Bailouts by the Numbers
Quite so:
Drive A Stake Through It
Instead of rethinking a strategy for governing, the failed conservative project seems to be busily working at rewriting the last 8 years of failed government. While we certainly have evidence…
Torture Has Not Kept Us Safer
So says Robert Mueller in Vanity Fair: I ask Mueller: So far as he is aware, have any attacks on America been disrupted thanks to intelligence obtained through what the…
How Pitiful Is This
Open Left reports that John Boehner is advertising for "credentialed" economists who oppose the upcoming stimulus package. Evidently the "credentialed" economist community sees the economic problems we face sufficiently serious…
Biden Defends the Warren Choice
Joe Biden will evidently be in Larry King Live tonite and has said this about what the Warren selection means: ...Barack Obama said you've got to reach out. You've got…
This May Be Your Only Chance
To throw something at the President-Reject: The comments are good too -- listing the stuff others would like to throw at Bush.
A Template for Bank Bonus Plans!
From the minds of the folks over at Credit Suisse -- Pay your execs in the illiquid assets they built up! Really, this is an interesting idea. Pay those bonuses,…
Ford Says UAW Not to Blame
(via John Cole). Ford Chairman Bill Ford was on Larry King last night and had this to say: KING: What about the UAW in all of this? FORD: Well, the…
Dear Gov.-Elect Markell — People’s Settlement Needs Tough Love
Dear Governor-Elect Markell: While we are delighted that you will be taking the reigns of the government here in Delaware, we certainly understand that you begin governing with some of…
Regulating the Cards
From Sunday's WaPo: The Federal Reserve on Thursday will vote on sweeping reform of the credit card industry that would ban practices such as retroactively increasing interest rates at will…
Really Bad Pundits: 2008
Foreign Policy Magazine made their selections of the 10 worst predictions of 2008 and this turns out to be fun: 1. William "The Bloody" Kristol, who told the world two…
Dennis Rochford Out?
WDEL is reporting that Governor-Elect Markell's choice for Chief of Staff is out. Haven't heard why or who will replace him yet. Tell us what you've heard in the Comments.
Requiem for Old School Capitalism
Winthrop Smith — son of one of the original partners of Merrill Lynch Pearce Fenner and Smith — gave an occasionally angry eulogy for Merrill Lynch at the shareholders meeting that was to approve ML being sold to Bank of America:
Today did not have to come. In the past it was Merrill Lynch that came to the rescue of Goodbody, White Weld and Becker. It was Merrill Lynch that strong and successful firms like Fenner & Beane, CJ Devine, Smith New Court, DSP in India, Midland Walwyn in Canada and Mercury Asset Management wanted to join. Merrill always thrived in times of turmoil and grew market share. Today did not have to come.
Today is not the result of the sub-prime mess or synthetic CDOs. They are the symptoms. This is the story of failed leadership and the failure of a Board of Directors to understand what was happening to this great company, and its failure to take action soon enough.
I stand here today and say shame to both the current as well as the former Directors who allowed this former CEO to wreak havoc on this great company.
Shame on them for allowing this former CEO to consciously and openly disparage Mother Merrill, throw our founding principles down a flight of stairs and tear out the soul of the firm.