Here in our town in Germany we just went to the polls to elect a new mayor. Are we hundred percent satisfied? No. Will we ever be with other candidates? No. But that is what democracy is all about, we get a chance to be heard and the outcome is always a compromise. Important is only to get out that vote!
Regarding your observation that DeSantas is a small time politician in a gerrymandered state and his fascist ideas may not play well on the national stage in 2024, I would be more comforted by that if I hadn’t watched a small time fascist crime family-head descend the golden escalator in 2015 and ascend to the highest office.
Never underestimate the power of chicanery over gullible voters.
Being a shallow Hollywood person, I have to say that tonight I have a smile on my face because, for the first time in a long time, My Side Won. All four acting awards went to veterans who the business had either kicked aside or relegated to irrelevance, who said "fuck you!" and went on. The best picture was not "international audio-visual entertainment" as I feared it might be, but rather the strangest movie I have seen in a long time, purely creative, which left me saying to myself after I saw it, "How did they pitch that?" I got to the end of the show and said to myself, "Maybe it's not as bad as I think out there." My Side Won.
Brendan and Michelle seem like delightful people and deserving artists, but the Oscars crossed the line from craft to cult a while ago. Not that I'm a prude, mind you, but how many more ways can women find gowns that barely cover their asses and boobs? Face it, most actors have lovely bodies, including the men. If they want to make a statement about them, they should just arrive in loin cloths. Otherwise I hold my breath waiting for the great "wardrobe malfunction."
Excellent analysis of not only why DeSantis is a big fish in the small pond of national influence 😀 Hopefully his radical plans for America will remain stranded in Florida, much as the poor constituents have my sympathy for their gerrymandered nightmare 😢
Heather just released her blog about the bank failure and how Janet Yellen and President Biden are already taking care of the problem to make sure it's contained.
That's what happens when America 🇺🇸 has professionals who have spent their lives in service for the people are in charge, and why it's unthinkable in any way, shape, or form 🤔 that the GOP clown 🤡 show even attempt to hold the debt ceiling hostage, just because they want to flex their 5 member majority. Hopefully the saner members of their caucus will cross the aisle for the sake of all America 🇺🇸 🙄 🙏. Should be interesting to see what happens to the orange 🍊 behemoth in NY and Georgia grand jury investigations as well as what progress Jack Smith has made 👍 😉
My understanding is that there were two primary causes to the Silicon Valley Bank demise:
(a) Silicon Valley Bank invested heavily in bonds without apparently considering the risk of the impact of the Fed increasing interest rates to fight inflation which reduced the value of those bonds; and,
(b) as VC funding dried up (with the impact of Covid and increasing interest rates), tech companies needed to withdraw capital to fund their ongoing operations.
Also, the government also took over Signature Bank today. Signature Bank made heavy bets on cryptocurrency deposits only to face a huge loss with the collapse of FTX and cryptocurrency values.
One lesson my father, who grew up in the Great Depression, taught me was:always keep your money in a FDIC insured institution and never exceed FDIC insured limit in any one account. And, so, I have always followed his guidance, using Insured Cash Sweep Accounts that spreads funds in excess of the FDIC insured limits to other FDIC insured banks.
Meanwhile, before ICS accounts, my father purchased T-Bills. Today, I question whether T-Bills are even secure given that the Seditious Caucus of the Republican Party is threatening to allow the federal government to default on its debt. This would be catastrophic. Interest rates will skyrocket, existing treasury values will plummet and banks (who buy and sell the majority treasuries) will find themselves insolvent like SVB.
Lastly, as I posted in yesterday's (Sunday) comments, it was 90 years ago on Sunday, March 12th, 1933, just 8 days after taking office, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt give his first "Fire Side" chat to calm the nerves of Americans and assure them that, after the failure of almost 9,000 back since 1929, the federal government was going stabilize and regulate the banking industry. From his effort came the Glass-Steagall Banking Act of 1933. Here is the link to FDR's address - it is worth a listen:
Good points, all around. But there is one more element to the run--the venture funds, especially Peter Thiel, began advising their startup clients to withdraw their funds, to the tune of several billion (ten plus?) and that caused the crisis. As many have said, SVB did not have an asset or balance sheet crisis, it had a liquidity crisis. While SVB had some losses, it was adequately capitalized and could have covered its depositors liabilities in the normal course. But I don't know any of this for sure--just what I read in the newspapers. These situations are rarely as cut and dried as they appear at first blush.
It is difficult to see why the Fed and Treasury intervened. SVB was uniquely exposed to the tech industry. Where is the systemic risk? It feels like the hedge funds got special protection for their clients / investments.
