The Guitar November 14, 2011March 26, 2017 VETERAN’S DAY (BELATEDLY) Let me be the last to make note of Veteran’s Day 2011 with two stories. The first is the story of Mitt Romney’s plan to make life harder for vets by privatizing their health care. Paul Krugman tells that story for the New York Times, here: Oh, boy. Mitt Romney wants to privatize the VA. This is awesome on multiple levels. First, you know what voucherization would mean in practice: the vouchers would be inadequate, and become more so over time, so that veterans who don’t make enough money to top them up would fail to receive essential care. Patriotism! Second, the VA is one of the great policy success stories of the past two decades. Back in the early 90s it was a terrible system — but as Philip Longman showed, what followed was a transformation that should be emulated by the rest of our health care system. Integrated care — and effective use of electronic records — delivered rising quality of care even as it reduced costs. Yes, I know, someone will chime in with a VA horror story, because any large health system will make errors. But the VA clearly delivers care as good or better than most civilians receive, at sharply lower cost. So naturally Romney wants to privatize it. Because let’s remember, he’s the serious Republican. . . . The second is the story of the fifth annual Stand Up for Heroes benefit last Wednesday at the Beacon Theater in New York. More specifically, it’s about a guitar, but let me set the stage. The stage came to life with Max Weinberg’s Big Band – bring back Big Bands! this stuff rocks! – and then Bob and Lee Woodruff welcomed the 2,800 guests, who had contributed as much as $2,500 for each ticket to help injured Iraq and Afghanistan vets . . . you will recall that ABC’s Bob Woodruff had much of his skull blown off covering the war. Following his recovery, he and Lee started ReMIND.Org. The Woodruffs introduced the many injured vets in the two front rows, asking them to “stand if you can” as their names were called. One of them, Andrew Kinard – who lost both legs but now attends Harvard in the joint MBA/JD program – delivered inspiring remarks. As did President Clinton (and, via a prerecorded video on the giant screen, President George W. Bush, to the bitter irony of which, if anyone felt it, there was no overt reaction). President Obama wasn’t there, but I noticed David Axelrod in the audience. Then Sotheby’s President, Jamie Niven (actor David Niven’s son – sure, The Pink Panther, but, my God, man, The Guns of Navarone! My Man Godfrey!), auctioned off . . . nothing: just a chance to raise your hand and give $50,000 (as someone did) or $25,000 (four) or $10,000 (ten) . . . and on up thru $390,000, by my count. Maybe more. Then Ricky Gervais did a riff on fat people that was a little tough, I thought (but very funny); and Jim Gaffigan was very funny; and Jon Stewart was very funny; and Bruce Springsteen was . . . amazing (a full account here in Rolling Stone.) And his backup was the rocking Max Weinberg Big Band – it was phenomenal. I mean, this was the second coolest thing ever. (I’m getting to the coolest thing.) And then, after Bruce, when we thought we were done, Jamie Niven came out with Brian Williams (news anchor) and Seth Meyers (fake news anchor) – could they really be asking us for more money? – to auction off Springsteen’s guitar. And the bidding started at $10,000 and went back and forth and got to $60,000 and Jamie Niven said, “Sixty thousand is nice,” as if he were patting a small boy on the head. Ample pause. “But it’s not enough.” So someone went to seventy – “Do I hear eighty?” – and a guy a few feet away – I was on the aisle, he was on the aisle two rows closer to the stage – went to seventy-five, which annoyed Jamie Niven, who explained that in his profession this is known as a “split bid” (I think that’s what he called it) but the guy way across the theater, on Brian Williams’ side of the stage, went to eighty – and Springsteen walked over with his guitar from Seth Meyers’ side (our side) to Brian Williams’ side – and then our guy went to ninety and Springsteen walked back our way. It went on like this, with Springsteen