We have a new audio clip up:  "Obama's First Month."  You can hear it here.

FRIDAY,  MARCH 6,  2009

GET IT RIGHT - AT 7:40 P.M. ET:  One of the things I was taught at the Graduate School of Journalism is the importance of making sure, if you're running a correction, that the correction is actually correct.

The AP could have used that advice today.  Here is a correction they ran:

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a March 5 story, The Associated Press reported that congressional Republicans requested an investigation of Charles Freeman, new chairman of the National Intelligence Council, for his relationships with China and Iran. The story should have specified that Democrats Rep. Steve Israel of New York and Rep. Shelley Berkley of Nevada also joined that request.

COMMENT:  Just two little problems:  First, Freeman isn't chairman, but chairman-designate.  Second, it isn't Freeman's relationships with China and Iran that's the issue, it's his relationships with China and Saudi Arabia.

Let's get it right, guys.  Yikes.

March 6, 2009    Permalink

PRESS BIAS?  PRESS BIAS?  HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? - AT 4:46 P.M. ET:  From The New York Times, a neutral newspaper that only wants to give us the facts:

Another 651,000 jobs disappeared from the American economy in February, the government reported Friday, as the unemployment rate soared to 8.1 percent — its highest level since 1983.

The latest grim scorecard of contraction in the American workplace largely destroyed what hopes remained for an economic recovery in the first half of this year, and added to a growing sense that 2009 is probably a lost cause.

Most economists now assume that the American fortunes will not improve before near the end of the year, as the Obama administration’s $787 billion emergency spending program begins to wash through the economy.

“The current pace of decline is breathtaking,” said Robert Barbera, chief economist at the research and trading firm ITG. “We are now falling at a near record rate in the postwar period and there’s been no change in the violent downward trajectory.”

COMMENT:  Grim report, but note the next to last paragraph, an endorsement of the ultimate effectiveness of the Obama spending program.  This is an editorial opinion, not news.  The One will save us.  The Times had an obligation to tell us that many experts are skeptical that the program will help at all, and that some believe it will hurt. 

March 6, 2009  Permalink

DOW CLOSE - AT 4:16 A.M. ET:  Despite a flood of bad economic news, the Dow actually closed up 33 points, to 6627.  Hey, happy days are here again.  This proves once again that the stock market has little connection to the real economy. 

IN CHARGE OF WORLD PEACE - AT 4:10 P.M. ET:  From The Politico:

GENEVA—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened her first extended talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by giving him a present meant to symbolize the Obama administration’s vow to “press the reset button” on U.S.-Russia relations.

She handed a palm-sized box wrapped with a bow. Lavrov opened it and pulled out the gift: a red button on a black base with a Russian word peregruzka printed on top.

“We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?” Clinton asked.

“You got it wrong,” Lavrov said.

Instead of "reset," Lavrov said the word on the box meant “overcharge.”

COMMENT:  The State Department seriously announced that the mistake was being corrected.  After you give the gift?  Wouldn't it have been better to get it right the first time?  Doyou trust this crowd with your family's future? 

March 6, 2009  Permalink

DOW INDECISIVE - AT 12:05 A.M. ET:  The Dow is down only six points.  We'd expected much worse, given the employment news.  The close is still four hours away.

BULLETIN - AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  We reported earlier that the unemployment report out today was expected to show a rise to 7.9%.  The report has just been issued and shows a rise to 8.1%, the worst numbers since December, 1983.

March 6, 2009   Permalink

COLD ENOUGH FOR YOU? - AT 8:15 A.M. ET:  Reader Joseph J. Gallick alerts us to this, from the Discovery Channel, reporting still one more authoritative challenge to the "consensus" on global warming:

...according to a new study, global warming may have hit a speed bump and could go into hiding for decades.

Earth's climate continues to confound scientists. Following a 30-year trend of warming, global temperatures have flatlined since 2001 despite rising greenhouse gas concentrations, and a heat surplus that should have cranked up the planetary thermostat.