Not all the startups were "tech" per se--apparently over a thousand were working on clean energy solutions. I don't really see a problem with the solution the government has come up with--allowing loans based on the collateral of those long-term bonds, which apparently makes the bank solvent as to assets but not as to cashflow. It isn't clear who gets the loans--not, apparently, the bank; probably the receiver or possibly any bank that buys SVB as Chase did WaMu. It sounds like the loans will come from the FDIC fund, which isn't taxpayer financed.
Big venture capitalists might benefit indirectly from saving the startups, but society might lose immeasurably by letting them fail. After all, venture capitalists-- whose life revolves around figuring out promising startups --have by giving them money endorsed the idea that they ARE promising and will create something of social or economic value. If the start-ups get their operating money, the venture capitalists will be at exactly the same risk level as they were when they invested the money. If they guessed the risk wrong, they will lose.--same as usual. But why should they AND the startups lose because of BANK error?
I really think that one cannot just dismiss a solution because "big tech is bad." Yes, it is contracting, but that has a variety of reasons (in Amazon's case, fall of sales after the easing of the pandemic sent people back to regular stores). Yes, big tech has some dreadful consequences in its pushing of content through algorithms, creating belief bubbles and pushing more "exciting" if false content. But simply saying that those trying to innovate should be punished because they are financed by venture capitalist who are (rather by necessity) rich seems overkill.
We do need to be careful about distinguishing KINDS of bank failure. Lack of sufficient assets overall is way different from temporary lack of liquidity.
I haven't pinned down the order of events yet: Did Peter Thiel's advice CAUSE the bank to have to sell its long-term bonds at a loss, or did the loss cause Thiel to give his advice? Do you have any definitive source?
They totally shorted the bank! And Becker, the CEO, just happened to do a "preplanned" stock sale end of Feb. They did the right thing since most of the money being held by SVB was in fact small businesses and not mostly in tech. That said, the CEO and people who created the "fire" should have to pay the price, but we know they won't.
Thanks always for your steady thinking. Yes support Biden in this upcoming time of increased gop madness. And re Internet issues—Joseph Campbell said the computer is like the Old Testament god—lots of rules and no mercy!
“All history should be taught, and all history should be remembered,” Loudoun Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said. “Not all history should be celebrated. There are some things in our history that we probably shouldn’t celebrate."
P.S.: My brow furrowed over the Willows project decision. But I still support Biden to see us through.
I am also a big fan of President Biden. I trust him. I like him. He has rebuilt our government and our reputation in the world. Lots more to do with both of those, of course. But we need not hang our heads in shame any longer. However, he is totally wrong on both of the issues you raise.
Biden has acknowledged that earlier in his Senate career he was wrong in supporting ultra tough on crime legislation (mandatory minimum sentences, etc.). Why he opposed a long overdue new crime bill in DC is baffling to me.
The decision to allow the Willow drilling project to go forward is a mistake with enormous consequences. The only people this will please were never going to vote for a Democrat! What's the point of this backslide on the environment and the future of our energy consumption?
I have stated many times that if Joe Biden is the nominee, I will support him. But he has now taken a sledge hammer to the potential voters that may now just stay home rather than vote. Young people EXPECT Democrats to stand for no more drilling! They EXPECT bold decisions that will have an impact on a Climate Crisis they will inherit. Joe Biden's advisors are out to lunch. They are not listening to Gen Y and Z who will represent about 45% of the electorate next year.
And it gets worse. If these younger people don't show up to vote, we will lose more than Presidency, the House and the Senate. We will lose those essential down ballot, state and local races where so much of our lives are governed.
At this point, I do not believe it would be disloyal to the Democratic party to open the field up for the Presidential nomination. The greatest worry I had about the lack of youthful support for Joe Biden has just doubled.
Mr. President: you are blowing an opportunity to rally our base. I wrote to you yesterday explaining this. I usually write to you with applause and support. Not this time.
Republicans don't seem to hesitate to appeal to their base. Why do Democrats equivocate? Our base is overwhelmingly on the side of modern criminal laws and halting damage to the planet. A candidate can always tack to the middle a bit during the general campaign. But now is the time to stand tall for the principles that define us! These two decisions are like a river of cold mud flowing into an otherwise fired up enthusiastic campaign rally.
It is difficult to disagree with any of your observations. But I would hope that young voters could see past two issues (or more) on which they disagree with Biden and support a candiate who has invested in a green future, supported them during extended periods of unemployment, is fighting for reproductive liberty, and has done everything he can to control guns, defend LGBTQ rights, and preserve health care for all Americans. There is a lot of good to recommend Biden.
I, too, will support Biden. But if he had the vision and self-awareness to step aside, he would be viewed as one of the greatest presidents in American history, certainly in the top five. But that would take an immense act of selflessness, which is beyond the reach of most mortals.
