The More Things Change ...

Gadfly
by Mort Malkin

The More Things Change …

Barack Obama speaks the finest words — his speechifying is renowned. We are told: “Change,” “Yes, we can,” and “We will close Guantanamo.” At the G-20 (G-20? Gee whiz.), they said he was charming; but Gordon Brown did not invite him for a pint of brew at the Rose and Crown in London, and Angela Merkel still mistrusts American presidents after her experience with George Bush.

Americans granted Obama a time of grace, but that honeymoon is over now that Lawrence Summers has been found to be an investment bank flack and Timothy Geithner is planning a public-private sale of toxic assets requiring only a small down payment by private buyers but a 100% guarantee by the government (us taxpayers).

Mr. Obama, it is time for you to take specific actions that “change” has told us to expect. You can take many initiatives as President. You can convince Congress to take others — you are the leader of the majority party. Here’s a shopping list:

* Ratify the Kyoto Treaty. Don’t wait for the Copenhagen Conference in December. Though the Danes are leaders in the field of wind power, they are unpredictable otherwise, especially as cartoonists and editors.

* Pronouncing “nuclear” correctly is a good start. Now, you must refuse all grants or tax assists to new nuclear power plants in the US. Private enterprise requires private financing and private insurance against melt-downs. This is America, home of Capitalism.

* While we are purifying tax policy, stop the tax breaks for oil & gas drilling. Exxon made over $45 billion in clear profit last year.

* Subsidies for growing corn, cotton, and soy are not in the spirit of free enterprise either. Besides, subsidized corn grown on million acre, monocrop farms can produce kernels at less than what it costs Mexican farmers to grow ancient varieties on their family plots. Keep Capitalism. Keep tortilla diversity.

* Speaking about the Kingdom of Plants, the double helix of life has already been patented by Mother Nature. Tell Monsanto to desist from patenting genes. Genetic engineering, itself, infringes on Nature’s patents. With Monsanto, someone has to lay down the Law or they will try to patent human genes. Please save us before they turn us all into flavor-saver tomatoes. You can start by requiring labeling of genetically engineered foods — in large print.

* Americans must become better informed so we understand all the subtle and tricky secrets the corporations use to convince us how wonderful their products are and how insignificant all the dangers are. The spin-meisters of the B-C (Bush-Cheney) administration went through the revolving door and now work for the corporations. Quick, free the libraries and book stores — our sources of information — from Patriot Act chains. Moreover, we should be free to wander about Union Square in New York or attend a rally at the UN without worrying about being recorded on film by the police. Let’s just scrap the Patriot Act altogether. If the government feels compelled to keep an eye on someone, let them surveil the mucky-mucks at Goldman-Sachs, CitiBank, and Bank of America.

* The recent Obama “charm” offensive needs to be extended to the Hague and the International Court of Justice. At home in the US, Obama is being pressured to have his Justice Department bring charges against George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Karl Rove for spying on countless Americans and torturing select detainees, crimes the high and mighty have spoken of in public. The Gadfly Revelry & Research team says that what finally makes it out to even investigative reporters is less than 10% of the whole truth. Obama has tried to hold off the inevitable with “Let’s look forward, not back.” His wisest political solution is to sign up with the International Court of Justice and let their prestigious justices do the investigations and prosecutions. He can just say “We can’t break our contract with the ICJ.”

* We can also join the rest of the world in treating health care as a human right. Just pronounce the words “single payer.” The US public, says every survey, supports government-paid health care. Ordinarily, the business community opposes government anything, except bailouts to the investment banks. But a number of capitalists recently have discovered that the cost of workers’ benefits has made them uncompetitive with the rest of the world. General Motors, for example, adds over $1000 to the price of a car to cover health care costs of their workers. With government-paid health care, we could all drive Cadillacs. Barack, just say “single payer” now and again. The Google gang will pick it up. So will Apple and even the PC people. Start a program of preventive medicine tied to universal health care. Even insurance companies and Big Pharma cannot be against prevention. We would save so much money we could afford to treat CEOs of HMOs for mental depression.