"This is nothing like anything we've seen since 1950," Kyle Swanson of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee said. "Cooling events since then had firm causes, like eruptions or large-magnitude La Ninas. This current cooling doesn't have one."

COMMENT:  The story does go on to quote scientists who say that warming will return aggressively, but one does tire of the constant contradictions and revisions in global-warming "science."  We're being asked to change our economy radically, spend trillions to defeat warming - funds that could be spent on health and education - and yet it seems that each week there's a new theory or observation.  The hustlers, like Al Gore, don't want to hear any dissent.  We who pay the bills, however, should listen carefully. 

March 6, 2009   Permalink

JOB LOSSES - AT 8:01 A.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Labor Department will release a report today that is expected to show the unemployment rate rising to 7.9 percent and a loss of 648,000 jobs in February, making it an especially cruel month for America's workers.

Cost-cutting employers are resorting to even bigger layoffs as they scramble to survive the recession, feeding insecurities among those who still have jobs and those who desperately want them.

COMMENT:  Unpleasant numbers, but remember that the unemployment rate in the great Depression rose to 25%, and was more than 10% in the early 80s.  However, these new numbers should have a negative impact on an already sagging stock market. 

March 6, 2009   Permalink

ONE VOTE SHORT - AT 7:45 A.M. ET:  From The Politico:

Short by one vote, Senate Democrats abruptly pulled back Thursday night from completing action on a giant omnibus spending bill—forcing leaders to scramble to pass a stopgap measure to keep the government funded into next week..

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) had been confident earlier in the evening that he had the 60 votes needed to cut off debate. But a half-hour after the roll call was to begin, Reid admitted he was still short and agreed to allow debate to continue for a few more days.

COMMENT:  One vote?  It should be 100 votes short.  The bill, lined with pork, is a disgrace and should be defeated.

March 6, 2009   Permalink

FREEMAN, THE CONTINUING STORY - AT 7:32 A.M. ET:  We're happy to report that the disgraceful appointment of Charles Freeman Jr. to head the National Intelligence Council, which we've been following here, is getting more attention, despite the silence of many news outlets.  Rich Lowry, in the New York Post, comments:

NEVER let it be said that America isn't a country of remarkable openness. You can go directly from effectively working for the Saudis and Chinese to the country's top intelligence analyst. This is the career trajectory of Chas Freeman.

The Obama administration intends to make the ex-diplomat the chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Freeman was ambassador to Saudi Arabia - the world's most lucrative diplomatic posting, because the ambassadors usually end up in Saudi employ after leaving public service.

And...

But the director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, didn't tell the White House ahead of time of his intention to appoint Freeman, and even New York Sen. Chuck Schumer has qualms - giving the White House a ready excuse to dump the appointment. And it should.

Don't worry about Freeman: Presumably, his friends will take good care of him.

COMMENT:  Lowry alludes to one of the most underreported stories in Washington - the power and influence of the Saudi lobby.  That influence extends well beyond government, into universities and corporations.  Yet, the media has been indifferent.  Cultural sensitivity, dearies.

March 6, 2009   Permalink

INVITING THE MULLAHS - AT 7:27 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Times:

BRUSSELS | The Obama administration made its first major overture to Iran on Thursday, proposing a high-level international conference on Afghanistan later this month that it hopes will include the Tehran government.

The forum, which Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called a "big-tent meeting," is likely to take place in the Netherlands and bring together countries and organizations with stakes in Afghanistan's future.

COMMENT:  It was inevitable, given the administration's warmth and kindness offensive, but it still makes us uneasy.  There will presumably be a photo-op that will make the Iranian regime look good - international respectability has that effect - but what will we get out of it?  Time is not on our side.  Tehran's nuclear program forges ahead as we plan conferences.  Is there a sense of urgency here?  I don't see it.

March 6, 2009   Permalink

A LITTLE PROBLEM WITH NUMBERS - AT 6:58 A.M. ET:  The president kicked off his health-care reform campaign yesterday, but, as ABC News reports, there was a little problem with the numbers.  Hat tip to reader Jim Meyer:

“The cost of health care now causes a bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds," Obama said at the opening of his White House forum on health care reform. The problem: That claim, based on a 2001 survey, is simply unsupportable.