I can view Biden through a broader lens. I just don't know if an already jaded and unsupportive younger electorate can do the same. The President is on shaky ground already with this group. And if there were ever a single inflammatory issue that might infuriate them - it's Climate. I worry about the resulting apathy that might follow this.
Perhaps some bans for new leases on public lands will help...
I follow Victor Shi on Twitter. He represents the GenZ population and is very popular. Victor said he and his “people” are big Biden fans so I not feel they will leave his side. Yes, the Willow project would serve to be a nightmare for him. Murkowski basically said she can’t trust the administration on whether or not the deal is done. This, in itself, would be a big blunder for Biden as he would lose mainstream Dems. That’s just my opinion.
There is a lot of good that Biden has done and continues to do. But approving the Willow project is a devastating step backwards, and I cannot fathom the rationale for his doing so except to placate the fossil fuel industry at the expense of native peoples and our environment. This decision puts a HUGE checkmark on the wrong side of the ledger.
Oops, I replied to Bill instead of Robert. But my comment is for both of you.
Since JFK, I've never failed to be disappointed by a Democratic president (my expectations are very low for GOPers). And I was 7 when JFK was elected. Biden disappoints me hugely on one issue, in particular, immigration (we badly need to stabilize or even reduce our population), but Biden has been so good on so many other issues, and the alternative the GOP offered has been so terrible that I'm not going to stress over my one disappointment with Biden.
But furthermore, in the world of oil consumption and greenhouse emissions, Willow is a drop in the bucket. The emissions from 30 years' worth of Willow project oil production will be equivalent to one year's worth of emissions from slightly more than one fifth of the nation's cars. To put it differently, the oil from Willow will cause CO2 emissions equivalent to slightly more than 3% of total annual US greenhouse emissions.
Immigration to the US will cause considerably more emissions than Willow. That's because the average immigrant's GH emissions rise threefold after arrival--they come here to consume like Americans. The Census Bureau projects close to 17 million immigrants per decade over the next four decades. Native increase will add 7.5 million over the four decades, for a grand total of 75 million, equivalent to nearly four New York States.
I've been concerned about population since the end of the JFK Administration. But given all the other good Biden's doing, I'm not going to stress over his continuation of a population explosion that's been going on all of our lives. And you, my fellow readers of Today's Edition, should not stress over Willow, as it will cause significantly less increase in global warming emissions than immigration, and Biden is doing so much good, and the GOP alternatives to him are so awful.
I completely agree with your comments about DeSantis. But I want to add that over time he will take additional actions that will make him even more reprehensible to the larger voting population. For example the League of Women Voters was going to hold a rally at our Capitol and discovered that DeSantis had put in place an administrative procedure that barred rallies at the Capitol unless someone in his administration agreed to sponsor them. The League found a work around and had a press conference, they had their mouths taped to protest this violation of free speech. You see the bubble that DeSantis lives in is completely covered on the inside with a mirror and he can see only himself and the tiny little world he lives in. And he has no idea about the larger world that, in reality, is an alternative universe. As time goes by he will create an ever larger pile of fascist trash which, hopefully, repulse the majority of voters.
YES on the moral hazard comments. The government working on behalf of the wealthy and ambitious start ups that have deposited way more than the protected $250,000 is working to protect the economy. That same government working on behalf of student loan borrowers to forgive up to $20,000 for those earning less than $125,000 is working to protect the economy. And YES on Joe Biden. He has been successful beyond the expectations of everyone other than Jim Clyburn and those closest to Joe Biden.
As I said, I don't believe in the moral hazard argument. It is almost exclusively trotted out to deny working people benefits they deserve and paid for, and is quickly abandoned when the wealthy need an assist to avoid a pinch to their portfolios. We should pass legislation that makes sense without regard to notions of whether people "deserve" benefits on a moral level. The question should be whether the legislation is in the interest of the American people by advancing the common good. If some people are benefitted relatively more than others, that is life, not a "moral hazard."
I love your column but please don’t confuse Tallahassee with the rest of Florida. Yes, the absurdly thinking legislature meets here but its members live elsewhere in the state. Tallahassee itself is a blue dot in a red state. We have three colleges here and a highly educated population who almost always vote blue. Unfortunately the gerrymandered districts include enough red counties that it dilutes the usually liberal local voting.
Another perspective that may have been a consideration in the Willow matter is the Russian-Ukrainian war impact on energy supplies and the new Saudi leadership. This is a counter-balance. Even in the shorter term, it says that the US will be a net energy producer.
