THE DALY SHOW

Folks, Time To Choose

This is a posting over at JohnDalyLive about the economic choice you need to make for our leaders.

Conference On Global and Green Economy

I am emceeing a big event in Las Vegas November 17 and 18 at the Las Vegas Hilton.  Here’s a video to explain it all.  If you’re looking to jump start your business in this new economy and go green, this is the place to start.  You will also have a chance to network with companies from around the United States and around the world while also being a part of the International Congress of Business Professionals.  I was enticed by their strong educational programs that will train and re-train workers and executives in this new world.  I’ve written many times here that the economy went through a tectonic shift in the past two years.  Those who understand it and are educated to navigate the wreckage and the opportunities will thrive in the next few years.  I think this is one place to start.

John Dancy on MyLifeAfterNews

I just posted a new column on my good friend John Dancy, the retired NBC News Correspondent.  John is far from retiring in his years after NBC.  He has just produced a video for a school in Durham to help them raise money.  Here’s the post.

Actor and Political Commentator Ron Silver Dies

This is a posting about the death of Ron Silver that is posted at JohnDalyLive.

Setting Record Straight on Jon Stewart, Cramer Flap

Hidden Unconscious Bias On Today’s Meet the Press

This posting is about deciphering the bias on supposedly bias-free news shows. Today’s Meet the Press is a great example of many biases – along with a notable but buried expert. I’ll also reveal some of my biases about the media and the economic crisis. And you will hear what goes through my tainted mind while watching such shows.

LAS VEGAS, NV (March 8, 2009) – Don’t take this as a knock on David Gregory and Meet the Press. Gregory has done a great job continuing the Sunday morning legacy of the late Tim Russert.

But today’s show is a great example of the news media panders to biases while burying the objective – or as close to objective – voice.

First, we had Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. They had their usual disagreement on the stimulus and banking plans.

But they also had their agreements. One area of compatibility was earmarks. Why? That’s so lawmakers from both parties can slip in goodies to their constituents. I may be stretching one of my main contentions here, but this is an example of how the political parties work together to help each other while screwing the public.

Next, let’s look at the MTP roundtable. Three of the four are tainted with bias.

First there is CNBC’s Erin Burnett. She works for a network that is owned by GE and NBC. Why wouldn’t there be someone from Bloomberg there? Bloomberg is a competitor and it’s easier to take someone from the family.

What’s worse is that Burnett works for CNBC, a network that has become the publicity firm for Wall Street. Take a look at the ridiculously one-sided views of CNBC’s staffers like Rick Santelli, Jim Kramer, and Larry Kudlow. These people purport to be reporters when they are pundits rooting for the financial institutions that have careened us either criminally or unethically into this economic crisis. The network that exposed CNBC this week was Comedy Central: take a look at The Daily Show’s expose.

Let’s take Mort Zuckerman. He’s the editor and publisher of U.S. News & World Report. That’s a fairly reputable, no nonsense news publication. Still, it’s a publication looking for readers and advertisers. So, might Mort have a slant? Sure, he has a decidedly pro-Administration stance. Plus, Zuckerman was also a victim of the Bernie Madoff scandal.

Next, we have Newt Gingrich. Newt is clearly a Republican who is at least considering running for the White House. Granted, the former Speaker of the House is a smart guy loaded with good ideas. But he can’t see things objectively. He says Obama is losing credibility with the country because he will tax wealthy folks a little more. What Newt won’t mention is that the majority of the nation has lost their faith in the folks who made themselves wealthy on what could appear to be unfair economic policies that favored only the rich.

Then there’s Liaquat Ahamed. He wrote the book Lords of Finance about the mistakes made by central bankers leading to the Great Depression.

Ahamed made the correlation between today’s situation and the 1930s.

If you go back to the Great Depression and you look at where we stood 16 months into that Great Depression, we’re about at the same place.  The stock market is down 50 to 60 percent, profits are down 50 percent, unemployment is up from 6 to 10.  What happened then was the bottom fell out of the world economy because they applied the wrong medicine.  They tried to control the budget deficit, they let the banking system go under, they didn’t bail out a European bank that caused the financial panic in Europe, and they just basically let the economy crumble and applied the wrong medicine.  This time I think we’re applying the right medicine.  The only question is, the patient is so sick, are we applying the right doses?

