Bankers Don't Care About the Banks

I am a huge fan of the Young Turks and wanted to point out this must-read piece that their host Cenk Uygar wrote:

Tim Geithner and Larry Summers and many others are missing the fundamental flaw in the system. The bankers don't care about the banks; they care about the
bankers.

These days, the way executives make money instead is in the form of bonuses for years where they bring in a lot of return (and often times for years they don't), but the threat of being fired for too much risk taking is minimal. The more risk you take, the more money everyone makes. And it's not the partner's money you're playing with anymore. You're playing with house money. No one is minding the store anymore.

So, now we have Tim Geithner and the rest of Treasury working so hard to prop up not just these failed banks - but these failed bank executives - because we don't want government running these large companies. The self-interest of the market will do a better job of managing these companies. But it hasn't - because of this fundamental flaw.

These executives did not actually fail. They succeeded wildly. It's just that they had a different goal - to take home as much money as they possibly could for themselves. Mission accomplished!

The Treasury plan is all wrong. We have to first acknowledge that the boards of these companies are not truly representing the shareholders. They are largely friends with most of the CEOs and they do not have an incentive to reign in out of control compensation for the top executives. Then those CEOs pass on the wrong incentives to the executives below them. The more risk they all take, the more money they take home. And if their company goes broke one day - who cares?

Most of these guys took home millions upon millions of dollars already for profits that never really existed. If the company goes under, okay the gravy train came to an end but they still have all the money they made from all those years. It's in their personal bank accounts. That's enlightened self-interest!

Do you know that last year, as Merrill Lynch was in its death throes, 696 executives got bonuses over a million dollars? 696! As the company lost tens of billions of dollars, the executives took home a combined $3.6 billion that year. Billions in bonuses in the worst year in the company's history. They're not stupid; they're smart. They're looting the store before the cops show up.

This is the financial equivalent of the federal government not showing up to rescue people after Hurricane Katrina. Last year the five biggest Wall Street securities firms lost $25.3 billion. The executives at those companies still took home $26 billion in bonuses. In other words, they wouldn't have lost a nickel if they hadn't taken any bonuses.

The Treasury Department still hasn't shown up to take over these looted stores. In fact, they keep pouring taxpayer money into these same shops, as the money continues to move out the back door. Tim Geithner is the worst sheriff in the world.
But we already knew that. Because the main guy who was overseeing all of these banks in New York, as they took these giants risks, was the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Tim Geithner.

He is under the misimpression that his job is to protect the sanctity of the banks.
Not only is that not his job, but that is working against his actual goal. His real job is to stabilize the financial system, with or without these particular banks or bank executives. The longer he keeps these guys in charge, the longer the looting continues.

Another Reason To Get The Pitchforks

The other day Cenk Uyger of the Young Turks explained in the "Memebers Only" portion of the show how the top 5 Wall Street Finanacial Institutions lost 25.3 Billion Dollars and then gave out 25 Billion Dollars in bonuses.

Get that the companies lost 25.3 Billion and in the same year they paid 25 Billion in bonuses. If they cut the bonues, they would not have lost any money.

Now we are just talking bonuses here, this is not their full compensation. They would have been paid, they would just not have received their bonuses, and considering the job they had done, no bonuses should have been paid.

If you are not a member of the Young Turks, I would recommend joining so you can have access to the "Memebers Only" portion of the show.

Cenk Uygur For The 10pm MSNBC Timeslot!!!

Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks is campaigning for the 10pm MSNBC Timeslot, which I would love.

Here are a couple of on-line tools they have put together for the campaign:
http://www.facebook.com/hom... The Official Young Turks Page http://www.facebook.com/pag... Watch more at http://www.theyoungturks.com

Watch the video here:

The Young Turks on Obama's Press Conference

Here is Cenk Uyger's take on President Obama's first press conference.

Watch it here:

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Israel ignores U.N. call for immediate cease-fire

The United Nations Security Council voted for an immediate cease-fire. There was no dissension in the vote as the vote was 14-0 (the United States abstained). Israel of course ignored the U.N. call for immediate cease-fire, and actually targeted a U.N. convoy delivering aid to the beleagered Gazan population. Israeli warplanes dropped bombs on the outskirts of the city of Gaza, hitting at least 50 targets, and tanks fired on houses killing six Palestinians from the same family.

The U.S. abstained from the U.N. vote despite assurances by outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Condi Rice to her colleagues that the US would sign off on the resolution. Again the United States shows that under Bush they are not a world leader, and that Rice has been one of the worst Secretary's of State ever working for the worst President in American history.

Israel's immediate reaction to the ceasefire call was to intensify its bombardment of Gaza.

Watch a report here:


Now the U.N. has suspended food shipments to Gaza and the Red Cross accused Israel of blocking medical assistance after forces fired on aid workers, killing two. The invasion of Gaza has left over a million Palestinians in Gaza increasingly desperate for food, water, fuel and medical assistance.

The official statement of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA):

"The IDF knows all of our movements, and coordinates. Despite that we are still coming under attack. Until the [Israeli Defense Forces] can guarantee the safety and security of our staff, everything is suspended."

Cenk Uyger of the Young Turks explains how it is hard not to be angry with Israel for their actions. There is no excuse for this attack on the U.N. truck, because the United Nations did everything required to ensure the safety of the truck. This attack on the U.N. truck comes after the U.N. school was bombed.


The UN is also reporting that about 30 Palestinians died earlier this week when Israeli forces shelled a house in Gaza City into which Israeli soldiers had previously moved more than 100 people, half of them children. It is now estimated that at least 770 Palestinians and 14 Israelis have been killed so far. However there is reason to believe that not all of the dead have been discovered as movement in the Gaza strip is near impossible.