The amount of global warming emissions Willow would cause over its 30 year lifetime is actually minuscule--comparable to about 3% of the US' annual greenhouse emissions. That's less emissions than are caused by immigration (the average immigrant's GH emissions rise 3fold after arrival.
A few points to make regarding "Today's Edition - March 12, 2023"
I would like to offer a "correction," if you will, of a sentiment you expressed in your article on Ron DeSantis today. You say, "The most recent Navigator Research poll suggests that DeSantis’s dreams of a fascist America will fare poorly outside of Tallahassee—the capital of Florida and the nation’s 126th largest city. I don’t mean to suggest that the size of Tallahassee disqualifies the views of its citizens." To be accurate, it fairs poorly in Tallahasse. I will point out that Tallahassee is not a friendly area of the state for Ron DeSantis. It is the state capitol, but it is also a college town, home to several universities and state colleges, and generally is one of the "bluest" areas of the state. It is areas like "The Villages" in central Florida, and the Florida panhandle, (among too many other similar communities) that are bastions of the right-wing shtick that DeSantis peddles. Being a Floridian for most of my life, as well as a teacher union activist for much of my professional life, I've become well acquainted with which areas of the state are consistently "right", which are "left", and which may swing with the winds.
As for "unwavering" support of President Biden, that for me is not a question. While I am truly saddened to see him make political decisions contrary to his environmental promises, his overall performance has been extraordinary, given the circumstances he's faced. He has my unwavering support for 2024.
That said, I may not live long enough to see it, but I dream of a day when President Pete Buttigieg is in the Oval Office!
My husband was on the Town Council of our small town of Chevy Chase, MD. Occasionally he would come home from a council meeting and say "I think we did a great job tonight. Both side were unhappy!". We need to remember that when Biden does things that are contrary to our most fervent wishes. Those of us on the further left (me) must feel unhappy at times if we are to continue to elect democrats and keep our democracy alive.
Excellent Concluding Thoughts! On balance, Biden's policy choices are light years ahead of the prior administration's. We can't know Biden's political or societal calculus, but we can have confidence that it favors democracy and fairness. In stark contrast, I recall when Trump was elected, I gave him the benefit of doubt and a chance to dispel any misgivings I had. Sadly, he kept all the benefits for himself and confirmed the worst of my concerns. Biden continues to impress, despite a few missteps, in a very fraught period in our history.
"On Sunday, the Federal Reserve and US Treasury announced that they were taking extraordinary steps ..." While we were having a weekend the Federal Government was working to avert a crisis. This is how Government should work and I remain grateful for the workhorse, no drama Biden Administration. For those folks mad that the rich folk didn't get punished I respectfully request you take a moment and consider that if one segment of the economy fails, we all go down. The liberal angst against rich people is diametrically opposed to the Republicans angst about woke people. Jeez.
Biden can't seem to win with the fuel situation in this Country. Fuel efficient cars? Oh my! Drilling for more oil? Oh my!
The best news? The Republicans aren't stoking their outrage machine at the moment. Two of their favorite things have been taken care of: big money and oil. I'm enjoying the momentary peace.
I think it remains to be seen whether the failure of SVB presented a systemic risk. It is hard to see how it did. It was uniquely exposed to the tech industry in a way no other bank in the US was. Perhaps its concentration of assets in low yield bonds was more broadly representative of other banks, but the stress testing required of larger banks suggests that SVB was a "one-off" case.
So, apart from the fact that Silicon Valley venture funds and billionaires were looking at losses, why did the Treasury and Fed bend the rules for SVB? There will be a congressional investigation and I fear that what we will see is an intensive lobbying campaign by venture funds directed at members of the Fed, friends in the Treasury, and friends in the administration. That is not how fiscal policy should be made (if, indeed, that is what happened).
I believe the SVB failure did indeed represent a systematic risk.
"At SVB alone, there are 34,766 of these companies, all with employees and invoices to pay. If those depositors can’t access funds, it will cause a ripple effect that could compound the panic in the financial sector. Families and small business vendors depend on paychecks and payments, and the last thing our recovery needs is a huge shock to the system and more financial uncertainty. "
Here in our town in Germany we just went to the polls to elect a new mayor. Are we hundred percent satisfied? No. Will we ever be with other candidates? No. But that is what democracy is all about, we get a chance to be heard and the outcome is always a compromise. Important is only to get out that vote!
Regarding your observation that DeSantas is a small time politician in a gerrymandered state and his fascist ideas may not play well on the national stage in 2024, I would be more comforted by that if I hadn’t watched a small time fascist crime family-head descend the golden escalator in 2015 and ascend to the highest office.
Never underestimate the power of chicanery over gullible voters.
true! But we know better now, and are better prepared. My point is that we have to stop acting like Ron DeSantis is unbeatable. He is not.