loping back and forth . . . and then he threw in his harmonica into the deal and the bidding went higher . . . and then his shirt, higher still, and of course the folks near me really hoped our guy, whoever he was (who WAS he?) would be the high bidder, because we figured the Boss would come down into the audience and hand the guitar to him. And that – when our guy bid $160,000 and the Brian Williams side of the theater guy fell silent – is exactly what happened. So I could have reached out and touched Bruce, and I could hear him thanking our guy for his generosity, and that is NOT what I meant, above, by “the coolest thing ever.” The coolest thing ever is that as Max Weinberg’s Big Band was helping to bring the evening to a close, and the last thanks were being offered, there was some confusion on stage – “where’s the guitar? we need the guitar!” – and people talking into headsets (I knew where the guitar was; I had seen our guy hand it to one of the Stand Up For Heroes volunteers, to be shipped home, I assumed) . . . and here’s is the coolest thing ever. It turned out that our guy, whoever he was, had not asked the volunteer to ship the $160,000 guitar home. Rather, he had asked her to give the it to Andrew Kinard, the double amputee we had heard from earlier. Just like that. He bought the guitar for $160,000 and gave it, anonymously, to the wounded vet. I asked Lee Woodruff who our guy was but all she would say was that, yes, he’s in “the financial industry” – I assume a hedge fund guy – and wants to remain anonymous. He did keep the shirt, I saw, as I expressed my admiration on the way out. Meanwhile, I plan somehow to make sure Andrew knows he needs to sell the guitar – he must feel zero guilt over selling it – and use the proceeds to help finance his bright future. THE BRAVEST MAN IN UGANDA Twelve hours later, I got to meet the bravest man in Uganda – possibly the world – when in the Kennedy Caucus room on the third floor of the Russell Senate Office Building Frank Mugisha, a diminutive 29-year-old gay Ugandan, received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. In Frank’s country, same-sex relations between consenting adults is punishable by life in prison. Legislation is pending to impose the death penalty. In a country of 32 million, noted Kerry Kennedy (Bobby’s daughter), there are just five visible advocates of LGBT equality. There were six, but Frank’s colleague David Cato was bludgeoned to death in January. John Kerry (Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee) and Ethel Kennedy (Bobby’s widow) presented the honor. Bishop Desmond Tutu spoke via video. Donna Brazile emceed. Frank spoke with quiet dignity. Donna invited us to friend Frank and follow him on Twitter. Next week he comes to New York for meetings. Then – and here is why I think he may be the bravest man in the world – he goes back to Uganda. THE CONNECTION What tied the two events together was something President Clinton had said the night before. I wish I had a clip or a transcript, but the gist was: “Don’t give me despair; the future is filled with hope. There is an amazing generation of talented, enlightened, courageous young people who will move us forward.” Like Andrew Kinard and Frank Mugisha.
It’s Huntsman! November 11, 2011March 26, 2017 I hope you get your friends the Levins together – or just one of them, really — and read this today with a Levin at eleven past eleven – 11:11 on 11/11/11. I’m as childish as anyone else when it comes to this stuff. I have other things to say – I almost sort of met Bruce Springsteen Wednesday night and did meet Uganda’s bravest man Thursday morning – but because [insert excuse here], I’m taking the day off. Except for these two items that I wanted to post: ON JOE PATERNO AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ‘There’s one big difference between the Catholic Church and Penn State. Once the cover-up came to light, coach Joe Paterno and University President Graham Spanier were immediately fired. Yet, 10 years later, not one — not one! — Catholic bishop has been fired. Religion is still more powerful than football.’ – from Bill Press‘s latest column IT’S HUNTSMAN! Well, it’s clearly not Perry or Cain (or Gingrich, Bachmann, or Karger). And though it’s almost surely Romney, there are two nagging problems. First, relatively few people seem to like him. Second . . . From the Washington Post: The consistently inconsistent Mitt Romney By Ruth Marcus Published: November 10 Mitt Romney, blessed with a series of self-destructing opponents, still needs to come up with a better way to address his history of flip-flops. His current argument boils down to asking voters, ‘Who are you going to believe, me or your lying ears?’ This is not going to fly. Romney made the jaw-dropping claim to a New Hampshire editorial board that his problem wasn’t flip-flopping – it was being insufficiently robotic. ‘I’ve been as consistent as human beings can be,’ the former Massachusetts governor insisted. ‘I cannot state every single issue in exactly the same words every single time, and so there are some folks who, obviously, for various political and campaign purposes will try and find some change and draw great attention to something which looks like a change which in fact is entirely consistent.’ Pressed during the CNBC debate Wednesday night, Romney repeated his consistency argument – this time topped off with an ode to his long-lasting marriage and an attack on President Obama. ‘I think people understand that I’m a man of steadiness and constancy,’ he said. ‘I don’t think you are going to find somebody who has more of those attributes than I do. I have been married to the same woman . . . for 42 years. I have been in the same church my entire life. I worked at one company, Bain, for 25 years. . . . I think it is outrageous the Obama campaign continues to push this idea, when you have in the Obama administration the most political presidency we have seen in modern history. . . . Let me tell you this, if I’m president of the United States, I will be true to my family, to my faith, and to our country, and I will never apologize for the United States of America.’ In court, this answer would be ruled non-responsive. Romney’s ability to stick to a marriage longer than, say, Newt Gingrich or to keep a job is not what’s at issue. The question, and it’s a legitimate one for anyone who has spent even a glancing amount of time examining Romney’s record, is whether he shifts ideological position with the political winds. Fidelity to one’s marriage or one’s religion says something about a candidate’s character, but it does not deal with the flip-flop question. Neither does a jab, justified or not, at the opposition. ‘I will never apologize for the United States of America’ does not respond to the question: Why did you change your positions on abortion, gun control, gay rights, climate change, immigration – even on Ronald Reagan? If I were a Republican voter legitimately worried about Romney’s ideological shape-shifting, I would be insulted by this attempt to change the subject. Perhaps, given the weakness of the opposing candidates, Romney can still skate by. After Wednesday’s gaffe, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is nearly finished. Voters don’t want to see Mr. Oops – or Mr. Giddy in New Hampshire – negotiating with a foreign leader. Former Godfather’s Pizza chairman Herman Cain is one data point of corroboration away from imploding. Even if nothing more emerges to bolster the substance of the sexual harassment allegations against him – and two financial settlements plus an on-the-record allegation seems too much to disbelieve – his ham-handed handling of the story is nearly disqualifying on its own. As to the notion that former House speaker Newt Gingrich could emerge as the anti-Romney – that’s hard to imagine. Gingrich’s attack-the-media-at-the-first-opportunity strategy is not going to get him very far even with Republican primary voters. He makes Romney look like the guy you want to hang out with. But Romney’s failure to rise in the polls even as his opponents flail suggests that the flip-flop issue isn’t going away. There’s no magic solution to this problem. You can’t give a speech on flip-flopping. But flip-flop denialism isn’t going to work – especially when it is so easy to go to the videotape. . . .