The figure comes from a 2005 Harvard University study saying that 54 percent of bankruptcies in 2001 were caused by health expenses. We reviewed it internally and knocked it down at the time; an academic reviewer did the same in 2006. Recalculating Harvard’s own data, he came up with a far lower figure – 17 percent.

COMMENT:  Oh, these party poopers.  They're the same kind of people who want Cabinet nominees to pay their taxes.  Is there anything so boring?

March 6, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN - AT 6:50 A.M. ET:  Now it's official; the debate is over.  From Fox News:

Rev. Wright Cautions: Obama 'Ain't Jesus'

President's longtime minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, says his former congregant is just like any other president and that he "ain't gonna improve your child's reading score."

COMMENT:  You know, we had suspected something like this, but there's a certain satisfaction in knowing for sure.

March 6, 2009   Permalink

THURSDAY,  MARCH 5,  2009

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, NOTHING TO SEE - AT 10:42 P.M. ET:  Do you sometimes get the feeling that Washington is just a series of reruns and revivals, where you get to see actors reprise their old roles? 

It seems that way, doesn't it?  Today, for example, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under golden oldie John Kerry, held a hearing on Iran.  And who were the stars?  Why, none other than those audience favorites, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmah Carter's failed national security adviser, and Brent Scowcroft, who had a similar track record under Bush 41.  And their advice?  Why, don't worry so much.  The biggest threat comes not from an Iranian nuclear bomb, but from the arms race that the bomb might start.

Hey guys, I'll worry first about the bomb, then about the arms race.  The bomb can be sailed into Baltimore harbor, and really ruin the season for the Orioles.  The arms race is a future abstraction.

These guys have been selling this line for years.  We have a fanatical regime in Iran, one with a religious vision of the world, where suicide is glory, and two  retreads are telling not to worry.  They also waxed philosophical about the good old days, and assured us that deterrence would work with Iran as it did with the former Soviet Union. 

Next week I expect to hear this Abbott and Costello act inform us that a weak country like Japan, with no natural resources, would never attack Pearl Harbor.  And they'd believe it. 

March 5, 2009  Permalink

DOW CLOSE - AT 4:02 P.M. ET:  Preliminary figures - The Dow closed down 282 points, to 6594.

DOW DIVING - AT 3:25 P.M. ET:  A half hour before the close, the Dow is down 281 points, to 6595.

MORE ON FREEMAN - AT 3:26 P.M. ET:  There are new developments in the case of Charles Freeman Jr., the dictator-loving diplomat named to head the sensitive National Intelligence Council.  We reported earlier today that, according to congressional sources, there'll be an independent investigation by the inspector general of Freeman's ties to Saudi Arabia.  He ought to include China as well.   

Now it appears that, despite the silence of the mainstream media, the controversy is escalating still further.  A spokeswoman for Dennis Blair, the director of national intelligence, says the White House has not yet "undertaken the typical vetting associated with senior administration assignments" and that Blair chose Freeman without White House approval.

Maybe, just maybe, the administration is backing away from this disgraceful appointment, and will hang it on Blair.

March 5, 2009   Permalink

BAD CALL - AT 3:14 P.M. ET:  From the New York Post:

Officials at the FBI's New York field office - the first line of defense in preventing another terrorist attack here - got so spooked by the threat of bad weather that they declared a "snow day" Monday, sources told The Post.

Millions of other New Yorkers with jobs unrelated to national security managed to trudge through the snow while the FBI stayed warm at home.

COMMENT:  Okay,  little humor, but someone should have a heart-to-heart with the guy who made that personnel call.

March 5, 2009  Permalink

CITI SLUMPS - AT 3:08 P.M. ET: 

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., once the world’s biggest bank by market value, dropped below $1 in New York trading for the first time as investors lose confidence the shares can recover after more than $37.5 billion in losses and a government rescue.

COMMENT:  I do my basic banking at Citi.  Next time I'm at my branch I'll remember to drop a few coins in the "something for the executives" box at the door.