Sad but true
Being a shallow Hollywood person, I have to say that tonight I have a smile on my face because, for the first time in a long time, My Side Won. All four acting awards went to veterans who the business had either kicked aside or relegated to irrelevance, who said "fuck you!" and went on. The best picture was not "international audio-visual entertainment" as I feared it might be, but rather the strangest movie I have seen in a long time, purely creative, which left me saying to myself after I saw it, "How did they pitch that?" I got to the end of the show and said to myself, "Maybe it's not as bad as I think out there." My Side Won.
Brendan and Michelle seem like delightful people and deserving artists, but the Oscars crossed the line from craft to cult a while ago. Not that I'm a prude, mind you, but how many more ways can women find gowns that barely cover their asses and boobs? Face it, most actors have lovely bodies, including the men. If they want to make a statement about them, they should just arrive in loin cloths. Otherwise I hold my breath waiting for the great "wardrobe malfunction."
Excellent analysis of not only why DeSantis is a big fish in the small pond of national influence 😀 Hopefully his radical plans for America will remain stranded in Florida, much as the poor constituents have my sympathy for their gerrymandered nightmare 😢
Heather just released her blog about the bank failure and how Janet Yellen and President Biden are already taking care of the problem to make sure it's contained.
That's what happens when America 🇺🇸 has professionals who have spent their lives in service for the people are in charge, and why it's unthinkable in any way, shape, or form 🤔 that the GOP clown 🤡 show even attempt to hold the debt ceiling hostage, just because they want to flex their 5 member majority. Hopefully the saner members of their caucus will cross the aisle for the sake of all America 🇺🇸 🙄 🙏. Should be interesting to see what happens to the orange 🍊 behemoth in NY and Georgia grand jury investigations as well as what progress Jack Smith has made 👍 😉
bravo! You've said it all
Well said. Thank you.
Robert,
My understanding is that there were two primary causes to the Silicon Valley Bank demise:
(a) Silicon Valley Bank invested heavily in bonds without apparently considering the risk of the impact of the Fed increasing interest rates to fight inflation which reduced the value of those bonds; and,
(b) as VC funding dried up (with the impact of Covid and increasing interest rates), tech companies needed to withdraw capital to fund their ongoing operations.
Also, the government also took over Signature Bank today. Signature Bank made heavy bets on cryptocurrency deposits only to face a huge loss with the collapse of FTX and cryptocurrency values.
One lesson my father, who grew up in the Great Depression, taught me was:always keep your money in a FDIC insured institution and never exceed FDIC insured limit in any one account. And, so, I have always followed his guidance, using Insured Cash Sweep Accounts that spreads funds in excess of the FDIC insured limits to other FDIC insured banks.
Meanwhile, before ICS accounts, my father purchased T-Bills. Today, I question whether T-Bills are even secure given that the Seditious Caucus of the Republican Party is threatening to allow the federal government to default on its debt. This would be catastrophic. Interest rates will skyrocket, existing treasury values will plummet and banks (who buy and sell the majority treasuries) will find themselves insolvent like SVB.
Lastly, as I posted in yesterday's (Sunday) comments, it was 90 years ago on Sunday, March 12th, 1933, just 8 days after taking office, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt give his first "Fire Side" chat to calm the nerves of Americans and assure them that, after the failure of almost 9,000 back since 1929, the federal government was going stabilize and regulate the banking industry. From his effort came the Glass-Steagall Banking Act of 1933. Here is the link to FDR's address - it is worth a listen:
https://www.fdic.gov/about/history/fdr_fireside_chat_banking_situation_03-12-33.mp3
Good points, all around. But there is one more element to the run--the venture funds, especially Peter Thiel, began advising their startup clients to withdraw their funds, to the tune of several billion (ten plus?) and that caused the crisis. As many have said, SVB did not have an asset or balance sheet crisis, it had a liquidity crisis. While SVB had some losses, it was adequately capitalized and could have covered its depositors liabilities in the normal course. But I don't know any of this for sure--just what I read in the newspapers. These situations are rarely as cut and dried as they appear at first blush.
It is difficult to see why the Fed and Treasury intervened. SVB was uniquely exposed to the tech industry. Where is the systemic risk? It feels like the hedge funds got special protection for their clients / investments.
Not all the startups were "tech" per se--apparently over a thousand were working on clean energy solutions. I don't really see a problem with the solution the government has come up with--allowing loans based on the collateral of those long-term bonds, which apparently makes the bank solvent as to assets but not as to cashflow. It isn't clear who gets the loans--not, apparently, the bank; probably the receiver or possibly any bank that buys SVB as Chase did WaMu. It sounds like the loans will come from the FDIC fund, which isn't taxpayer financed.
