A Halloween Story

Happy Halloween. Here's a special Halloween story for you...

About a month ago, I was on a crowded subway train traveling from the upper east side to grand central station. It was one of those rides where there wasn't an inch of space to spare. I was holding onto the rail and fighting to keep my personal space. Once the doors were closed and the train starting moving, I entertained myself like I usually do on the subway - people watching. This time there wasn't anyone particularly exciting, but there was a hipster, an old lady, and right in front of me, sitting on the seat, was a little boy of about 8 or 9 years of age. Bored with the people watching, I started reading the subway advertisements. Then I heard a noise. Rattle Rattle. pause. Rattle Rattle. pause. I looked around, but I couldn't see the source of the noise. Rattle Rattle. pause. I looked around again. Rattle Rattle. pause. Then I noticed that with each pause, the people on the other end of the train parted. Rattle Rattle. part. Rattle Rattle. part. The noise and the parting got a little closer each time until I heard Rattle Rattle. pause. The people parted and I saw the source. There was a torso holding a cup of change. Seriously. There was a guy who was just a torso, two arms, and a head, and he was shaking a cup of change and then dragging himself forward with his hands. He'd shake the cup twice and then pause to drag himself forward. And with each forward movement, people had to figure out a way to get out of his path. So closer and closer he came. Rattle Rattle. pause. Until he was right in front of me - and more importantly - the little boy. I watched the boy as his gaze fell upon the torso. He went from happy-go-lucky to terrified and scarred-for-life in a matter of seconds. When the little boy laid his eyes on the torso, he began to scream. No, he began to shriek - at the top of his lungs. He wasn't screaming anything in particular, but seemed rather to be trying to drown out the outside world with the sounds of his screams. The torso kept on shaking and scooting his way down the train, but the little boy refused to stop screaming even after he had passed. It was like the switch that turned the screams on and off inside of him had been broken and this little boy was physically unable to stop. The train continued for what was probably only 15 seconds before reaching the next stop, but it felt like this kid was screaming bloody murder for an eternity. When the train finally pulled into the station, his grandmother took him by the arm and led him off the train - with the boy screaming the entire time. I was half tempted to get off as well, just to see how long he was going to keep it up. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he were still screaming to this day.

Who loves Israel the most?

What's the deal with Obama and McCain battling to show who loves Israel the most? According to the CIA World Factbook, the US has around 5 million Jews. That's roughly the same as the number of Mormons. So why aren't they fighting about who loves Joseph Smith more? (I know, I know, that would only net Utah's 5 electoral votes. I'm just trying to make a point)

In the debates, each candidate tried to one-up each other in their pro-Israel rhetoric. Palin said, "They are our closest ally in the Middle East and they need us we need them and we shouldn't second-guess them." What happened to the Republican stance of "we do whatever we want and the rest of the world be damned?" After the fake plumber said that electing Obama would mean the death of Israel, Fox News's Shep Smith of all people rushed to correct his comment. So what's going on?

I'm as much of a fan as Israel as the next guy, (I was hoping to land a birthright trip this winter) but I don't see its relevance in the current US election. The economy, health care, taxes, the environment, and energy I understand as electoral issues. But Israel? I don't know, I just don't get it. Any thoughts?

One more quick Joe the Plumber rant and then I'll do my best to never mention him again

Ok, so as much as it pains me to perpetuate this guy's 15 minutes of fame, I have to point out the absurdity of it all. "Joe" the "Plumber" (Actually Samuel the guy who doesn't have his plumbing license) was a nobody until John McCain mentioned him over and over and over again in the final debate.

So did this guy take his 15 minutes with grace and then go back to his quiet Toledo life? Certainly not. Despite the fact that this guy is in no way qualified, he's announced that he would like to run against Marcy Kaptur for Ohio's 9th district and he's hired a Nashville publicist. Why would a guy who's 15 minutes should have long run out hire a publicist? Apparently he's planning on starting a country music career. And lastly, for some reason, he's out on the campaign trail stumping for McCain-Palin. And what stupid things is he saying? Well, for one, he said that an Obama victory means death to Israel.

This guy seriously needs to go away.

Joe the Biden

I was watching Larry King's interview with John McCain tonight and I saw something that made me laugh. Apparently McCain has been talking about Joe the Plumber too much because he referred to Joe Biden as Joe the Biden. That's all, I just wanted to share.