The (Very) Good News About Solar And Come Meet a Woman Who KNEW Elvis November 10, 2011March 26, 2017 IF YOU’RE IN NEW YORK TONIGHT Vicky Tiel gowns usually fetch $5,000 to $8,000. Tonight, she will be presenting her bridge line, a collaboration with Kenneth Nolan, at discount prices for one night only at Charles Nolan, 30 Gansevoort Street, from 6:00 to 9:00. Now you can own a Vicky Tiel for $250 to $900. Or just come ask Ms. Tiel what Elvis Presley was like, what Kim Kardashian is like, and to inscribe copies of her book, It’s All About the Dress, What I Learned In Forty Years About Men, Women, Sex And Fashion, to solve several of your upcoming gift-giving conundra. WHAT ONE REPUBLICAN THINKS – NOT PRETTY Carl Ondry: “Yesterday’s clip of the ignorant, biased lady ruined my morning. I hope those people won’t ruin the country.” ☞ I hope so too. They’ve done a pretty good job of it so far, I’m afraid. Imagine if her passion for making things better – which I don’t doubt is real – sat on a foundation of solid facts (like the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change). She’d be fierce. Les Rosenbaum: “After hearing that Republican’t, I have a book recommendation: Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free by NPR’s Charles P. Pierce.” THE BAD NEWS ON FRACKING And here you thought it might only pollute our drinking water. Turns out – “U.S. Government Confirms Link Between Earthquakes and Hydraulic Fracturing” – fracking causes earthquakes. One assumes it causes only smallish earthquakes; and one doesn’t mind if they occur, smallishly, in unpopulated areas. But one is reminded on a daily basis of the difficulty of fitting 7 billion people, headed for 9 billion, on a small planet without disturbing the natural order of things. THE WORSE NEWS FROM ITALY Robert Shapiro asks: “Is This the Final Countdown to a Global Financial Calamity?” Hopefully not, and the sun will come out tomorrow (see below), but don’t quit your day job. If you have one. THE (VERY) GOOD NEWS ON SOLAR Paul Krugman in the New York Times, here. Bottom line: solar is getting more and more economical, with huge positive implications for our economy, our security, and the environment. (And by the way, this is exactly why we should be making Solyndra gambles, even though many will fail – China’s putting $30 billion into this kind of stuff – so we can have a meaningful share of this amazing new market.)
It’s All About the Dress November 9, 2011March 26, 2017 WHAT ONE REPUBLICAN THINKS – NOT PRETTY One hopes it’s unfair to post this clip, because, one hopes, she is – in her ignorance and certitude – representative of almost no one. And yet, sadly, that is just not the case. Thanks to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck (whom she credits), among others, she is one of millions. It’s a short clip, as gripping as a train wreck. And a tribute to what Karl Rove, Roger Ailes, et al, have managed to do polarize the country and steer so many of its citizens so far off-course. WHAT YOU COULD DO TOMORROW EVENING – VERY PRETTY I’ve been remiss in keeping you up to date re Charles, whom long-time readers will know was, among other extraordinary things, my financial opposite. There’s lots to tell – we hope to open the Charles Nolan Reading Room at New York’s High School of Fashion Industries this winter; I keep coming across amazing things I will eventually get around to writing about, like his revealing Second Grade report card and the teenager I have living in his closet – but the thing I want to tell you about this morning is an event tomorrow night at his shop. The shop, CHARLES NOLAN, remains a gem (he says proudly and self-interestedly), here, at 30 Gansevoort Street in New York’s Meatpacking District. It’s now run by his wonderful sister Carola with editorial guidance from his wonderful brother Kenneth (who designs the very successful Calvin Klein dress line). There is apparently a woman named Vicky Tiel, whom everyone is amazed I had never heard of until yesterday. Her original business partners were Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (I have heard of them). She “Dressed Hollywood Women. And Undressed for Warren, Elvis, Marlon…” writes my pal Jesse Kornbluth. Oh, my. Elvis? Of her new book, It’s All About the Dress, What I Learned In Forty Years About Men, Women, Sex And Fashion, Gael Greene writes: “. . . inventor of the mini, Paris couturier at 18, Vicky Tiel tells spicy tales from dressing Kim, Ursula and Miles Davis, teasing Woody Allen, staying up late with Princess Grace and more intimate tales than you thought you’d want to know from her years in the entourage of Liz and Dick. Comes complete with tricks you need: bedroom advice, supermodels’ diet guide, how to get men to give jewelry and the recipe for a perfect pink tunafish sandwich.” Apparently, Ms. Tiel is the longest running couture designer at Bergdorf Goodman. Her gowns usually fetch $5,000 to $8,000. Tomorrow night, she will be presenting her bridge line, a collaboration with Kenneth Nolan, at discount prices for one night only at the Charles Nolan Boutique, from 6:00 to 9:00, Thursday, November 10, at the afore-linked 30 Gansevoort Street. Now you can own a Vicky Tiel for $250 to $900. Or just come ask Ms. Tiel to inscribe copies of her book, which will also be amply stocked, to satisfy several of your upcoming gift-giving conundra. THE RIDDLE J. F.: “What has two legs and sleeps with cats? Answer: Me!” ☞ No, I’m sorry. The correct answer is “Mrs. Katz” (you will recall I instructed you to have the riddle read to you), which I had planned to reveal in connection with something else, but I couldn’t hold you in suspense any longer. I will revisit all this soon.