March 5, 2009  Permalink

IN THE REAL WORLD - AT 3:04 P.M. ET: 

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea said it can’t guarantee the safety of South Korean civilian aircraft flying over its territory during U.S.-South Korean military exercises, describing the maneuvers as a “grave provocation” that may prompt a war.

“No one knows what military conflicts will be touched off by the reckless war exercises of the U.S. and the puppet clique for a war of aggression” against North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency said today in an e-mailed statement. “Security cannot be guaranteed for South Korean civil airplanes flying through the territorial air of our side and its vicinity.”

COMMENT:  That's a pretty serious threat, essentially a threat to shoot down airliners, with their passengers aboard.  The secretary of state was recently in the region, and it's pretty apparent that her presence, and the arrival on Earth of The One in the White House, have not changed North Korean behavior.  Obviously, this is all because of BUSH (!!).

March 5, 2009  Permalink

DOW DUMPING - AT 3:01 P.M. ET: An hour before the close, the Dow is down 264, to 6612.

GEITHNER SPEAKS AGAIN - AT 2:59 P.M. ET:

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - U.S. oil and natural gas producing companies should not receive federal subsidies in the form of tax breaks because their businesses contribute to global warming, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress on Wednesday.

It was one of the sharpest attacks yet on the oil and gas industry by a top Obama administration official, reinforcing the White House stance that new U.S. energy policy will focus on promoting renewable energy sources like wind and solar power and rely less on traditional fossil fuels like oil as America tackles climate change.

COMMENT:  This is madness.  Look, I have no brief for oil and gas companies.  I don't own their stock.  I don't even know anyone who works for any of those firms.  I'm sure some of them have done nasty things.  (Texaco was once induced into sponsoring broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera because it would improve Texaco's so-so image.) 

But, for a century, oil and gas companies have provided this nation with remarkably cheap energy, making possible lifestyles that those in previous generations could only dream about.  Knifing them in the back, and disparaging what they do, is not helpful.  Basing these attacks on the "science" of global warming is especially unhelpful, as that "science" is coming under increasing criticism from responsible researchers.

March 5, 2009.  Permalink

DOW DOWN MORE - AT 11:19 A.M. ET:  The Dow is now down 208, to 6668, more than wiping out yesterday's gains.  Obama must have said something about the economy.

DOW DROPS - AT 11:00 A.M. ET:  The Dow is down 154, to 6721. 

BULLETIN - AT 8:37 A.M. ET: 

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp.'s auditors have raised "substantial doubt" about the troubled automaker's ability to continue operations, and the company said it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it can't execute a huge restructuring plan.

The automaker revealed the concerns Thursday in an annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The corporation's recurring losses from operations, stockholders' deficit, and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations and sustain its operations raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern," auditors for the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP wrote in the report.

COMMENT:  Obviously, this is major economic news.  Look for a posible effect on today's stock market.  Long term, GM going bankrupt could have an impact that is as much psychological as economic.  It's like the Statue of Liberty losing her right arm.

March 5, 2009  Permalink

GOP MORE DIRECT - AT 7:56 A.M. ET:  The Republicans are becoming more confident about attacking President Obama personally.  From The Politico:

After tip-toeing around the popular new president for months, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has shifted gears and gone directly at President Barack Obama and the budget blueprint his White House unveiled last week.

"Look, it's the president's budget," Boehner said. "He sent it to the Hill."

"The president certainly remains popular, but his policies are becoming less and less popular," Boehner said, citing the continuing slide in the financial markets. "Certainly the stock market hasn't acted very well" since Obama's inauguration.

As the markets continue to falter, Republicans are becoming more confident in their criticisms of the president — some have already taken to using the phrase "the Obama economy."

COMMENT:  But Boehner acknowledged, and as we urged last night at The Angel's Corner, Republicans must come up with alternatives, not just criticize.  There must be a Republican program that the American people can see and feel.