Maradona set to coach Argentina

Argentina legend Diego Maradona is set for a sensational return to football as the coach of his national side.

He will be appointed the new Argentina coach on Tuesday, according to Luis Segura, secretary of the Argentine FA.

The 1986 World Cup-winning skipper has had only two brief spells as a coach in Argentina, but is understood to be the leading candidate for the post.

This should add a little extra excitement to the World Cup... let's just hope Argentina makes it out of the groups this time.

Caviar-gate?

I keep hearing about the Michelle Obama caviar story despite the fact that it was debunked a week ago. If you hear anyone perpetuating this lie, explain that it was published by the New York Post's Page Six and subsequently retracted. She was not even in New York when she was supposed to have spent $400+ at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Snopes link

Official retraction

1 week until the election....crazy

Ted Stevens: Guilty on all 7 counts

"Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has been convicted of lying about free home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor.

The Senate's longest-serving Republican, Stevens was found guilty on all seven counts of making false statements on Senate financial documents.

The verdict throws the upcoming election into disarray. Stevens is fighting off a challenge from Democrat Mark Begich and must now either drop out or continue campaigning as a convicted felon."

Bye Ted "the internet is a series of tubes" Stevens... you won't be missed.

"No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night"

Have you seen those Holiday Inn Express commercials where the guy does something really impressive and someone asks him if he's a doctor/scientist/whatever and he says no, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night?

I always thought they were somewhat amusing, but I never understood how staying at a mostly crappy hotel could make someone smarter. Then I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express... Their secret is to use brain teasers. I now present you with the bathroom supplies:


They give you a bar of soap labeled "clean." That's pretty straightforward. But they also give you four bottles labeled scrub, soften, tame, and wash. It's up to you to figure out what they want you to do with these liquids.

I'm back!

I'm back after a fun and relaxing vacation. The main part of my trip was a Mexican cruise, (thanks Amex reward points) and as you know, cruises are all about people watching. In the past, we've had the joy of meeting "Country Club Boy," "Stripper Step Mom," "Dog," and other lovable characters. These guys don't have a name yet, but I'm open to suggestions.


In their defense, Halloween was only two weeks away. That said, it's not much of a defense when they were in costume the entire cruise. You could turn on the cruise channel on TV at any given time and see a storm trooper dancing on deck at the late night dance party. It was bizarre.

Out of the Country

I'm on a much needed vacation and will return on 10/27. In the meantime, check out the following websites if you need a fix:

XKCD
538
Electoral-vote
Reddit

John McCain destroyed Joe the Plumber's life

John McCain couldn't just leave him well enough alone. No, he just had to pick on Joe Six-pack and ruin his life. That's right, before the debate Joe the Plumber was just your average Joe Scam Artist, but now that McCain has thrust him into the spotlight...he's screwed.

"However, a bit of media digging has uncovered that Mr Wurzelbacher's first name is actually Samuel and he does not have a plumber's licence, although the company he works for does.

According to Tony Herrera, of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 50 in Toledo, Ohio, Mr Wurzelbacher cannot practise in Toledo without a licence - although he can work for someone with a master's licence or in outlying areas that do not require a licence.

According to local court records, Mr Wurzelbacher also owes the state of Ohio $1,182.98 in personal income tax.

Mr Wurzelbacher acknowledged he did not have a plumber's licence and admitted in one interview he was "not even close" to earning $250,000."

BBC News

John McCain is like a reverse King Midas. You know, Joe, Sarah Palin's life was pretty cushy before John McCain mentioned her too...

Joe the Plumber?

Just a quick comment on the debate - MSNBC reported that the final count of Joe the Plumber references was 25. 25 times in a 90 minute debate. That's about one Joe the Plumber reference every 3 and a half minutes.

That's all.

Goodnight.

How many countries can you name in 15 minutes?

More accurately, how many countries can you name and spell correctly in 15 minutes?

You can find out here. When you're ready to go, click the start button and start typing. When you type a correct country name, the name will float down from your text box and land on the appropriate part of the map. It's like the game where you name all 50 states...only harder.

No cheating!