Two Minutes and “60 Minutes” November 8, 2011March 26, 2017 IF YOU OWN BOREALIS, YOU WILL ENJOY THIS STORY El Al announced it has signed a letter of intent to become WheelTug’s launch customer. That doesn’t mean it will actually happen, or that they’ll get certified – the list of caveats is long. But with this news, WheelTug – and thus its parent Borealis – inches further down the runway toward possible take-off. Read all about it. (Here, too. And on Bloomberg, here.) I bought yet a few more shares at $3 yesterday morning after I read the news.* IF YOU SEEK HOPE FOR THE FUTURE, YOU WILL ENJOY THIS CLIP It’s just two minutes. Watch. Imagine how much progress we could make if we all started pulling together. There’s so much we actually agree on. (For one thing, I’m guessing that a solid majority of us are in the bottom 99%. Can we agree it’s a bad idea to eliminate the tax on billionheirs, as Mitt Romney proposes to do?) IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT WE’RE UP AGAINST, THOUGH . . . Watch Lesley Stahl’s interview with Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff from Sunday’s “60 Minutes.” One could grow very depressed watching it, or very angry, but let’s skip all that and just try to do more to fix it. Including Abramoff’s own top suggestion: that no Congressperson or Congressional staffer be allowed, after they leave Congress, to lobby. When they finish their public service, they should just . . . go home. Answer to Yesterday’s Riddle: Will just have to wait one more day. I don’t want to do anything to detract from either of those clips. *At $3, with its 5 million shares outstanding and no debt, Borealis has a market cap of $15 million; whereas the estimated global annual airline industry savings from WheelTug, if it ever became the standard on commercial jets, is in the ballpark of $5 billion. And if they work with jetliners, might the company’s technologies conceivably have realizable commercial application elsewhere? Probably not, if the last 12 years are any guide. (See that first column from 12 years ago.) But I live in hope. Television was invented in 1926 and didn’t make a dime for decades. The dream lives on.
Embezzlement. Blackmail. Fraud . . . High School. November 7, 2011March 26, 2017 THE ROMNEY ECONOMIC PLAN He says he doesn’t advocate a dime of further tax cuts for the rich. Yet he proposes to cut the estate tax. Which applies only to the rich. And he doesn’t propose to cut it just a smidgen. Or even just a skoche. He proposes to cut it from the current 45% rate to . . . . . . wait for it . . . zero. This would add to the deficit and increase wealth inequality – hallmarks of Republican economics ever since Ronald Reagan. And that’s just a small piece of Mitt Romney’s economic plan. Read the highlights here. WRITING TIPS The first comes from me, and it is that you could take the sentences above and merge them all into one block of writing called . . . a paragraph. I know that. I frequently use that device. But sometimes I think you have to talk really slowly, to get people to slow down and pause to consider the enormity of the tiny thing you’re saying. It’s all about selling. To me, it’s a big deal that – at a time of real struggle for the diminished middle class and the poor, and with our Debt through the roof from decades of tax cuts for the rich and wars accompanied by more tax cuts for the rich – the presumptive Republican nominee proposes yet more tax cuts for the rich . . . this one would save even the lowliest billionheir $450 million . . . while saying that he’s not. (That’s what they always say. In Bush’s case the line was that ‘By far the vast majority’ of his tax cuts would go to ‘people at the bottom of the economic ladder.’) I hope it’s not just the Occupy Wall Street crowd who are wising up to this. ANOTHER WRITING TIP The second tip, literally about selling, comes from Marc Acito writing in the just-released 2012 Writer’s Market (‘The Most Trusted Guide To Getting Published’). To interest an editor or agent, he says, you’ve got to have a hook – as they do in the movies. (‘There’s only one problem with the Davis baby,’ ran one of my own favorite tag lines . . . from a 1974 horror movie of the same title I hope never to see . . . ‘It’s ALIVE!‘). Marc says you need to do this to sell your novel, too. You can’t launch in with some windy pitch, you’ve got to come up with an irresistible encapsulation (and then launch into your windy pitch). ‘When I pitched my first novel, How I Paid for College,’ he writes [I added the hyperlink], ‘I always started the same way: ‘Embezzlement. Blackmail. Fraud . . . High School.’ And he offers this grabber – ‘A teen runaway kills the first person she encounters, then is pursued by the dead woman’s sister as she teams up with three strangers to kill again.’ – which I’m pretty sure I’ve heard before (‘Recognize it?’ asks Acito. ‘That’s The Wizard of Oz‘), but even if it isn’t original with him (and even though it’s surely not how Baum pitched the manuscript) it bears repeating. RIDDLE Don’t read this, have someone read it to you: ‘What has two legs and sleeps with cats.’ Give up? Come back tomorrow.
A Grant and a Rant November 4, 2011March 26, 2017 NFL COMISH GIVES GAYS $1 MILLION Well, sort of. This is actually pretty great: “Former NFL Commissioner Paul J. Tagliabue and his wife, Chandler Tagliabue, have donated $1 million to Georgetown University for the creation of a new program to assist LGBT students.” The NFL (by association). Georgetown (a Catholic university). As reported here. “Sivagami Shiva Subbaraman, director of Georgetown’s LGBTQ Resource Center, called the Tagliabues’ gift ‘exciting and wonderful news’ and said it would have a beneficial impact on LGBT-related programs and centers at colleges across the country, especially other religious institutions. . . . She said the center’s work is carried out ‘consistent with, observant of, Jesuit values and principles of education’ and in collaboration with the university’s Office of Mission and Ministry.” Hats off to enlightened, open-minded people everywhere. RICK MERCER RANT And while we’re fighting intolerance, here is a rant from Canada worth watching. (Very quick.) DNDN So when we were short DNDN it zoomed; and after we covered the short, it collapsed; and once it did collapse, we bought some; and now, yesterday, it dropped 35% more. Guru: “Dendreon beat their third quarter estimate for revenue, but on the analysts call said bookings for November were down (slightly) from October. Fourth quarter will be up from Third quarter, and accounts prescribing will exceed the goal of 500 in 2011. One of the largest urology practices in the US just put out a notice for all eligible patients to get Provenge. Still, the inflection point has not been reached and likely won’t be until the 1Q 2012.” I think whatever we do will likely be wrong – this thing has entered the “superstitious” stage of analysis which is, needless to say, not a good stage. NABI Guru: “Currently has $2.39/share in cash. (Used about 2 million in the quarter, or about 0.05/share) The second trial of the nicotine vaccine will announce results by the end of the year. Obviously with the stock at $1.87/share, there is no expectation of success. The data certainly don’t say that it is impossible to work, although the first Phase III did not work. Thus, a decent risk/reward.”