Notice he said the “right doses”. As viewers, we have to endure the responses of the other three before we get back to Ahamed who says clarifies the “right doses”.

The problem we face is a lack of equity.  And that’s–that has to be dealt with.  Now, it can be dealt with in a variety of ways.  It’s not really a technical issue.  I mean, there’s a lot of debate about how to do it. The fundamental problem is a political issue.  It’s going to take a lot of public money.  There is no way to do this without over $1 trillion of public money.

In other words, what we’ve done so far is not enough. We are repeating historical mistakes because our politics is getting in the way.

As I watched this show, I became uncomfortable when Ahamed finished speaking and the other three would offer their say. Why? This was the only person I could trust on the panel. He didn’t have an ax to grind. Plus, he had spent considerable time researching his topic; you don’t spit out a book in a few days based on what people of influence tell you.

But when Burnett, Gingrich, and Zuckerman spoke I was busy putting up mind filters. My mind was saying things like this.

Yes, Newt, but you want to run for president or at least be the nominal head of the GOP.

Erin, you’re saying that so you can suck up to those CEOs who want to come on your show and lie to us to keep their stock price up.

Mort, you must be pissed at Bernie and how can you get that money back.

This is the same stuff that goes through your head when you’re listening to a pitch from a car dealer.

Let me be fair here. Ahamed is trying to sell a book. Still, he’s offering information that will show you his acumen so you might buy the book.

And here’s my disclosure: my beliefs are in line with Ahamed. I think the economic stimulus was woefully too small. The time for budget cutting was during the Bush Administration – which I wrote about extensively since 2005. Hey, I endorsed for the presidency the U.S. Comptroller General David Walker – who was railing about Medicare and Social Security. So, don’t call me a liberal. I’m a fiscal conservative.

However, now is not the time to be tight or to be a Hoover. We need to repair and rebuild the economy. Yet this common sense point of view during a crisis is dismissed.

My point here is not just about the economy here. It’s about the media. The medium of television news is inherently unable to deliver news correctly.

One reason is the time constraint. Not all news fits in a 30 or 60 minute time period; sometimes it takes more or less time.

The second reason is the profit-motive. Most news organizations are for-profit ventures; thus they take care of their advertisers and sponsors.

The third reason is that those sponsors are the political parties themselves. The parties are given equal time. As a result, you can’t have Graham without Schumer. This makes sense if you assume the political parties combined speak for all Americans. That assumption is wrong. They don’t. The majority of people in either party cannot support the conflicting platforms within each party.

As a result of this, we get too much of the self-interested politicians and media while we either ignore or diminish the unaffected or untainted experts.

That’s why watching news for many of us seems like a waste of our time — especially in today’s economy when time is precious and we’re all working harder.

When Being Non-Transparent May Help

This is a posting about the reality of our economic and banking situation. It comes from a reputable source you should mark as one of your favorites.

LAS VEGAS, NV (February 14, 2009) – Recently people like Larry Kudlow, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh have caught my wrath. These demagogues are merely entertainers masquerading as journalists or unbiased analysts. Watch them for the entertainment, not news and information.

There is, however, someone I highly recommend. You won’t find him on TV. His name is John Mauldin and his blog is called Thoughts from the Frontline.

Mauldin’s latest column, called Time For A Reality Check, can be read here. 

Three things come out of the column that you need to know.

First, restoring the banks is more important than the stimulus package.

Second, the banking losses in Europe, according to a not-seen document, are close to a staggering $25 trillion.

Third, the losses for US banks are somewhere between $1.7 and $3 trillion — much more than we know.

And fourth, Treasury Secretary Geithner should not be criticized for his lack of specifics in the banking bailout package. In fact, Mauldin applauds Geithner’s generalities by using some stats from NYU Economist Nuriel Roubini.