After you're done, you can click here to see my results. I got 86 out of 195, but there were 4 or 5 that I just couldn't spell properly despite my best efforts. Africa really stumped me. I bet I would have done a lot better had we been closer to a World Cup.

That site also has a ton of other similar games. Try naming all the US Presidents, Simpsons characters, or US State capitals

Well this is new

"WASHINGTON (AP) — Too busy playing video games to watch presidential ads on television? Barack Obama has found you, too, by becoming the first presidential candidate to buy ad space inside a game.

Eighteen video games, including the extremely popular "Guitar Hero" and "Madden 09," will feature in-game ads from the Obama campaign in the final weeks before the election. The ads — appearing on billboards and other signage — remind players that early voting has begun and plug a campaign Web site that encourages people to register for early voting.

Obama campaign officials said the video game ads target 10 states that allow early voting, including several battleground states: Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, and Colorado."

All this advertising combined with his media buy makes me really curious about just how much money Obama has raised. $100M this month? It seems possible. (edit: apparently the Washington Post had the exact same thought)

Bring on that free national wi-fi

"A proposal to create a free, national wireless Internet service got a boost as Federal Communications Commission engineers concluded that concerns are overblown about such service interfering with other carriers.

The report clears the way for the FCC to move forward with a plan to auction off airwaves to a bidder who agrees to offer free, national wireless Internet service. The FCC is expected to finalize rules this year and could begin auctioning off airwaves in early-to-mid 2009."

Via WSJ

If you have an hour to kill

If you have an hour to kill and you want to work on your spacial awareness, check out this puzzle game from the Het Freudenthal Institute for Science and Mathematics Education.

You are presented with the view of a structure from three angles: top-down, front view (the arrow points at the front), and the view from the right-hand side. Your goal is to build the structure shown using the least number of blocks.

And just a hint - there's no gravity in this game, so feel free to make some flying boxes.

It's not particularly hard, but like I said, it's a good way to kill a little time. (edit: on second thought, level 2 is a bit tricky)

No, this is not the solution to the first puzzle...

Making Toledo proud

Wow... I don't even know what to say. This guy is just so ridiculously ignorant and bigoted. And he's in Toledo no less.... awesome

Via 538

This was going to be a trivia question

I wanted to put a trivia question out there, but I couldn't think of a way to word the question without giving the answer. My question would have been, out of the 50 states and Washington DC, which is the only one to have never voted Republican? The answer is Washington DC. The 23rd amendment gave DC electoral votes in 1961 and they've never once voted for the Republican candidate. Even in the lopsided election of 1984, Washington DC (along with Minnesota) cast the only votes for Mondale.

And no state has ever gone its entire electoral history without voting for a Democrat at least once.

Another day, another soccer defection

The Cuban national soccer team played a World Cup qualifier in Washington DC and that can only mean one thing... at least one of the Cuban players is going to defect. They didn't disappoint. Reuters reports that midfielder Pedro Faife, 24, and forward Reynier Alcantara, 26, disappeared from their hotel outside Washington before a practice on Friday.

Just how often does something like this happen? That same Reuters article mentions 6 Cuban players defecting in March and Maykel Galindo, who defected after a Cuban national game, now plays in the MLS. Five Rwandan players defected to France in '96. Most of the Haitian national team tried as well. A Rumanian player tried to defect to Australia. Three Iraqi players did too. Six Eritrean soccer players defected to Angola. 300 Poles defected to Spain after traveling there to watch the World Cup. And in 1926, pretty much Hakoah Vienna's entire team defected and started New York Hakoah. And these are just the result of 5 minutes of googling. The list goes on and on

She's such a maverick, she doesn't even follow the law

Well, in case anyone out there was still planning on voting for McCain-Palin, they have yet another reason not to. The "troopergate" report has been released and, surprise surprise, it found that Palin violated state ethics laws in trying to have her sister's ex-husband fired.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her power as Alaska's governor and violated state ethics law by trying to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the state police, a state investigator's report concluded Friday. (CNN)

You can read the actual report here

edit: I've read this story on a number of news sites and I'm seeing that some of them appear unwilling to go as far as saying she broke the law. Like this Reuters article, which will only say that she "violated the public trust by pressuring those who worked for her in a way that advanced her personal wishes."