Big venture capitalists might benefit indirectly from saving the startups, but society might lose immeasurably by letting them fail. After all, venture capitalists-- whose life revolves around figuring out promising startups --have by giving them money endorsed the idea that they ARE promising and will create something of social or economic value. If the start-ups get their operating money, the venture capitalists will be at exactly the same risk level as they were when they invested the money. If they guessed the risk wrong, they will lose.--same as usual. But why should they AND the startups lose because of BANK error?
I really think that one cannot just dismiss a solution because "big tech is bad." Yes, it is contracting, but that has a variety of reasons (in Amazon's case, fall of sales after the easing of the pandemic sent people back to regular stores). Yes, big tech has some dreadful consequences in its pushing of content through algorithms, creating belief bubbles and pushing more "exciting" if false content. But simply saying that those trying to innovate should be punished because they are financed by venture capitalist who are (rather by necessity) rich seems overkill.
We do need to be careful about distinguishing KINDS of bank failure. Lack of sufficient assets overall is way different from temporary lack of liquidity.
I haven't pinned down the order of events yet: Did Peter Thiel's advice CAUSE the bank to have to sell its long-term bonds at a loss, or did the loss cause Thiel to give his advice? Do you have any definitive source?
They totally shorted the bank! And Becker, the CEO, just happened to do a "preplanned" stock sale end of Feb. They did the right thing since most of the money being held by SVB was in fact small businesses and not mostly in tech. That said, the CEO and people who created the "fire" should have to pay the price, but we know they won't.
I wish your father had a national stage! Gone are the days when sensibility ruled the income and debit ratio of the average American.
Thanks always for your steady thinking. Yes support Biden in this upcoming time of increased gop madness. And re Internet issues—Joseph Campbell said the computer is like the Old Testament god—lots of rules and no mercy!
Ha!
As to book bans and educating our youth:
“All history should be taught, and all history should be remembered,” Loudoun Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said. “Not all history should be celebrated. There are some things in our history that we probably shouldn’t celebrate."
P.S.: My brow furrowed over the Willows project decision. But I still support Biden to see us through.
Me too. Every now and then, there are inconsistencies which make me holler, "Wait a minute!"
Robert,
I am also a big fan of President Biden. I trust him. I like him. He has rebuilt our government and our reputation in the world. Lots more to do with both of those, of course. But we need not hang our heads in shame any longer. However, he is totally wrong on both of the issues you raise.
Biden has acknowledged that earlier in his Senate career he was wrong in supporting ultra tough on crime legislation (mandatory minimum sentences, etc.). Why he opposed a long overdue new crime bill in DC is baffling to me.
The decision to allow the Willow drilling project to go forward is a mistake with enormous consequences. The only people this will please were never going to vote for a Democrat! What's the point of this backslide on the environment and the future of our energy consumption?
I have stated many times that if Joe Biden is the nominee, I will support him. But he has now taken a sledge hammer to the potential voters that may now just stay home rather than vote. Young people EXPECT Democrats to stand for no more drilling! They EXPECT bold decisions that will have an impact on a Climate Crisis they will inherit. Joe Biden's advisors are out to lunch. They are not listening to Gen Y and Z who will represent about 45% of the electorate next year.
And it gets worse. If these younger people don't show up to vote, we will lose more than Presidency, the House and the Senate. We will lose those essential down ballot, state and local races where so much of our lives are governed.
At this point, I do not believe it would be disloyal to the Democratic party to open the field up for the Presidential nomination. The greatest worry I had about the lack of youthful support for Joe Biden has just doubled.
Mr. President: you are blowing an opportunity to rally our base. I wrote to you yesterday explaining this. I usually write to you with applause and support. Not this time.
Republicans don't seem to hesitate to appeal to their base. Why do Democrats equivocate? Our base is overwhelmingly on the side of modern criminal laws and halting damage to the planet. A candidate can always tack to the middle a bit during the general campaign. But now is the time to stand tall for the principles that define us! These two decisions are like a river of cold mud flowing into an otherwise fired up enthusiastic campaign rally.
It is difficult to disagree with any of your observations. But I would hope that young voters could see past two issues (or more) on which they disagree with Biden and support a candiate who has invested in a green future, supported them during extended periods of unemployment, is fighting for reproductive liberty, and has done everything he can to control guns, defend LGBTQ rights, and preserve health care for all Americans. There is a lot of good to recommend Biden.
I, too, will support Biden. But if he had the vision and self-awareness to step aside, he would be viewed as one of the greatest presidents in American history, certainly in the top five. But that would take an immense act of selflessness, which is beyond the reach of most mortals.