What if the number that the Treasury and the Fed are looking at is a lot more than the remaining $350 billion in the TARP program? As in another $1 trillion more, or even the $1.5 trillion that Roubini says may be out there (and other independent analysts, like David Rosenberg of Merrill, say there may be another $2 trillion in losses). Can you imagine what the market reaction would have been if they had announced that this week? The Dow down 400 points would have seemed like a Sunday walk in the park. Congress would be screaming, and the chances for the stimulus package to pass would have materially diminished.

So, maybe the Administration is trying to protect us. I wish they wouldn’t.  Let’s bite the bullet: tell us what the bank bailout will cost and get the banks moving again.  Still, the shock to the financial system might be too much if investors really knew how bad things are.

Geithner’s continued efforts to protect us are evident during his meetings with the G-7 leaders.  He apparently showed his cards to other leaders who were originally skeptical like Wall Street than afterwards had a similar epiphany like Mauldin.

Granted, Mauldin confirms most of my beliefs on the banking industry. (However, I disagree with his belief that a Keynsian-like bailout isn’t needed; I do.) The biggest is that the banking losses – those toxic assets are larger than any of our leaders – political and business – are willing to admit.

I wrote about it last September in this post when I quoted the soon-to-be White House Budget Director Peter Orszag who said, according to the Washington Post on September 9, 2008:

Ironically, the intervention could even trigger additional failures of large institutions, because some institutions may be carrying troubled assets on their books at inflated values. Establishing clearer prices might reveal those institutions to be insolvent.

As Mauldin tells us, too, expect more bailout money – this time from the Fed – and more bank failures.

Danger of Larry Kudlow of CNBC

This is a posting about another news entertainer who continually offers a dangerous mantra that he thinks is funny or helpful.

LAS VEGAS, NV (February 13, 2009) – It’s getting tough to watch CBNC.

The first reason is the economy. The anchors, reporters, and analysts are just as confused as our political and business leaders about how to solve the crisis.

As a result, CNBC turns into Fox News – the TV version of the NHL. The screaming and hollering over each other is annoying. Frankly, the place for business has become a place to turn off.

The second reason is Jim Kramer. He is the Howie Mandell of news entertainers. He’s loud and outrageous. I’m not saying he’s not funny. Watching him for his shtick is fine. But watching him to determine how you’re going to invest is insane. The only way it would make sense is if Kramer has sat with you and he knows your investment goals and exactly where your assets are.

The third and biggest reason to start ignoring CNBC is Larry Kudlow. While Kramer is a harmless blow-hard, Kudlow is a blow-hard that borders on being dangerous.

His constant mantra on nearly every show he appears is this: government is bad; business is good.

The truth is this: we should be as skeptical and optimistic about government as we are about business. We need them both to function with efficiency and transparency.

Kudlow’s constant battering of government fails to understand history and its damaging effect on the nation.

Read The Case for Big Government by Jeff Madrick. It offers a solid argument that big government has done more than smaller government. Big government ushered in new eras of development and economic expansion for the United States. Look at Reconstruction, The Progressive Era, The New Deal and the government spending on domestic programs after World War II.

I’m not saying big government is the only answer.  But it has to be looked at — especially during times like these.

Granted, Kudlow is a business reporter. Reporter? Let’s say business analyst. And you can argue he knows his stuff there. Although I would question any journalistic integrity considering the mess we’re in and his constant flag-waving for big business.

The problem with Kudlow is he parades as a journalist when he pushes a political platform.

His tirades – which are uncomfortably flamboyant — fail to understand that our government is made up of Americans. Why are we degrading American workers as useless, evil, or a detriment to the nation?

This battering of government borders on psychological abuse. Most government workers don’t retire with millions. Sure, they get good benefits. But most of these people are working to serve the country. Does Kudlow think the military is loaded with slackers? Would a CEO of a major company treat his employees that way?

What if you disliked doctors.  Would you announce to your doctor while he’s examining you that you don’t trust him and you feel like he’s ripping you off?  That’s not currying favor with someone you’re doing business with.

A business transaction is a sign of faith.  One side agrees to do something in return for money.  When it comes to an employer and employee relationship, a good working environment is part of the deal for the employee.  But when one of the employers — namely us and Kudlow — browbeats the employee, it creates a poor work environment.