Juan Cole Interviewed by the Young Turks

Juan Cole of the website Informed Comment was interviewed by Cenk Uyger on the Young Turks. If you have not checked out Informed Comment I highly recommend it for really good analysis of what is happening in the Middle East.

Cenk asks Professor Cole about what lead up to the current Israeli attack on Gaza. Juan Cole debuncts the notion that Israel's attack is in self defense, or that this attack is a response to rocket attacks.

It is too bad that the mainstream media won't report the reality of Israel's attack, but just the spin.

Watch the Interview here:


Cenk does a really good job of pointing out the sheer lunacy of Israel's goal, and why this attack will fail.

Brennan Withdraws From Consideration

Liberal bloggers -- most notably Glenn Greenwald, Big Tent Democrats, The Young Turks, Digby, and the Washington Monthly's Political Animal – had spoken out against John Brennan being given either the CIA director or the Director of National Intelligence in the Obama administration. The liberal blogs were seriously uneasy about intelligence official John Brennan having an influential position in an Obama administration, after being a water-carrier for Bush on torture and rendition.

Brennan's detractors have charged him of supporting some of the Bush administration's most disgusting intelligence-gathering policies, including rendition and "enhanced interrogation techniques."

If Obama was honest in his intention to move far away from the thuggish policies the Bush administration, then he should not have Brennan in his administration.

The criticism seems to have had the desired effect. Brennan withdrew from consideration for any intelligence post in the Obama administration, and he specifically sited opposition of him by the liberal blogs.

Brennan did get in a good whine in his letter, saying:

"It has been immaterial to the critics that I have been a strong opponent of many of the policies of the Bush administration such as the pre-emptive war in Iraq and coercive interrogation tactics, to include waterboarding. The fact that I was not involved in the decision-making process for any of these controversial policies and actions has been ignored."

Glenn Greenwald however pretty much debunks Brennan’s defense, as he highlighted Brennan's "lengthy, empathic statements" that made clear he "defended 'enhanced interrogation techniques' and rendition -- grounds enough for making him unacceptable for any top intelligence post -- to say nothing of his strident advocacy for warrantless eavesdropping and telecom amnesty." For anyone who has read Greenwald's blog, you know he was a lawyer, and so writes out his arguments as if he were laying out a case in court. He documented at length why Brennan was not the right choice for the Obama administration.

As for the broader context, Brennan's withdrawal appears to be the direct result of blog coverage. For those who believe bloggers' concerns are inconsequential, this is clear evidence to the contrary.

Check out what Cenk Uyger of the Young Turks had to say about today's news:

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Meet The Bloggers: Lieberman Must Go

Cenk Uyger of the Young Turks also hosts Robert Greenwald's Meet The Bloggers, every Friday afternoon. This last Friday Cenk interviewed Satyam Khanna from Think Progress about Joe Lieberman and Lieberman's actual record.

Check out this clip from Meet the Bloggers:

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You can read the ThinkProgress report on Lieberman’s significant shift to the right in both foreign and domestic policy here.

White House 2 - Where YOU set the nation's priorities

Last week I was listening to a podcast of the Young Turks, and Cenk Uyger interviewed a very interesting person, Jim Gilliam, who has set up a website, where people can make their voice heard in setting the nation's priorities. believes that America does need change, big change, but now that the election is over it's time to get specific. He has established this new website, White House 2, to give every person the chance to tell President Barack Obama what we need him to do in his first 100 days in office.

For those of you who like me don't know who Jim Gilliam is, he is creditted as a pioneer in using film, technology, and the internet to further the progressive movement. Cenk Uyger suggested that that Gilliam was the idea man behind an on-line progressive show, which led to the Young Turks. Guilliam built Brave New Films, and helped produce Robert Greenwald's documentaries: Uncovered, Outfoxed, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, and Iraq for Sale. He created Brave New Theaters, the people-powered movie distribution platform, and raised over $260,000 from 3000 people online to fund Iraq for Sale, the first, and most successful such effort of its kind. His online video campaigns like FOX Attacks and the War on Greed reached over 11 million viewers in 2007.

Now Jim Gilliam has introduced a visionary new website White House 2, where the public will be able to go to make their voice heard to the next President and Congress on the issues Americans care about most. Even though this website is visionary and new, it is in fact based on a simple, and quite logical concept and is easily accessible by everyone.

Visit his website White House 2 to see what I mean and participate in a new concept destined to change the way we see government. It really is a very basic concept (I wish I had thought of it). The more people who endorse a priority, the higher it rises in the charts. The more people who join the network, the more clout we all will have with the President and the media. I really believe this is another step in the on-line revolution of democracy.

The Young Turks: Who the real Anti-Americans Are & Why

One of, if not thee best Liberal Progressive show is The Young Turks. For those of you who don't know, the Young Turks was the first nationwide liberal talk show, and it's the first live, daily internet TV show. It was Air America's morning show for a while, and is again one of Air America's web only shows. It's a funny, smart, irreverent and entertaining look at politics, culture, and entertainment. And one of the main reasons why is their host Cenk Uyger, who is a former conservative, who has seen the light, and is willing to call BS what it is. He will unload on Republicans and Democrats both if they do what is wrong, immoral, or illegal. If you have not watched the show. YOU SHOULD. Check it out here.

Yesterday he went after Repuglican Hayes for his "Liberal's Hate Americans" statement, and does what liberals should always do against the hate mongers of the Right. Turn and punch back.

Watch his response to Repuglican Hayes:

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