Thank you. Well said. Good points.
I can view Biden through a broader lens. I just don't know if an already jaded and unsupportive younger electorate can do the same. The President is on shaky ground already with this group. And if there were ever a single inflammatory issue that might infuriate them - it's Climate. I worry about the resulting apathy that might follow this.
Perhaps some bans for new leases on public lands will help...
I follow Victor Shi on Twitter. He represents the GenZ population and is very popular. Victor said he and his “people” are big Biden fans so I not feel they will leave his side. Yes, the Willow project would serve to be a nightmare for him. Murkowski basically said she can’t trust the administration on whether or not the deal is done. This, in itself, would be a big blunder for Biden as he would lose mainstream Dems. That’s just my opinion.
There is a lot of good that Biden has done and continues to do. But approving the Willow project is a devastating step backwards, and I cannot fathom the rationale for his doing so except to placate the fossil fuel industry at the expense of native peoples and our environment. This decision puts a HUGE checkmark on the wrong side of the ledger.
Oops, I replied to Bill instead of Robert. But my comment is for both of you.
Since JFK, I've never failed to be disappointed by a Democratic president (my expectations are very low for GOPers). And I was 7 when JFK was elected. Biden disappoints me hugely on one issue, in particular, immigration (we badly need to stabilize or even reduce our population), but Biden has been so good on so many other issues, and the alternative the GOP offered has been so terrible that I'm not going to stress over my one disappointment with Biden.
But furthermore, in the world of oil consumption and greenhouse emissions, Willow is a drop in the bucket. The emissions from 30 years' worth of Willow project oil production will be equivalent to one year's worth of emissions from slightly more than one fifth of the nation's cars. To put it differently, the oil from Willow will cause CO2 emissions equivalent to slightly more than 3% of total annual US greenhouse emissions.
Immigration to the US will cause considerably more emissions than Willow. That's because the average immigrant's GH emissions rise threefold after arrival--they come here to consume like Americans. The Census Bureau projects close to 17 million immigrants per decade over the next four decades. Native increase will add 7.5 million over the four decades, for a grand total of 75 million, equivalent to nearly four New York States.
I've been concerned about population since the end of the JFK Administration. But given all the other good Biden's doing, I'm not going to stress over his continuation of a population explosion that's been going on all of our lives. And you, my fellow readers of Today's Edition, should not stress over Willow, as it will cause significantly less increase in global warming emissions than immigration, and Biden is doing so much good, and the GOP alternatives to him are so awful.
I completely agree with your comments about DeSantis. But I want to add that over time he will take additional actions that will make him even more reprehensible to the larger voting population. For example the League of Women Voters was going to hold a rally at our Capitol and discovered that DeSantis had put in place an administrative procedure that barred rallies at the Capitol unless someone in his administration agreed to sponsor them. The League found a work around and had a press conference, they had their mouths taped to protest this violation of free speech. You see the bubble that DeSantis lives in is completely covered on the inside with a mirror and he can see only himself and the tiny little world he lives in. And he has no idea about the larger world that, in reality, is an alternative universe. As time goes by he will create an ever larger pile of fascist trash which, hopefully, repulse the majority of voters.
Unbelievable!! I will look for coverage of that event. It shows that he is a thin-skinned, frightened man who will wilt under the national spotlight.
Megan O’Matz from ProRepublica wrote about it today, “A Florida-Sized Roadblock for the League of Women Voters”
Rhonda Santis, the Preying Mantis. (A couple of word plays, here.)
YES on the moral hazard comments. The government working on behalf of the wealthy and ambitious start ups that have deposited way more than the protected $250,000 is working to protect the economy. That same government working on behalf of student loan borrowers to forgive up to $20,000 for those earning less than $125,000 is working to protect the economy. And YES on Joe Biden. He has been successful beyond the expectations of everyone other than Jim Clyburn and those closest to Joe Biden.
As I said, I don't believe in the moral hazard argument. It is almost exclusively trotted out to deny working people benefits they deserve and paid for, and is quickly abandoned when the wealthy need an assist to avoid a pinch to their portfolios. We should pass legislation that makes sense without regard to notions of whether people "deserve" benefits on a moral level. The question should be whether the legislation is in the interest of the American people by advancing the common good. If some people are benefitted relatively more than others, that is life, not a "moral hazard."
I love your column but please don’t confuse Tallahassee with the rest of Florida. Yes, the absurdly thinking legislature meets here but its members live elsewhere in the state. Tallahassee itself is a blue dot in a red state. We have three colleges here and a highly educated population who almost always vote blue. Unfortunately the gerrymandered districts include enough red counties that it dilutes the usually liberal local voting.