March 5, 2009  Permalink

ENGLAND?  WHERE'S THAT AT? - AT 7:43 A.M. ET:  The press buzz continues in regard to the cool reception given British Prime Minister Gordon Brown by President Obama this week.  A poignant quote from Britain's leftish Guardian:

The idea of a "special relationship" between the US and Britain, above and beyond any other American alliance, is not just hackneyed. It is also, at this point, hollow and delusional. (Obama's as-if-by-rote recitation of the magic but ill-defined words yesterday does not alter this fact.) This does not mean that Britain is irrelevant: it is an important American ally, and is likely to remain so, especially at moments of crisis. But it is also one of several nations which fit that description.

COMMENT:  Sadly, that's about right in the age of Obama.  I'd be curious to see who does get a special greeting at the White House.

March 5, 2009   Permalink

PROGRESS ON FREEMAN - AT 7:39 A.M. ET:  We've been monitoring the bizarre appointment of Charles W. Freeman Jr. to head the sensitive National Intelligence Council.  Freeman, as Urgent Agenda readers know, never met a dictatorship he didn't like, and has apparently maintained close relations with some of the more accomplished oppressors, like the Chinese.

The Freeman scandal has been blacked out of virtually the entire liberal press, which may tell us something about modern liberalism's concern for human rights.  But a few outlets, like The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, and Fox News, have followed the tale.

Now, thanks to the efforts of several members of Congress, the Freeman appointment will apparently be probed, according to the reliable Eli Lake of the Washington Times:

An independent inspector general will look into the foreign financial ties of Chas W. Freeman Jr., the Obama administration's pick to serve as chairman of the group that prepares the U.S. intelligence community's most sensitive assessments, according to three congressional aides.

The director of national intelligence, Dennis C. Blair, last Thursday named Mr. Freeman, a veteran former diplomat, to the chairmanship of the National Intelligence Council, known inside the government as the NIC. In that job, Mr. Freeman will have access to some of America's most closely guarded secrets and be charged with overseeing the drafting of the consensus view of all 16 intelligence agencies.

His selection was praised by some who noted his articulateness and experience as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and a senior envoy to China and other nations. But it sparked concerns among some members of Congress from both parties, who asked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's inspector general, Edward McGuire, to investigate Mr. Freeman's potential conflicts of interest.

So far, so good.  But without major press attention, chances are the appointment will go through.  The press disgrace here is as great as the disgrace of the appointment itself. 

By the way, Robert Gibbs, the White House news secretary, was asked about the Freeman nomination at a press briefing.  He said the White House was unfamiliar with Freeman's views.

Great vetting...again.

March 5, 2009.  Permalink

THURSDAY,  MARCH 5,  2009

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, NOTHING TO SEE - AT 10:42 P.M. ET:  Do you sometimes get the feeling that Washington is just a series of reruns and revivals, where you get to see actors reprise their old roles? 

It seems that way, doesn't it?  Today, for example, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under golden oldie John Kerry, held a hearing on Iran.  And who were the stars?  Why, none other than those audience favorites, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmah Carter's failed national security adviser, and Brent Scowcroft, who had a similar track record under Bush 41.  And their advice?  Why, don't worry so much.  The biggest threat comes not from an Iranian nuclear bomb, but from the arms race that the bomb might start.

Hey guys, I'll worry first about the bomb, then about the arms race.  The bomb can be sailed into Baltimore harbor, and really ruin the season for the Orioles.  The arms race is a future abstraction.

These guys have been selling this line for years.  We have a fanatical regime in Iran, one with a religious vision of the world, where suicide is glory, and two  retreads are telling not to worry.  They also waxed philosophical about the good old days, and assured us that deterrence would work with Iran as it did with the former Soviet Union. 

Next week I expect to hear this Abbott and Costello act inform us that a weak country like Japan, with no natural resources, would never attack Pearl Harbor.  And they'd believe it. 

March 5, 2009  Permalink

DOW CLOSE - AT 4:02 P.M. ET:  Preliminary figures - The Dow closed down 282 points, to 6594.

DOW DIVING - AT 3:25 P.M. ET:  A half hour before the close, the Dow is down 281 points, to 6595.