* Last on today’s list is a change in our relationship with Cuba, weird since the Castro revolution fifty years ago. Cuba, as landlord, doesn’t cash the monthly checks the US remits for renting the land beneath the military base at Guantanamo Bay. The US strangely maintains an embargo on trade with Cuba, a policy that financially harms the US more than Cuba. Maybe we should call it, not an embargo, but a senseless vendetta. Mr. President, allowing Cuban Americans to send money and even to visit the island is a half way measure. Neither the hawks nor doves are satisfied. US manufacturers say the trade freeze is bad business. They would like to sell products made in the USA to Cuba, and we can use some of the uniquely Cuban goods. For example, Cuban sugar must make super high grade ethanol just as it makes the best rum. Hey Rush Limbaugh, a word in favor of giving Cuba “most favored nation” trade status might get you a few boxes of Havana Cigars.

The change list could go on and on — Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Palestine and Israel for starters. Watch this space

Al Franken: Meet Your Match

Gadfly

Al Franken: Meet Your Match

Al Franken wants to be on Comedy National, otherwise known as the US Senate. He will have to sharpen his humor — the Senate has a long history as a place where funny stuff goes on.

Find Me The Money

Gadfly
by Mort Malkin

Find Me The Money

President Obama plans not only to chew gum while walking, but also to: solve the financial crisis (basically using the same model of banking that got us into the fix we are in), establish universal health care (using the same crazy quilt of public and private insurance we now have), reduce greenhouse gases and global heating (using subsidized “clean” coal and nuclear power along with unaided clean/green technologies), and financing college education for all who want it (with student loans floated by banks who get a nice, fat commission — OK, a few Pell grants,too). Where will he find the money?

The Gadfly Revelry & Research gang did some brain storming, and out of their undisciplined thought and high spirits came a few ways to find the money. The President is looking everywhere, even sending Secretary of State Clinton to Russia and China. Russia has large oil & gas reserves and a few extra wolves and bears to replace those that Sarah Palin shoots on her airplane hunts. China and the US have a one way import-export relationship. We get stuff from China; The Chinese get US Treasury bonds. The Chinese, for all the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of promissory paper they hold, feel entitled to lecture us profligates a little. They advise getting rid of 90% of the derivatives — the mirror images of mirror images of real goods — that Goldman Sachs & co-conspirators invented. They suggest that investment banks should be limited to 5 to 1 leverage, not the 30 to 1 that brought the financial raff down so fast. They say take the troops back from their foreign adventures and demobilize them, saving billions. Talk to the Chinese and Middle Easterners — be nice to the people who lend you money.

The Bush-Cheney (B-C) Administration’s way was to project military power and engender fear, not to be nice. In the Obama Administration, Hillary thanked the Chinese publicly for buying US Treasuries. She failed to charm them. Just recently, the Chinese Number One Banker proposed creating a New Reserve Currency for international trading and lending — something like the IMF Special Drawing Rights based on a basket of several currencies. A world currency? Actually there once was one — it was called gold. Why is everyone worried about the dollar? Right there on every dollar bill it says “In God we trust.” Maybe we should add Confucius, Lao Tsu, and Buddha. The Russians were equally cold to Hillary’s charms. She gave their Foreign Minister a gift of a box with a red button which she thought said “Reset” in Russian. He pointed out that the correct translation was “overload.” At least it didn’t say Panic.

The GRR gang says there’s plenty of green in our own backyard:

$ The President can start with rescinding the Bush tax cuts for the richest of Americans. Right now, no waiting for the tax cuts to expire.
$ Then, the Seniors whose yearly income is above $200,000 don’t need Social Security help.
$ Workers younger than 65 years have a Social Security tax deducted from their paychecks up to earnings of $100,000. Let’s double that limit, or just make all earnings subject to Social Security taxes.
$ Capital gains taxes — for all those who make money while they sleep — are now only 15%, far less than taxes of workers who put in 40 hours a week making actual goods in factories. 25% would be more equitable (the E word).
$ The stock exchanges buy & sell a few billion shares a day. A tiny tax on every transaction will hardly be noticed, but a billion times a little times the number of trading days per year adds up to real money.
$ The TARP funds (Troubled [toxic] Asset Relief Program) that have been or will be given to any bank-investment house-insurance company can be measured against the company’s stock value. Then, if the government (we taxpayers) owns 51%, the FDIC Chair, Sheila Bair, can fire the executives and we can run the company. She has FDIC staffers who are more competent and way more ethical. They can bring the banking-investment-insurance companies into the black and sell them for a profit.
$ Oil and Gas companies need no tax breaks. Exxon netted over $45 billion last year, even with the millions they are still reluctantly paying to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
$ Coal fired power plants — over 50% of US electricity is so produced — are responsible for over a billion tons of CO2 a year. A healthy tax per ton can produce a balanced budget. But don’t get any ideas. We should be closing old plants, not building new coal plants.
$ Medicare costs can be reduced by allowing/requiring negotiation with Big Pharma for reasonable prescription drugs prices under Medicare Part D. The drug companies are willing to negotiate with the Canadian Health System. Is the US a second class world citizen?
$ Medicare can start a primary preventive medicine (health education) program across the country. Barack sets a fine example for fitness and Michelle promotes organic foods. A healthy lifestyle can reduce chronic disease by 70%. 70% less heart disease, hypertension, diabetes … will save oodles of money.
$ Obama can create a rescue package with his athletic ability. He is a super star and can attract crowds to fill a sports arena at the drop of a three pointer. He and Attorney Eric Holder could put on an exhibition of field goal shooting mixed in with dribbling and passing demonstrations. Barack in gym shorts would attract not only male basketball fans, but female Obama buffs. Also, an administration team could challenge the Harlem Globetrotters to a series of fun & games around the country. Ticket sales would be brisk, and tv rights would be worth millions.

The above list is a sampling. It does not even include the bonuses to executives at the banks that took TARP money. In government as in banking, we need a few good people who have a high moral sense as well as the ability to invent things such as credit default swaps.

Poetry

Last of August

Safe from religion,
from politics, folks speak of
trees starting to turn.

Sweet Land of Liberty

Gadfly
by Mort Malkin

Sweet Land of Liberty

By now everyone has heard of Guantanamo where detainees — don’t call them prisoners — have been held and subjected to all kinds of humiliation and sensory assault, all of which Amnesty International and the International Red Cross say is torture and falls under the Geneva Conventions. Abu Ghraib, complete with torture photos, also attracted the attention of every American with a TV set. The networks love sensational news stories illustrated with pictures that they can endlessly cycle.

Even if you’re an American with a choice of a zillion channels worth of TV, you may not have heard about the prison at Baghram Air Base, nor the “black sites” (then-Secretary Rice’s term) in foreign countries from a) Poland and Romania in Europe to b) Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, and Kuwait in the Near East to c) Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan in the Far East. But, you must understand we have no black sites in Russia, China, Iran, or Venezuela. Actually, the number of Guantanamo prisoners is just a little over 200. What’s the big deal — we hold 100 times as many in other installations around the world. Besides, only a small number of the 737 military bases abroad are used to imprison detainees. We should keep things in perspective — the International Red Cross presented only one side of the story.

The ACLU, that pinko organization, says we are holding prisoners unconstitutionally without due process, sometimes for years. The ACLU claims it is fair & unbiased with an 89 year old tradition, but it is a Johnny-come-lately compared to the DAR founded in 1890. The proper ladies of the DAR haven’t objected to treatment of detainees. Neither has Dick Cheney who says the Gitmo detainees are being provided free lodging, food, and medical care on a tropical island. He says they’re better off than US citizens on food stamps. Why, Guantenamo is just like an exclusive gated community. The TV satirists made fun of Poor Richard (poor in conscience) just as they laughed at Donald Rumsfeld saying that the Abu Ghraib torture was no worse than fraternity pranks. Damned network pundits — they can’t recognize innovation in interrogation.

Of course, George Bush must take part of the blame. First, he said that warrantless wire tapping was necessary because speed is necessary to catch those who would harm us. Waiting 48 hours while a FISA judge signs a warrant might be too long to stop an act of terror. Meanwhile, George insisted on jailing detainees for years on end because they might be withholding (outdated) information. Was George in some kind of time warp, or did those years of alcohol (admitted) and drugs (alleged) liquify his brain’s center of time logic? Either way, the prime choice for the White House first responders became: Spin.