Thanks for the correction. I was trying to find a metaphor to shows that DeSantis is a big fish in a small pond.
Another perspective that may have been a consideration in the Willow matter is the Russian-Ukrainian war impact on energy supplies and the new Saudi leadership. This is a counter-balance. Even in the shorter term, it says that the US will be a net energy producer.
That is certainly a valid factor to consider.
The amount of global warming emissions Willow would cause over its 30 year lifetime is actually minuscule--comparable to about 3% of the US' annual greenhouse emissions. That's less emissions than are caused by immigration (the average immigrant's GH emissions rise 3fold after arrival.
A few points to make regarding "Today's Edition - March 12, 2023"
I would like to offer a "correction," if you will, of a sentiment you expressed in your article on Ron DeSantis today. You say, "The most recent Navigator Research poll suggests that DeSantis’s dreams of a fascist America will fare poorly outside of Tallahassee—the capital of Florida and the nation’s 126th largest city. I don’t mean to suggest that the size of Tallahassee disqualifies the views of its citizens." To be accurate, it fairs poorly in Tallahasse. I will point out that Tallahassee is not a friendly area of the state for Ron DeSantis. It is the state capitol, but it is also a college town, home to several universities and state colleges, and generally is one of the "bluest" areas of the state. It is areas like "The Villages" in central Florida, and the Florida panhandle, (among too many other similar communities) that are bastions of the right-wing shtick that DeSantis peddles. Being a Floridian for most of my life, as well as a teacher union activist for much of my professional life, I've become well acquainted with which areas of the state are consistently "right", which are "left", and which may swing with the winds.
I would also offer that Robert Reich does an outstanding job, as usual, in his Substack article today that helps explain the Silicon Valley Bank failure. Readers may find it a helpful addendum to your comments. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-silicon-valley-bank-debacle?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
As for "unwavering" support of President Biden, that for me is not a question. While I am truly saddened to see him make political decisions contrary to his environmental promises, his overall performance has been extraordinary, given the circumstances he's faced. He has my unwavering support for 2024.
That said, I may not live long enough to see it, but I dream of a day when President Pete Buttigieg is in the Oval Office!
My husband was on the Town Council of our small town of Chevy Chase, MD. Occasionally he would come home from a council meeting and say "I think we did a great job tonight. Both side were unhappy!". We need to remember that when Biden does things that are contrary to our most fervent wishes. Those of us on the further left (me) must feel unhappy at times if we are to continue to elect democrats and keep our democracy alive.
Excellent Concluding Thoughts! On balance, Biden's policy choices are light years ahead of the prior administration's. We can't know Biden's political or societal calculus, but we can have confidence that it favors democracy and fairness. In stark contrast, I recall when Trump was elected, I gave him the benefit of doubt and a chance to dispel any misgivings I had. Sadly, he kept all the benefits for himself and confirmed the worst of my concerns. Biden continues to impress, despite a few missteps, in a very fraught period in our history.
"On Sunday, the Federal Reserve and US Treasury announced that they were taking extraordinary steps ..." While we were having a weekend the Federal Government was working to avert a crisis. This is how Government should work and I remain grateful for the workhorse, no drama Biden Administration. For those folks mad that the rich folk didn't get punished I respectfully request you take a moment and consider that if one segment of the economy fails, we all go down. The liberal angst against rich people is diametrically opposed to the Republicans angst about woke people. Jeez.
Biden can't seem to win with the fuel situation in this Country. Fuel efficient cars? Oh my! Drilling for more oil? Oh my!
The best news? The Republicans aren't stoking their outrage machine at the moment. Two of their favorite things have been taken care of: big money and oil. I'm enjoying the momentary peace.
I think it remains to be seen whether the failure of SVB presented a systemic risk. It is hard to see how it did. It was uniquely exposed to the tech industry in a way no other bank in the US was. Perhaps its concentration of assets in low yield bonds was more broadly representative of other banks, but the stress testing required of larger banks suggests that SVB was a "one-off" case.
So, apart from the fact that Silicon Valley venture funds and billionaires were looking at losses, why did the Treasury and Fed bend the rules for SVB? There will be a congressional investigation and I fear that what we will see is an intensive lobbying campaign by venture funds directed at members of the Fed, friends in the Treasury, and friends in the administration. That is not how fiscal policy should be made (if, indeed, that is what happened).
I believe the SVB failure did indeed represent a systematic risk.
"At SVB alone, there are 34,766 of these companies, all with employees and invoices to pay. If those depositors can’t access funds, it will cause a ripple effect that could compound the panic in the financial sector. Families and small business vendors depend on paychecks and payments, and the last thing our recovery needs is a huge shock to the system and more financial uncertainty. "
Kuo