And some sources, like the CNN story I linked to above, keep undergoing edits back and forth on this issue. But let's set the record straight - there's no debate here as to whether she broke the law.

From the report: "I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110 (a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."

She violated an Alaska Statute.... statute means law...she violated the law...

John McCain Humor

I thought this was a pretty creative home-made political ad

Youtube Link

And this one is kind of funny too, but it's more sketch comedy than anything else. Don't watch it if you're easily offended by language.

Circuit breaker levels for the NYSE

The Market opened this morning and was immediately way down. Yahoo finance briefly showed a drop of 1,000 points, but quickly updated their page (and I didn't get a screenshot). Google finance shows the swings so far today (in the first hour of trading) to be above 800 points. With movement like this, it's time to ask when they put the breaks on. A quick search led me to a blog post from the Financial Times:

Circuit-breaker points represent the thresholds at which trading is halted marketwide for single-day declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). Circuit-breaker levels are set quarterly as 10, 20 and 30-percent of the DJIA average closing values of the previous month, rounded to the nearest 50 points.

In fourth-quarter 2008, the 10, 20 and 30-percent decline levels, respectively, in the DJIA will be as follows:

Level 1 Halt
A 1,100-point drop in the DJIA before 2 p.m. will halt trading for one hour; for 30 minutes if between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.; and have no effect if at 2:30 p.m. or later unless there is a level 2 halt.

Level 2 Halt
A 2,200-point drop in the DJIA before 1:00 p.m. will halt trading for two hours; for one hour if between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.; and for the remainder of the day if at 2:00 p.m. or later.

Level 3 Halt
A 3,350-point drop will halt trading for the remainder of the day regardless of when the decline occurs.

Source

The Grapes of Wrath, 2008

Click the image for a larger version
Source

Google Goggles

Google has introduced a feature into gmail called "Mail Goggles." The idea is that if you're in the state of mind where you shouldn't be writing emails, you're probably not in the state of mind to do math problems either.

From the google blog:

Sometimes I send messages I shouldn't send. Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together. Gmail can't always prevent you from sending messages you might later regret, but today we're launching a new Labs feature I wrote called Mail Goggles which may help.

When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?

If you really want to, you can enable Mail Goggles in the "Labs" section of settings. I had actually never noticed the Labs options before, but there's all sorts of stuff in there. Most of them don't look all that useful, but keyboard shortcuts, mouse gestures, vacation responder, and the forgotten attachment detector could be helpful.

Obamamentary

Remember back in the days when political campaigns used direct mailings, phone calls, and, heck, even emails to smear each other? Welcome to the future, baby. Today at noon, the Obama campaign released Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis. KE:JMatMoaFC (as the kids call it) is a full fledged, 15 minute documentary about John McCain and the Keating 5.

You can view it on youtube or download the .mov or .mp4 at Keatingeconomics.com

Only in New York

Knishery on the Lower East Side

Hot Nosh - the hot kosher food vending machine (in Westchester)

It looks like the House passed the bailout

They just did the initial voice vote and it sounded like the Yeas far outnumbered the Nays...

update: voting just closed and the Yeas have it 263-171

Pelosi gave the final speech of the debate. She said this version of the bill was vastly improved from the version previously defeated. That's funny - the bailout language was exactly the same. She must be a big fan of pork.

update 2: Here's the voting roll.

update 3: And the bill is now a law

update 4: A look at some of the measures included in the bill law to "save" our economy:

Sec. 101: Extension of alternative minimum tax relief for nonrefundable personal credits.
Sec. 102: Extension of increased alternative minimum tax exemption amount.
Sec. 201: Deduction for state and local sales taxes.
Sec. 202: Deduction of qualified tuition and related expenses.
Sec. 203: Deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers.
Sec. 204: Additional standard deduction for real property taxes for nonitemizers.
Sec. 205: Tax-free distributions from individual retirement plans for charitable purposes.
Sec. 304: Extension of look-thru rule for related controlled foreign corporations.
Sec. 305: Extension of 15-year straight-line cost recovery for qualified leasehold improvements and qualified restaurant improvements; 15-year straight-line cost recovery for certain improvements to retail space.
Sec. 307: Basis adjustment to stock of S corporations making charitable contributions of property.
Sec. 308: Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Sec. 309: Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.
Sec. 310: Extension of mine rescue team training credit.
Sec. 311: Extension of election to expense advanced mine safety equipment.
Sec. 312: Deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico.
Sec. 314: Indian employment credit.
Sec. 315: Accelerated depreciation for business property on Indian reservations.
Sec. 316: Railroad track maintenance.
Sec. 317: Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility.
Sec. 318: Expensing of environmental remediation costs.
Sec. 319: Extension of work opportunity tax credit for Hurricane Katrina employees.
Sec. 320: Extension of increased rehabilitation credit for structures in the Gulf Opportunity Zone.
Sec. 321: Enhanced deduction for qualified computer contributions.
Sec. 322: Tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 323: Enhanced charitable deductions for contributions of food inventory.
Sec. 324: Extension of enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of book inventory.
Sec. 325: Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds.
Sec. 401: Permanent authority for undercover operations [as related to tax provisions].
Sec. 402: Permanent authority for disclosure of information relating to terrorist activities [as related to tax provisions].
Sec. 501: $8,500 income threshold used to calculate refundable portion of child tax credit.
Sec. 502: Provisions related to film and television productions.
Sec. 503: Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.
Sec. 504: Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation.
Sec. 505: Certain farming business machinery and equipment treated as five-year property.
Sec. 506: Modification of penalty on understatement of taxpayer’s liability by tax return preparer.
Sec. 601: Secure rural schools and community self-determination program.
Sec. 602: Transfer to abandoned mine reclamation fund.
Sec. 702: Temporary tax relief for areas damaged by 2008 Midwestern severe storms, tornados and flooding.
Sec. 704: Temporary tax-exempt bond financing and low-income housing tax relief for areas.
Sec. 709: Waiver of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements following federally declared disasters.
Sec. 710: Special depreciation allowance for qualified disaster property.
Sec. 711: Increased expensing for qualified disaster assistance property.

update 5: (Probably the last update to this post)

After the House failed to pass the bailout the first time, the Dow took a huge 700+ point dive. Here's a look at what happened this time around. After the House passed the bailout, the Dow dropped 450+ points

Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

I found this flow chart amusing.... Thanks goes to Andrew for posting the link in his away message. (Source)

A look at the Senate bailout bill

You can view a pdf of the Senate bill here. The Paulson plan was 3 pages long. The House bill was basically those 3 pages plus 106 more. The Senate bill is basically those 106 pages plus 345 more. So after lots of drama, the Senate has voted for the same, bad, 3 page plan, but with hundreds of pages of added junk.

First of all, this wasn't put forth as the The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 like it was by the House. The Senate version was an amendment to "section 712 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, section 2705 of the Public Health Service Act, section 9812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require equity in the provision of mental health and substance-related disorder benefits under group health plans, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment, and for other purposes."

Uh..yeah. That's a mouthful. But what the heck is going on? That doesn't sound like a bailout bill to me.

DIVISION A—EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION

There it is! There's that pesky Paulson plan! So what did they add? Well, I certainly don't have time to read through all that right now, but according to Bloomberg, it contains:

provisions to repeal "a 39-cent excise tax on wooden arrows designed for children"

"tax breaks benefiting Hollywood producers, stock-car racetrack owners and Virgin Islands rum-makers"

"[T]he provisions include a research tax credit worth about $8.3 billion a year for companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Harley-Davidson Inc., and subsidies for the overseas financial services earnings of U.S.-based multinational corporations such as General Electric Co. and Citigroup Inc."

"[One provision] will save Nascar track builders $109 million this year"

"Several others are new provisions, including two tax breaks worth $478 million over the next decade for movie and television producers who shoot films in the United States."

"The Congressional Budget Office said today the tax provisions will add about $112 billion to budget deficits over the next five years because the legislation doesn't contain enough offsetting revenue increases to keep the budget balanced."

So the $700B bailout is now the $812B bailout. It still sounds like a stupid plan, but hey, at least now we don't have to pay an excise tax on kiddie arrows!

Hopefully I'll get the chance to read through the bill in the next couple of days and post more details.

The New York Times called this in 1999

From this article, published in the NYT 9 years ago yesterday:

Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending

"In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.
...
In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.
...
In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's."