For too long, people like Kudlow and most of the GOP act like Scrooge and treat the government with contempt.  Sure, there are abuses in government and workers need to be managed.  But as stewards of our government, we need some balance in how we treat the entity which is supposed to be of, by, and for the people.  I think most of us want the government to earn its keep while we offer the people who make government run with respect.

Unfortunately, Kudlow is so out of touch with most Americans. I don’t believe Americans have fallen in love with big government as much as we’ve realized how fickle big business is. The financial industry got greedy and they used their smarts to cover up what they were doing.

To punctuate the point further, big business got away with murder.  Big business bribed (my word for campaign donations) their way into sweetheart deals with the Bush Administration.   As a result, the wealthiest of us got tax cuts and tax credits while the government stood by – with lax regulation — as big business nearly killed our economy.  And we saw how well smaller government worked during and after Katrina.

And now the government is the only entity that can jump-start the economy. And according to Kudlow, government is still bad.

Maybe I’m jaded here. When I go to the Nevada DMV, it usually takes longer than I want. But I’m always treated nicely and the job always gets done.

When Kudlow comes on my screen, I do one of two things; laugh loudly or go to the bathroom.

Fairness Doctrine Mumbo Jumbo

This posting deciphers the silliness on both sides of the political spectrum about the so-called Fairness Doctrine for broadcasters. I’m against bringing it back. Tell me your thoughts.

LAS VEGAS, NV (February 7, 2009) – Newsmax is a conservative news website. It’s not bad, even though it only highlights stories that will hook the right-wingers.

One recent story on Newsmax – but not seen in too many other places was — “Democrats Look to Muzzle Conservative Radio” about Democratic efforts to bring back the Fairness Doctrine to broadcasting.

The Doctrine, passed in 1949 and repealed in 1987, calls for broadcasters to give equal time for opposing views. It gave rise to the legions of talkers like Rush and Hannity.

The article quotes Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) from a radio interview with Bill Press, a former Democratic Party leader in California. When asked if the Fairness Doctrine should return, she said:

“I think it’s absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it’s called the Fairness Standard, whether it’s called something else — I absolutely think it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. Our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency, that we all have to step up and be responsible. And I think in this case, there needs to be some accountability and standards put in place.”

Wrong, Senator. You’re merely picking a fight for political reasons. And if Democrats start taunting the morons on The Right, then they deserve all the headaches they’ll get.

First, the conservative right should have their domain in the media. AM Radio is that place.

Some background here: Does that mean cable and mainstream media are left-wing hate machines? No. It does mean the cables and mainstream “lean” to the left. I’ve always said that mainstream media has an inherent liberal bias – because their goal is to reach the masses. The masses tend to be poor and liberal-leaning.

Second, by trying to shut up The Right, you only antagonize them and make the so-called liberal media conspiracy seem more real. And frankly, in Congress there are far more important things to discuss – the economy and foreign policy, for example.

Third, who would dictate what’s fair or what’s not fair? I dislike the Left and the Right, but I don’t want anyone in the government to dictate that. Look at the recent Justice Department under Roberto Gonzalez. Seriously, do you want Rush Limbaugh on the FCC when the next GOP President takes office?

Fourth, the Right-Wing, as we’ve known it for the past two decades, is slowly becoming extinct. They’re the equivalent of the Politburo touting Communism as the Berlin Wall is falling. They are bankrupt of ideas. Even the evangelicals have moved away toward the environmentalists.

Fifth, AM Radio is becoming extinct too. Eventually, the talkers with any audience will go to the Internet where they will be lumped in with all sorts of views – and hopefully get diluted into intelligence. AM Radio is looking more and more like a home for audio infomercials.

Six, the majority of people who listen to talk radio are stupid. Not all of them are stupid. Some listen for the entertainment factor; these guys are hysterically funny because they’re so idiotic. But too many followers – the majority in my opinion — listen to guys like Rush – and this is important – for their only news and information. When I hear someone say, “I get all the news I need from Rush,” then I ask, “So is Lebron as good as Michael yet?” It’s not worth the time.

Now, before you think I hate The Right, think about this. When President Obama met with conservative journalists at George Will’s house last month, notice that guys like Rush and Hannity weren’t there. David Brooks was there – a real conservative thinker.

