of England]

There was a big storm in Nantucket
That delivered wet snow by the bucket
The JOMers were asked
For a verbal repast
But the Beasts grew impatient, said 'Phucket.'

[daddy]

Here's a Limerick experiment:

Decided to see if a decent Limerick could be made solely by taking bits of sentences posted by JOM commenters above. Don't think I was successful but here's an effort.

First line Maryrose
2nd line OL
3rd line Jane
4th line Frau
5th line Neo and Sue

Nantucket is getting hammered.
the value of belts and suspenders
I'm bored to tears
Big Bear, his rear
Dr. Carson You will be remembered

Perhaps Limericks were not meant to be joint non-efforts. Oh well:(

KayyyyyyyyRooooooo:)

[squaredance]

Post for fisking? More like shooting skeet, I'd say.

Obama's "message" is as consistent as could be, and is getting through load and clear for anyone with a brain in their head.

Mr. Blinder, the adults clearly understood what when on on Wall St. during our so-called "crisis", and their surmise is not at all what you imagine it to be.

As an aside. the notions that what matters in politics in general is "messaging", or that what the government did on Wall St was to make "equity investments" baffles, to say the least. But what really puzzles in the idea that the failures of the Obama administration is one of "communications". This is like saying that the failures of the USSR, as opposed to its fall, were due to a failure of propaganda.

Mr Blinder is well named. Sound like there are all too many Harvard MBA's strutting around in the Fed.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Anyone know if we are still on lockdown in MA?

[Old Lurker]

Driving ban lifted on Nantucket and some other counties at 1PM Jane.

Winds peaked at 95.8.

[narciso]

95.8 isn't that like a category 2 storm, OL.

[narciso]

We know he was lying from open sources;

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/brennan-s-evasions_700510.html?utm_campaign=Washington+Examiner&utm_source=washingtonexaminer.com&utm_medium=referral

[Old Lurker]

I guess so Narc. The old timers said it was pretty bad noise wise but perhaps not too damaging. My cameras are still down so I can't see anything!

Can't wait to see how the limerick develops above.

:-)

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

That's a lot of wind OL. Did you reach your caretaker?

[Old Lurker]

Yes all is fine, thanks Jane.

[Rick Ballard]

squaredance,

Not Harvard MBAs. Battalions, if not divisions, of economics PH.D. holders, most of whom are devoted New Keynesians capable of using ARIMA models which faithfully produce forecasts totally unrelated to reality. I'm beginning to believe we should try and hire some former Soviet economists to help the Fed move away from the unicorn farting rainbows modeling system currently in use. The Soviet Five Year Plans came closer to the mark.

[Old Lurker]

I agree with Rick about the creds of those bozo's. MBAs even from Harvard are smarter than these guys.

[narciso]

Well he did a brief moment of lucidity, at the end of this excerpt;

Blinder has served as the Deputy Assistant Director of the Congressional Budget Office (1975), on President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisors (January 1993 - June 1994),[6] and as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from June 1994 to January 1996.[6] As Vice Chairman, he cautioned against raising interest rates too quickly to slow inflation because of the lags in earlier rises feeding through into the economy.

[Rick Ballard]

OL,

They aren't dumb. They were educated in the Ptolemaic system and will continue to calculate epicycles until they retire or die. They will also seek to hire and/or promote other masters of the Ptolemaic system and strongly resist hiring or promoting any Copernican unwise enough to apply.

They have their consensus, just as the committed climate scientists do. If we'd just shut our lying eyes and stop talking about what we see, everything would be perfect.