MORE ON FREEMAN - AT 3:26 P.M. ET:  There are new developments in the case of Charles Freeman Jr., the dictator-loving diplomat named to head the sensitive National Intelligence Council.  We reported earlier today that, according to congressional sources, there'll be an independent investigation by the inspector general of Freeman's ties to Saudi Arabia.  He ought to include China as well.   

Now it appears that, despite the silence of the mainstream media, the controversy is escalating still further.  A spokeswoman for Dennis Blair, the director of national intelligence, says the White House has not yet "undertaken the typical vetting associated with senior administration assignments" and that Blair chose Freeman without White House approval.

Maybe, just maybe, the administration is backing away from this disgraceful appointment, and will hang it on Blair.

March 5, 2009   Permalink

BAD CALL - AT 3:14 P.M. ET:  From the New York Post:

Officials at the FBI's New York field office - the first line of defense in preventing another terrorist attack here - got so spooked by the threat of bad weather that they declared a "snow day" Monday, sources told The Post.

Millions of other New Yorkers with jobs unrelated to national security managed to trudge through the snow while the FBI stayed warm at home.

COMMENT:  Okay,  little humor, but someone should have a heart-to-heart with the guy who made that personnel call.

March 5, 2009  Permalink

CITI SLUMPS - AT 3:08 P.M. ET: 

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., once the world’s biggest bank by market value, dropped below $1 in New York trading for the first time as investors lose confidence the shares can recover after more than $37.5 billion in losses and a government rescue.

COMMENT:  I do my basic banking at Citi.  Next time I'm at my branch I'll remember to drop a few coins in the "something for the executives" box at the door.

March 5, 2009  Permalink

IN THE REAL WORLD - AT 3:04 P.M. ET: 

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea said it can’t guarantee the safety of South Korean civilian aircraft flying over its territory during U.S.-South Korean military exercises, describing the maneuvers as a “grave provocation” that may prompt a war.

“No one knows what military conflicts will be touched off by the reckless war exercises of the U.S. and the puppet clique for a war of aggression” against North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency said today in an e-mailed statement. “Security cannot be guaranteed for South Korean civil airplanes flying through the territorial air of our side and its vicinity.”

COMMENT:  That's a pretty serious threat, essentially a threat to shoot down airliners, with their passengers aboard.  The secretary of state was recently in the region, and it's pretty apparent that her presence, and the arrival on Earth of The One in the White House, have not changed North Korean behavior.  Obviously, this is all because of BUSH (!!).

March 5, 2009  Permalink

DOW DUMPING - AT 3:01 P.M. ET: An hour before the close, the Dow is down 264, to 6612.

GEITHNER SPEAKS AGAIN - AT 2:59 P.M. ET:

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - U.S. oil and natural gas producing companies should not receive federal subsidies in the form of tax breaks because their businesses contribute to global warming, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress on Wednesday.

It was one of the sharpest attacks yet on the oil and gas industry by a top Obama administration official, reinforcing the White House stance that new U.S. energy policy will focus on promoting renewable energy sources like wind and solar power and rely less on traditional fossil fuels like oil as America tackles climate change.

COMMENT:  This is madness.  Look, I have no brief for oil and gas companies.  I don't own their stock.  I don't even know anyone who works for any of those firms.  I'm sure some of them have done nasty things.  (Texaco was once induced into sponsoring broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera because it would improve Texaco's so-so image.) 

But, for a century, oil and gas companies have provided this nation with remarkably cheap energy, making possible lifestyles that those in previous generations could only dream about.  Knifing them in the back, and disparaging what they do, is not helpful.  Basing these attacks on the "science" of global warming is especially unhelpful, as that "science" is coming under increasing criticism from responsible researchers.

March 5, 2009.  Permalink

DOW DOWN MORE - AT 11:19 A.M. ET:  The Dow is now down 208, to 6668, more than wiping out yesterday's gains.  Obama must have said something about the economy.

DOW DROPS - AT 11:00 A.M. ET:  The Dow is down 154, to 6721. 