Bailout Bill 3.0

The Paulson Plan? A no go. The Paulson Plan + an extra 30 or 40 pages of fluff? Also a no go. Now, in round 3, we have the Paulson Plan + a whole lot of fluff. Only this time everyone expects it to pass. According to many news sources, such as CNN, the Senate version of this bill is just the House bill with a bunch of vote-grabbing incentives added.

Unfortunately, after the House bill failed, I recycled my highlighted and post-it flagged copy, so I don't have all my notes to share, but I can remember a lot of what was wrong with the bill. First and foremost, it doesn't address the actual problem.

Source

What's wrong with that picture? What was supporting that growth in house prices? It certainly wasn't a result of Americans suddenly getting richer and buying more expensive homes. It was easy money flowing from banks and the idea that homes were get-rich-quick schemes - flip that house! Add to this the fact that Wall St. and investment banks realized that they could securitize people's mortgages. This led to a situation where people were buying like crazy - well above their means - and banks were handing out mortgages left and right because they could turn around and sell them to someone else. Then people stopped paying their mortgages and the whole pyramid scheme came crashing down. If you haven't seen it already, this comic tells the story with a bit of humor.

So anyway, that's how we got to where we are now. We've seen the financial institutions who bought up these bad loans going broke and more and more people losing the homes they shouldn't have purchased in the first place. So what's the solution? Well, the Treasury Department decided to pick a really big number that sounded impressive and said that if they got that much money, they could fix the whole ordeal. What did they want to do with the $700,000,000,000 of taxpayer money? They wanted to buy up the bad loans from the banks. This would get the expensive mistakes off the banks' books and allow them to keep handing out easy money. In the meantime, the government would hold on to these garbage loans, and with a little help from magic, they would be able to sell them for a profit in the future. The problem with this is that it would take a whole lot of magic. How are people going to suddenly be able to afford these homes again? There's really only two ways - people start making a lot more money or house prices go back up. No one is saying anything about increasing people's incomes, so everyone is focused on propping up the housing market. This is just not sustainable though. They're only trying to prolong the bubble, which will inevitably cause a bigger burst.

So on to the bailout bill. The government plan is to give the Secretary of the Treasury a massive chunk of money, (most likely borrowed from China) to do whatever he wants, with little to no oversight. Now, I know what you're saying - but congress added an oversight board. Henry Paulson wasn't going to get away with those "unreviewable actions." Well that's true, but the oversight board was going to be made up of Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson, the head of the SEC, and Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. I'm sure they'd do a good job regulating themselves...

There was another little gem buried in the bill that said the Secretary of the Treasury would be required to issue regulations or guidelines necessary to address conflicts of interest. That's helpful. More self-regulation.

And then there was the FAS 157 repeal. FAS 157 requires companies to "mark to market" their assets. If they bought one of these steaming piles of mortgages for, say $100M, but it's now worth $500k, they have to report it on their books at $500k. The plan would allow the companies to keep their $500k investment valued at $100M. Opponents of FAS 157 say that it's unfair to make them write down their assets due to temporary fluctuations. But again, how do they know they're temporary. Are the people who have had their homes foreclosed suddenly going to start paying their mortgages again? Somehow I don't think so.

There was so much more that was wrong with this thing, but I threw it in the recycling bin with pleasure when I saw the bill go down in defeat, so you'll have to trust me or read it yourself. But it doesn't end there, we now have to look at what the Senate has added.

They've added a provision to increase FDIC insurance from $100,000 to $250,000. This does not address the problem either. This just allows them to print even more money when banks fail.

They've added renewable energy tax incentives. I'm all for renewable energy, but if the bill stinks, the bill stinks. This has absolutely nothing to do with the current situation.

They've added Alternative Minimum Tax relief. Again, I think something needs to be done about AMT creep, but this is not the place to do it.

What else? "The revised bailout bill also includes a "Mental Health Parity" provision, which would require health insurance companies to cover mental illness at parity with physical illness." Oh yeah, that's a solution to the economic situation. I blame mental illness for this too, but I don't think we're talking about the same people.

Awesome. So we take a bad idea and bundle it with unrelated fluff. This plan doesn't address the actual problem, but instead hands over a massive amount of cash to the people who caused it in the first place. Oh, and it's probably going to kill the dollar. Where's my tiny American Flag? I just want to stand outside and wave it for a while...