Monthly Archives: December 2009

(Community Matters) We were delayed in our return from London to NYC and missed our flight to Austin.  Returning Thursday morning.  Apologies for tomorrow morning’s meetings being rescheduled.

(Community Matters) in an on-line conversation w/ a friend: Re when are more taxes the answer, I think the answer is “now.” We’ve been fighting wars for 9 years and never raised taxes to pay for those wars. That was irresponsible of us. I disagree with postponing long overdue social, safety net reform b/c of our failure to fund the wars. Now is the time to raise taxes temporarily to pay for the wars. Without the war deficits and given the budget surpluses we were generating, we can afford necessary investments in healthcare, education and physical infrastructure.

(Community Matters) Sounds like finally folks are listening to Paul Volcker – thankfully.  Congrats to the Senators McCain and Cantwell for introducing legislation to bring back Glass-Steagall.  The Administration has not been served well by listening to Geithner and Sumners about financial institution re-regulation.  I hope they’ll embrace the separation of commercial and investment banking.

Nate Silver saying there isn’t broad enough support to breakup the banks (too big to fail/Glass Steagall) but there is for major financial regulation.

(Community Matters) We actually expected to see a lot more shows while here but 1) many had finished and others not starting until Thursday and 2) we’ve enjoyed chilling more than normal.  We’ve both become so comfortable hanging in our regular spots, our same room at the hotel, same coffee shops, bistros, it has been precious decompression time for both of us. It’s kinda telling what creatures of habit we are here – two instance stand out.  Yesterday, Steven wanted to take a picture in front of an old English phone booth outside our hotel.  I mentioned we already had one from a couple of years ago.  Embarrassingly when I pulled it up on my computer, we were wearing the same shirts then as 2 years prior.  Second, we walked in for lunch at my favorite bistro, only to have the owner’s daughter greet us fondly and by name, wondering where we’d been.

Nevertheless, we have seen two fantastic shows.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Tennessee Williams’ play performed by an oustanding all Black cast, and directed by African American dancer (& obviously now director) Debbie Allen.  Leads: James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Adrian Lester & Sanaa Lathan.  Outstanding.  Neither of us had ever seen the show performed on stage.  Loved it.

David Hare’s The Power of Yes

Extraordinarily timely.  David sought to understand the current financial crisis and wrote this story about it, after identifying the threads, assumptions and causes.  He articulates the truth as felt by the participants he interviewed.  This was extraordinarily timely because I’ve been wrestling with my own thoughts about the crisis – more about this administration’s failure to boldly reconfigure/reregulate the US financial industry as it exists. I don’t think the President is any longer served well by Geithner or Sumners.  They should be listening more to Paul Volcker.

(Community Matters) Lily Christie – with help from her daddy Charles

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(Community Matters) I woke up thinking we should consider imposing a windfalls profit tax on financial institutions – who borrowed $10B or more from TARP –  equal to 50% of profits prior to any bonuses.  We should collect this until we recover all taxpayer monies outstanding as a result of TARP, Treasury guarantees and Fed lendings as a result of the Sept ’08 crisis – including those to bailout AIG and GM.

join Americans Against Obscene Bankers’ Bonuses

(Community Matters) San Francisco, Boston, Albany, Atlana . . .

(Community Matters) Only kinda funny – we haven’t been able to schedule drinks or dinner with our next door neighbors, professors Markovits, for months. May finally here in London where they maintain a pied a terre.

(Community Matters) I’m with Frank Rich, Americans are waking up to the realization that the economic deck is increasingly stacked against them.

There isn’t fair play – too big to fail, easy buys & tens/hundreds of millions in bonuses if you’re a financial institution exec – nothing similar if you’re a small business man/woman much less “just a consumer, a hard worker.”  If the men & women elected to represent us don’t get this, we need to take ’em down and elect new ones.  If business leaders and other enlightened types fear unraveling of Fed independence & other American capitalism underpinnings, they ought to spend some of their hundreds of millions in lobbying monies persuading Congress to be responsive to populist concerns; otherwise, there’s gonna be broader fianncial carnange on the street – don’t be fooled that people won’t hurt their own interests to ensure the pain is felt more broadly. And, if I am being pushed toward a populist backlash, you ought to figure it isn’t just a leftist or tea party sentiment.

wow, I’m starting to realize how some might vote for the most outrageous populist politicians

(Community Matters) Reading between the lines in Vanity Fair’s article on Goldman Sachs, it occurred to me these bankers are thinking they deserve to make at least as much as hedge fund guys.  You can almost feel how pissed they are that they made only nearly $90mm the previous year vs the billion plus made by some of their punk peers.

(Community Matters) First, screw Lieberman.  Second, the Senate should invoke reconciliation procedures and pass healthcare reform with a robust public option.  Quit being so ginger about everything and fight like warriors.  Your constituents want this done!

(Community Matters) maybe President’s Platinum Elite isn’t out of the question after all

no MM I’m not really doing this, just humorful how far folks willing to go