Abuse in prisons on the domestic front can’t be blamed on the Bush-Cheney (B-C) administration. Yes, they brought newspeak to new heights, but that is a copyright problem for the estate of George Orwell. Spin doctors had been at work in federal and state government long before selectee George moved into the White House. When the Department of War became the Department of Defense in 1949, many states got the idea that they should change the name of their Department of Prisons to Department of Corrections. The two name changes were equally illogical. Nationally, the new Department of Defense kept our country safe from such threats as Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, and Iraq. In the various states, Departments of Correction are so effective in their new mission that prisons, nationwide, have an over 50% recidivism rate. The threat of prison isn’t even enough to scare our citizenry onto the straight & narrow. The US now has well over two million inmates incarcerated, Number One in the world. China is a poor second and Russia a distant third. USA,USA! What did you expect when we have the best laws against drug possession, making for easy arrests to fill our jails.

The Gadfly Revelry & Research gang (GRR) suggests that among all those inmates there are plenty of strong backs and creative brains to supply a clean, renewable energy industry based on sun, wind, tides, and river flows. But, what about the jobs of prison personnel and all the prison construction workers? Simple. The corrections officers can inspect the 98% of cargo containers entering the US that are presently unexamined. The prison builders can switch to building libraries and youth centers and, in their free time, work on public transportation systems. Of course, the prisoners will have to receive at least minimum wage, not the 20¢ an hour that is now commonly paid to prisoners for such work as painting walls, serving food, and keeping library books in order. Some have argued that prisoners don’t need money as all their needs are taken care of by the institution. The answer is that Bill Gates doesn’t “need” all the money he makes, either. We could add to the Bill Gates list all the CEOs of hedge funds, private equity companies, investment banks and a hundred others. A comedic member of the GRR smiles in noting that Bernie Madoff will soon be eligible for 20¢ an hour.

Then, there is the matter of Leonard Peltier, the American Indian poet and activist who has been imprisoned for 33 years. Leonard and others who were in the Pine Ridge Reservation that day insist that he did not shoot the two FBI agents but that he has been railroaded by the Agency and hounded while in jail. Many who work for human rights — Desmond Tutu, Amnesty International, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for starters, consider Leonard a political prisoner. But the FBI has sworn that Leonard should never see the light of freedom. Currently he is in Lewisburg, PA, far from his family.

Recently, Leonard was transferred to the new prison at South Canaan, PA. There, he was beaten up by two young Indian prisoners who did not even know him. Leonard was put in solitary to separate the assaulters and the assaultee. Yet, visitors had to see this peaceful man through a window and converse with a microphone line between the rooms. We mustn’t let deductive logic interfere with the rules. This is America the Beautiful, not America the sensible.

Quick, Rescue the Economy

Gadfly
by Mort Malkin

Quick, Rescue the Economy

When Secretary Geithner gave the details of his economic rescue package, Wall Street celebrated with champagne and the Dow Jones turned into a Roman candle. He asked for a partnership between government and private investors with a sharing of profits but the government covering all losses. Entrepreneurship with the government taking all the risks — capitalism at its finest!

A couple of days later Secretary Geithner asked Congress for power to regulate insurance companies (like AIG), private equity funds (like Carlyle), and hedge funds (like … they keep a low profile). But what about investment-banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch … or are these mondo institutions too complex for the government to audit?

All I know is: when the stock market goes up so suddenly, it’s time to be suspicious that there’s collusion between Wall Street and the White House.

14.29 Gallons per Mile

Gadfly
by Mort Malkin

14.29 Gallons per Mile

14.29 gallons per mile is not some satirical description of a HumVee — gallons per mile vs. miles per gallon. It is the actual use of fuel by the C-5A cargo plane, the workhorse of the Air Force. Gallons per mile!

The good news is that the Pentagon is aware of the colossal cost of just running the big plane down the runway to take off for Baghram Air Base in Afghanistan. Well, Boeing realized that the C-5As were getting old, so they designed a smaller, lighter cargo plane, the C-17 . Funny, how Boeing’s realization coincided with a new administration that is talking about reducing the use of fossil fuels. The cost of the new cargo plane is a mere $193 million per plane, way less than the cost of bailing out one small bank. If the US would abandon its imperial policy around the world — two hot wars and 737 military bases in other countries — we wouldn’t need cargo planes at all.

Boeing, naturally, threatens to close the C-17 division if the Pentagon order isn’t big enough. One member of the Gadfly Revelry & Research team asks why doesn’t Boeing convert to producing public transportation vehicles such as buses and light rail trains. It’s a much bigger market.