BULLETIN - AT 8:37 A.M. ET: 

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp.'s auditors have raised "substantial doubt" about the troubled automaker's ability to continue operations, and the company said it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it can't execute a huge restructuring plan.

The automaker revealed the concerns Thursday in an annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The corporation's recurring losses from operations, stockholders' deficit, and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations and sustain its operations raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern," auditors for the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP wrote in the report.

COMMENT:  Obviously, this is major economic news.  Look for a posible effect on today's stock market.  Long term, GM going bankrupt could have an impact that is as much psychological as economic.  It's like the Statue of Liberty losing her right arm.

March 5, 2009  Permalink

GOP MORE DIRECT - AT 7:56 A.M. ET:  The Republicans are becoming more confident about attacking President Obama personally.  From The Politico:

After tip-toeing around the popular new president for months, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has shifted gears and gone directly at President Barack Obama and the budget blueprint his White House unveiled last week.

"Look, it's the president's budget," Boehner said. "He sent it to the Hill."

"The president certainly remains popular, but his policies are becoming less and less popular," Boehner said, citing the continuing slide in the financial markets. "Certainly the stock market hasn't acted very well" since Obama's inauguration.

As the markets continue to falter, Republicans are becoming more confident in their criticisms of the president — some have already taken to using the phrase "the Obama economy."

COMMENT:  But Boehner acknowledged, and as we urged last night at The Angel's Corner, Republicans must come up with alternatives, not just criticize.  There must be a Republican program that the American people can see and feel.

March 5, 2009  Permalink

ENGLAND?  WHERE'S THAT AT? - AT 7:43 A.M. ET:  The press buzz continues in regard to the cool reception given British Prime Minister Gordon Brown by President Obama this week.  A poignant quote from Britain's leftish Guardian:

The idea of a "special relationship" between the US and Britain, above and beyond any other American alliance, is not just hackneyed. It is also, at this point, hollow and delusional. (Obama's as-if-by-rote recitation of the magic but ill-defined words yesterday does not alter this fact.) This does not mean that Britain is irrelevant: it is an important American ally, and is likely to remain so, especially at moments of crisis. But it is also one of several nations which fit that description.

COMMENT:  Sadly, that's about right in the age of Obama.  I'd be curious to see who does get a special greeting at the White House.

March 5, 2009   Permalink

PROGRESS ON FREEMAN - AT 7:39 A.M. ET:  We've been monitoring the bizarre appointment of Charles W. Freeman Jr. to head the sensitive National Intelligence Council.  Freeman, as Urgent Agenda readers know, never met a dictatorship he didn't like, and has apparently maintained close relations with some of the more accomplished oppressors, like the Chinese.

The Freeman scandal has been blacked out of virtually the entire liberal press, which may tell us something about modern liberalism's concern for human rights.  But a few outlets, like The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, and Fox News, have followed the tale.

Now, thanks to the efforts of several members of Congress, the Freeman appointment will apparently be probed, according to the reliable Eli Lake of the Washington Times:

An independent inspector general will look into the foreign financial ties of Chas W. Freeman Jr., the Obama administration's pick to serve as chairman of the group that prepares the U.S. intelligence community's most sensitive assessments, according to three congressional aides.

The director of national intelligence, Dennis C. Blair, last Thursday named Mr. Freeman, a veteran former diplomat, to the chairmanship of the National Intelligence Council, known inside the government as the NIC. In that job, Mr. Freeman will have access to some of America's most closely guarded secrets and be charged with overseeing the drafting of the consensus view of all 16 intelligence agencies.

His selection was praised by some who noted his articulateness and experience as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and a senior envoy to China and other nations. But it sparked concerns among some members of Congress from both parties, who asked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's inspector general, Edward McGuire, to investigate Mr. Freeman's potential conflicts of interest.

So far, so good.  But without major press attention, chances are the appointment will go through.  The press disgrace here is as great as the disgrace of the appointment itself. 

By the way, Robert Gibbs, the White House news secretary, was asked about the Freeman nomination at a press briefing.  He said the White House was unfamiliar with Freeman's views.

Great vetting...again.

March 5, 2009.  Permalink