This headline says it all

Sunnis boycott Iraq reconciliation event

It's really hard to improve on this for brevity of narrative.
It reads almost like an O. Henry short story! (... perhaps an O. Henry short-short-short story)

Stop the madness!

FYI: March 19 Iraq War Blogswarm

March 19 Iraq War Blogswarm
Statement of Purpose

This blogswarm will promote blog postings opposing the war in Iraq and calling for a full withdrawal of foreign occupying forces in Iraq. Five years of an illegal and catastrophic war is five years too many. On the March 19 anniversary of the conquest of Iraq by the Bush Administration, there needs to be a loud volume of voices countering the pro-war propaganda from far too many politicians and corporate media outlets.

I've requested AQA (al Qaeda in Albuquerque) be added to the list of participating blogs.

The oh-so-rational stock market

Dow jumps 200 in opening minutes
By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer
18 March 2008
NEW YORK - Stocks rallied Tuesday as investors, relieved by better-than-expected results from Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, also anticipated a massive interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones industrial average surged more than 200 points.

And what were Lehman's "better-than-expected results"?:

Lehman profit falls 57 percent

Meanwhile, in the real world:

Prices up, housing contruction drops
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
18 march 2008
WASHINGTON - Wholesale prices rose again in February as another hefty increase in energy costs offset falling food prices. Outside of food and energy, prices shot up at the fastest pace in 15 months.

In another sign of troubles in housing, construction of new homes fell by a larger-than-expected 0.6 percent in February to an annual rate of 1.065 million units.

Okay, to be honest: I expected the stock market to go up yesterday. There's an argument to be made that investors ought to keep pouring money into stocks, even if the economy goes down the tubes... sort of a self-insurance policy, maintaining the market's value. The strategy works so long as no one wants to make a withdrawal!

Note: If I knew the future, I'd not be working for a living!

Not a bad start...

Thanks to Atrios for linking to this:

A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq

It's not perfect, but it's a pretty good start.

The authors (noted below) begin with strategic objectives:

The objectives we are aiming to accomplish include:
• An end to US military obligations and costs in Iraq.
• An end to wide-scale civilian deaths in Iraq, and broader protection for human rights there.
• Reducing the threat posed to the rest of the world by an unstable Iraq, including the threat posed by the use of Iraq as a terrorist training ground.
• A U.S. energy policy that frees us from our dependence on oil.
• Repairing U.S. institutions to avoid making the same mistake again.

As I've stated frequently, without strategic objectives in mind it's very difficult to figure out how to reach the desired end state. This section of the report in fact is labeled,

The Desired End State

(Who knows, maybe one of the authors reads this blog!)

Each objective is treated in detail. What are the specific actions needed to achieve it?

The authors manage to stuff lots of items that seem only tangentially related to getting out of Iraq into the last objective, "repairing U.S. institutions". I can't quarrel with any of the items included therein. Among them,

Challenging legal status of signing statements;
Restoring habeas corpus;
and
Ending warrantless electronic surveillance.

Among the specifics that delight me, I am particularly happy to see stated explicitly,

The timelines laid out in the Iraq Study Group should be updated, but in accordance with those recommendations, troop draw-downs should begin immediately and continue until no more troops remain in Iraq.
The timeline should not be dependent on the Iraqis.

That's right: the authors acknowledge that, when it comes to our security, we don't need anyone's permission!

The report references the ISG Final Report frequently, as well as existing drafts of House Resolutions. The authors have done their homework.

Here are the authors:

PRESENTED TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BY
DARCY BURNER candidate for U.S. House, Washington
DONNA EDWARDS candidate for U.S. House, Maryland
ERIC MASSA candidate for U.S. House, New York
CHELLIE PINGREE candidate for U.S. House, Maine
TOM PERRIELLO candidate for U.S. House, Virginia
JARED POLIS candidate for U.S. House, Colorado
GEORGE FEARING candidate for U.S. House, Washington
LARRY BYRNES candidate for U.S. House, Florida
STEVE HARRISON candidate for U.S. House, New York
SAM BENNETT candidate for U.S. House, Pennsylvania

AND BY

MAJOR GENERAL PAUL EATON (U.S. ARMY RET.) former Security Transition Commanding General, Iraq
DR. LAWRENCE KORB former Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration
BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN JOHNS (U.S. ARMY RET.) specialist in counterinsurgency and nation-building
CAPT. LARRY SEAQUIST (U.S. NAVY RET.) former commander of the U.S.S. Iowa and former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning

I've linked to the candidates' fundraising pages on ActBlue, if you're feeling generous & think these folks deserve recognition!

Note: I've some quibbles with some of the details, and would have stuffed fewer items into "repairing U.S. institutions", BUT... this is a pretty good start! (... and I have nothing better to offer!)

Blast from the past: Herbert Hoover on economic recovery

... "I would like also to reiterate the statement which I recently made at Detroit, that the most important issue before the American people right now is to overcome this crisis, that we may secure a restoration of normal jobs to our unemployed, recovery of our agricultural prices and of our business, and that we may extend generous help in the meantime to tide our people over until these fundamental restorations are established.