Why There’s No Column Today November 3, 2011March 26, 2017 My outlook is rosy, but Microsoft decided to reload 60,000+ emails into my Outlook (capital O, trademarked) — no way to stop it, like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice battling brooms — and when that finished and I found a $24 program that would seek out and delete them, and installed and launched it . . . well, it’s up to 30,000 deletions with I guess about 30,000 more to go. So no column today. But did you know there’s now a free Rachel Maddow app for your iPhone? Seriously: you can’t possibly be informed if you don’t watch Rachel Maddow five nights a week. Now, you don’t even need cable TV. Just search on RACHEL MADDOW in the app store. In other news, one of our stocks, SYMS, announced before the market opened yesterday it would be filing for bankruptcy and liquidating its assets. The stock dipped as low as $3.01 in pre-market trading, but closed up $2.05 at $9.72 — a nice day’s gain for whoever paid $3.01 — which suggests a lot of investors think, as we have, that the company, because of its real estate holdings, is worth more dead than alive (selling clothing). KANSAS WIND Rick from Normal: “If you’ve not yet seen this ad on TV, here is the full 3 minute Youtube on the latest big thing from Normal. With hundreds of windmills in the county and multiple nuclear electric generating plants in Illinois, electric cars here are truly carbon free.” >>> I loved that clip. You go, Normal! So look: a column after all.
Dredging Up a Small, Nervous Gain November 2, 2011March 26, 2017 IS OUR NAME MUD? GLDD had a good quarter dredging mud (here) and the stock actually closed up yesterday (12%), as did a few of our others (NBIX was up 16%*). This, even as the Dow dropped 297 points on the surprise from Greece and the MF Global bankruptcy. So our little successes may be short-lived. The calamity that could befall global markets if the European situation does not in fact resolve itself in an orderly way is not reflected in the stock market. Then again, the calamity would be so huge that one just assumes a way will be found to avoid it. And yet. And yet. This is a time to emphasize: The stock market is never a place for money you will need any time in the next few years. And to ask: What could the Republicans have been thinking when they fought to water down the Dodd-Frank financial regulation, and what could they be thinking now in vowing to repeal it? Did you notice that MF Global was leveraged 40 to one before it went under? Why, after 2008, do we still allow firms to lever themselves up 40 to 1? And why do we still not have transparent derivatives markets, where regulators can see just how many trillions of dollars in sovereign debt ‘insurance’ our financial institutions may have written? The relentless Republican effort to obstruct or roll back regulation endangers us all – including wealthy Republicans, who you might think would have pressured their representatives to switch sides in this debate. So . . . ‘Occupy Wall Street?’ Yes, I think so. And see Margin Call if it’s playing near you. LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE OCCUPIERS Paul Lerman: ‘Here – from a very conservative Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed writer – is a positive take on Jack Bogle’s support of Occupy Wall Street.’ (Bogle is the small investor’s hero, having invented low-fee mutual fund investing at Vanguard. Like Warren Buffett, he is all about common sense.) THE SUPERCOMMITTEE ‘Both sides are to blame for the supercommittee debt impasse? No,’ says Michael Tomasky ‘it all comes down to Republicans and taxes. And the Democrats will give in yet again, and roll over on Pentagon cuts too.’ Depressing, but worth reading. And then joining the effort that the 99% of us should engage in to take the government back from the top one percent of the top one percent, whose interests the Republicans unfailingly protect. I’m not being partisan here, I’m being factual: just look at their votes. They will not allow taxes on the rich to be raised even at this time of extraordinary deficit and debt. Presumably, they are proud of this and feel they are acting in the nation’s best interest. I, and a wide majority of Americans disagree. * Guru: ‘NBIX may have data on its congestive heart failure product out by the end of the year. Based on published studies, it should work. Abbott (ABT) expects to start Phase III trials in endometriosis by the end of 2011. Data should be available in early 2013 and I have as much conviction as possible in the long-term success. Other programs at NBIX are progressing well. I think the stock rise today reflects the imminent start of the Phase III trial.’