Have you ever heard David Brooks syndicated radio talk show? No, he doesn’t have one. I rest my case.

Allow the Right-Wing nut cases to have their place. Eventually they will die off.

Republicans Should Stop Whining

This is a posting about my frustration with today’s GOP. Let’s stop bashing government and asking for gratuitous tax cuts.

LAS VEGAS, NV (February 1, 2009) – If House Republicans had their way, we’d be rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles today in the Super Bowl.

Wait a minute. Today’s Super Bowl is between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s right.

But imagine if we changed the rules for football. The Eagles lost to the Cardinals, but we allowed the Eagles to play in the big game because, let’s say, they seem to have a few good plays.

Does that sound right? Of course not. It wouldn’t make sense. We wouldn’t really have a true winner.

The same is true for House Republicans who voted against and came up on the losing side of the Democratic stimulus package. Why should we listen to their whining? They’re in the minority and they lost.

Message to House Minority Leader John Boehner: Please sit down and shut up. Like the Eagles, you had your say and you lost. And now like the Eagles, sit back and watch and take your proper place – on the sidelines.

Now, that doesn’t mean Republicans should be forgotten. Let’s go back to our Eagles analogy. There were some key plays and defensive schemes by the Eagles that stopped the Cardinals in the NFC Championship game; and I’ll bet the Steelers use some of them today. So, the Eagles may have an indirect effect on the game.

And that may be true for House Republicans when the vote on the stimulus happens in the Senate – where the rules are different.

I hope Senate Republicans use the rules – 60 votes to end a filibuster — to make some changes and find a consensus on the economic stimulus package. Let’s mix it up. But let’s hope they all realize the eventual outcome is not what political party wins. The goal is stimulating the economy.

Some reality checks here.

First, politics is still a full contact sport. You don’t like the outcome? Too bad. I said the same thing to the Democrats in 2004 and 2005 when they were whining about President Bush.

Second, President Obama said he would listen to GOP ideas. It doesn’t mean he must embrace them. So far, he has far exceeded the Bush Administration’s efforts to reach across the aisle.

Third, Obama is President. Let him have his way like George Bush had his. If he screws up, go after him. But for now, let’s let him tackle the problems on his terms – that means without the House Republicans.

Fourth, the economic stimulus package isn’t perfect. If we gave the GOP their say, we would have all tax cuts.

Fifth, we don’t know what will really stimulate the economy. If anything, it’s time and an infusion of massive amounts of capital.

Sixth, the GOP is largely – not entirely – to blame for the problems we face today. They were in power in Congress from 1995 through 2007 and the White House from 2001 until a few days ago. So, we as Americans have a right to dismiss you.

Now, before you think I’m a Democratic flag waver, let me tell you where I stand.

I would love to be a Republican – the party of small business. But over the years, the GOP has been the party of exclusion. They have catered to big business and taken their money and passed laws to help them – and only them. To me, the GOP leaned toward fascism. The lack of regulation on big business that permeated our economy is the earthquake that has cracked the foundation of our economy.

I’m so tired of hearing how we have to cut taxes. True, tax cuts can stimulate an economy. But you need spending cuts to go with the tax cuts. The GOP while in power only increased spending. And today’s economy is different; the American consumer has no credit — home equity, credit cards, or savings — to buy our way out of this mess. In 2001, Americans had credit. We over-spent then and now we’re paying for it.

Furthermore, taxes help fund the government to do the people’s work. And right now, only government has the ability to create jobs and unclog the credit markets.

So, let’s hope the GOP stops blaming government. We are the government. The government is made up of Americans who serve Americans. Do we need to watch and scrutinize how tax dollars are spent? Yes, but stop making government workers as straw men as punching bags.

Ronald Reagan in 1980 embraced Vietnam vets who had been derided and neglected. He was right. Today someone needs to stand up and embrace government workers. Maybe that’s a good strategy for incoming GOP Chair Michael Steele.

To show you how horrible the GOP is they still got their butts handed to them in 2008 elections even though they had gerrymandered most of the Congressional districts for the decade before. What’s worse, this manipulating of districts has given us too many entrenched Democrats who are too far to the left.