I pointed out on that occasion that the battle has now changed from a successful defense of our country from disaster and chaos to forward marching attack on a hundred fronts through a score of instrumentalities and weapons toward recovery. Since that time I have had further positive evidence showing that the measures and policies that we have set in motion are driving the forces of depression into further retreat with constantly increasing rapidity. If there shall be no change in the strategy of this battle, if there shall be no delay and hesitation, we shall have the restoration of men and women this battle, if there shall be no delay and hesitation, we shall have the restoration of men and women to their normal jobs and we shall have that lift to agriculture from its anxieties and its losses."
[Herbert Hoover, Address in Indianapolis, Indiana,
October 28th, 1932]

I'll note that Hoover seemed much more proactive than W, looking to attack "on a hundred fronts through a score of instrumentalities and weapons toward recovery".

Hoover was not content to cite actions taken to date. He foresaw the need to keep attacking the economic situation.

He made no bland observations that "the United States is on top of the situation", but proposed specific next steps to avert catastrophe.

[Note: this is in fact a very hard read - it is almost entirely a polemic against FDR, a final campaign speech, delivered in Oct 1932.]

Mocking W:

Secretary Paulson has been -- is supportive of that action, as am I. And I want to thank you, Mr. Secretary, for working over the weekend.
[President Bush Discusses Economy, 17 March 2008]

Working over the weekend!!!. Can W even conceive such a thing!

I'll note in passing that as a well-paid, but hardly wealthy, functionary of a Fortune 100 company, I am used to working over the weekend.

Perhaps if W were willing to devote a little more time to the multiple crises he faces he'd do a bit better.

Stop the madness!

Greenspan's dilemma

Greenspan sees many casualties from crisis: report
Reuters
17 March 2008
LONDON (Reuters) - There will be many casualties from the unfolding financial market crisis, which will lead to a large-scale overhaul of international banking regulations, codes and risk management, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said.
...
He added, however, that he hoped one of the casualties from the worst U.S. financial crisis since World War Two would not be the spirit of broad self-regulation within financial markets.

Although he said the Basel II international banking regulatory framework would almost definitely be revamped and financial institutions' financial models would need to be re-drafted, Greenspan warned against over-regulation.

So... it would be bad if "the spirit of broad self-regulation" were a casualty of the current mess, nevertheless, "the Basel II international banking regulatory framework would almost definitely be revamped..."
[Disclaimer: I have no idea what the "Basel II framework" is!]

With any luck, the term "self-regulation" will eventually be perceived by all as oxymoronic.

Yes, individuals can display "self-discipline"... but over and over we see that for-profit institutions are incapable of any meaningful "self-regulation". This should not be surprising. When the institution exists to make money, the bottom line is all that matters. There's nothing wrong with this, but it precludes voluntary restrictions on biz activities that may contribute in the short-term to the bottom line.

This is an appropriate role for govt regulation - to provide the "rules of the game" under which money-seeking institutions play. Ideally, these regulations, these rules of the game, will act to dampen external macroeconomic trends - to curb exuberance and to forestall panic.

Greenspan's comments display a level of cognitive dissonance rarely acknowledged by near-deified experts. He is ideologically invested in the so-called free market, but is honest enough to recognize that reality is agin' him. Faced with this dilemma, he can only spew internally inconsistent nonsense!

Sigh.

By the way, there is at least one strategic objective that govt regulations ought be tailored to achieve:

...promote the general welfare
[Preamble, U.S. Constitution]

Note: the general welfare - which seems to imply the welfare of us all - not just the welfare of Big Biz.

In policy discussions, it's good to start with a strategic objective in mind. The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution is a good place to look for our national strategic objectives!

Poor George!

Bush: US is on top of financial crisis
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
17 march 2008
WASHINGTON - President Bush, trying to calm turmoil in financial markets, said Monday that his administration is "on top of the situation" in dealing with the slumping economy.
...
Bush said "our financial institutions are strong" and "our capital markets are functioning efficiently and effectively."

For a slightly different take...
"our financial institutions are strong":

After Bear Stearns rescue, who's next?
By JOE BEL BRUNO and MADLEN READ, AP Business Writers
17 March 2008
NEW YORK - With a deal in place to save Bear Stearns from bankruptcy, the company's shares traded above the offer price Monday even as investors began turning a critical eye to other investment banks amid worries about how far the credit contagion could spread.

Yes - our financial institutions are strong, but they could fail any second now!

"our capital markets are functioning efficiently and effectively":

Fed takes bold steps to ease crisis
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
17 march 2008
WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve is urgently moving to contain a deepening credit crisis and restore confidence in panicked financial markets by becoming a lender of last resort for Wall Street investment houses, which were able to secure short-term emergency loans beginning Monday.
...
"These steps will provide financial institutions with greater assurance of access to funds," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told reporters in a brief conference call Sunday evening.

Yes - our capital markets are functioning efficiently and effectively, which is why we need to assure financial institutions of continuing access to funds!

In the past I've cited magical thinking as a central characteristic of W's epistemology - he honestly believes that simply saying the right words will alter reality: all that's required is to reverently recite the appropriate incantation.

Others have noted the Alice in Wonderland-like quality of the disconnect between W's words and anything the rest of us would recognize as objective reality.

If the issues weren't so serious it'd almost be amusing.

If he'd not squandered our goodwill long ago, W's ineptness would almost provoke pity.

Yes, the Administration does honestly seem to be taking steps to address the economy's ills... BUT: by continuing to assert the economy's strong fundamentals, and by continuing to characterize the current situation only as "challenging times", W does little to inspire confidence that he appreciates the true potential for full-scale economic meltdown. It may be too late to avert disaster, but when all actions to date have been reactive, not proactive, one doubts that this Administration has what it takes to realistically deal with the issues.

The feel-good framing doesn't help.

Stop the madness!