A Cuban Immigrant in the Top 1% November 1, 2011March 26, 2017 NPSP Shares plunged yesterday on misinterpreted news that creates a buying opportunity but only with money you can truly afford to lose. I bought more at $5.20. If I weren’t a late sleeper, I might have paid as little as $4.53. ANOTHER 1% VOICE Carl Granados writes: It would be a nice idea for the 1% to write about themselves for your blog like the one you had yesterday. With that intent I am sending you mine. I am one of the fortunate 1%. I am a Cuban immigrant that came with my parents in 1960. My father was in the top 1% in Cuba but lost it there due to Castro. He came here, started from scratch and once again made it to the 1%. In the 60’s, when my father first got here, he did not complain about how high the tax rates were nor did he use it as an excuse not to work or become wealthy. He was happy as hell to have the opportunity just to be all that he could be. Like the Donald Trump’s of the world, I too went to work for my father in the family development business. Unlike most of the 1%, I don’t pretend that I got all that I did because of my genius or because God likes me better than someone else. The truth is that most in the 1% are there because they were born to the right family, married to the right person, had the right friends, and/or had lots of luck with health, genes, and being at the right place at the right time. I remember before Saint Reagan when one breadwinner brought home what it takes two for today. I remember when people used to work 40 hours, got two weeks paid vacation the first year working, when interest rates on credit cards were legally only a few points above prime, when we had Savings and Loan Banks, and when CEOs got fired when they did a crummy job. The policies that made this the norm FOX News calls Socialism. There was a time when I was a proud Republican because they believed government played a valuable role in maintaining and supporting capitalism. Many such as Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. (before they ran for President) believed in a woman’s right to choose keeping government out of a woman’s personal choices. I remember when Republican stood for fiscal responsibility not just tax cuts they used to bribe voters while paying for it with greater debt. I initially was a Republican for the same reason many Cubans were… because we blamed President Kennedy for the Bay of Pigs. It’s odd how one event can cloud a people’s mind for so long. I also believed in principles like taking government off people’s back, fiscal responsibility, strong defense, and making our country the most progressive on the planet. I was and still am a libertarian on social issues which Republican rhetoric claims to support. We need to understand that if we want to enforce the religious morality of certain faiths (majority or not) it curbs our freedoms, it replaces justice with a double standard, and keeps us from finding the best solutions for problems if they conflict with what we want to hear. Of course, as with most things GOP, what they claim and what they do are opposites. With leaders like Jesse Helms and Strom Thurman (and everyone in the GOP primaries this season) it wasn’t too long before I woke up. Today the modern Republican Party is a religion that survives on faith because its core tenets have been proven false over and over. Cutting taxes too much, especially for the rich, gets you votes but leads to more debt as Reagan and two Bushes have proven. Keeping choice from a woman or keeping gays from marrying makes government ON our backs not the opposite. One of its core principles seems to be ending abortion in any form while also ignoring those that are born without care, food, or love — and that makes no sense. Too much deregulation leads to loan shark rates on our credit cards, banks that need to be bailed out, and a Wall Street with CEOs that get paid like kings even when running a company into the ground. Finally it is true that the top one percent are job creators but mainly for people in third world countries and illegals taking care of their kids or cleaning house. Like anyone I hate paying taxes because I believe we do waste a lot of our tax money and stupid wars and to much military. Yes there are plenty of places to save though we may disagree where. I do know we need to invest more in education and make it cheaper if we are to compete in the world. I do know health care has to be affordable and accessible to all if we want a country that cares for its own. I do believe we have to concern ourselves with maintaining a livable planet instead of hoping it doesn’t go to crap before we pass on. Finally I believe if we go to war we have to pay for it not hope the good fairy will do it. I love America. I believe in investing in its people. I believe government plays a part that keeps Capitalism working. I do believe government can do something better and honestly than private business (could make a big list but would make this email too long). I believe everyone should compete equally, instead of limiting it to the ones that can afford the schools, medical bills, and technology, because it makes us stronger and healthier. I believe in taking care of the old who have helped make our country what it is. I also believe in paying our bills and not pushing it on to our kids. This means our taxes should cover our spending which should be simple math but Republicans most have failed that class in elementary school. I love this country because I care about everyone in it not just the lucky 1% like me. IS CHINA’S REAL ESTATE BUBBLE BURSTING? At least one developer is dropping prices 25%, to the consternation of recent buyers at full price. Here.