Don't Go, Governor!

I urge everyone to contact Governor Napolitano, asking her to continue to serve the people of Arizona as Governor. Given the state of Arizona's legislature and the specter of a Republican governor we clearly need her here. (Incidentally,this will be an excellent platform from which to launch a 2010 US Senate campaign, should she wish to run.)

The full mailing address is:
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Governor of Arizona
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007

Telephone (602) 542-4331
Toll Free 1-(800) 253-0883
Fax (602) 542-1381
On her website (http://azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp) there is a form for e-mailing her.

Suggestion: it is hard to avoid noticing paper correspondence, which spills out of fax machines in abundance. If possible I suggest you fax the governor.

Submissive Democrats give Lieberman a Pass

Oops, that should have been "Senate Democrats."

Just when I was about to re-register as a Democrat the Senate Democrats wuss out on Lieberman. Guess I’ll remain a progressive Independent.

Let’s see. The Democrats control the House, the Presidency, and with or without old Mr. Sanctimony have a majority in the Senate. Lieberman ran as an Independent after he was rejected by the Democrats of his state and then campaigned with the Republicans.

Let him caucus with the Republicans and good riddance.

Two short quotations from today’s Salon are spot on:

Nov. 19, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- If you ever happen to find yourself accused of serious wrongdoing -- publicly betraying your friends and colleagues, say, or maybe something like a federal felony conviction -- forget about a jury of your peers. What you're really looking for is a jury composed entirely of members of the United States Senate.

Both of Tuesday's big winners would seem to be ideal candidates for some kind of harsh punishment: Lieberman, for not just endorsing John McCain but putting down Barack Obama as just "a talker" and other deprecating remarks, and campaigning for the reelection of Senate Republicans. And Stevens, for hiding a quarter million bucks in "gifts" from businessmen.

After Word

Prolificity

I guess that’s a real word. I imagine it shares roots with the French word, “prolificeur:” One who writes much and writes frequently. There is, I believe, a German expression, “prolificheit,” used to characterize frequent publication.

I gather that one of my favorite prolificheitmeisters, x4mr over at Sustainability, has been taken to task for not writing as much, or as frequently, as his devoted readers could wish.

His defense of publishing episodes (following Gauss) that are “few but ripe” is well taken; as is his reminder that most of us in the blogosphere are amateurs---folks who do this for the love of it. For a variety of reasons we have volunteered for the duty, which has to be squeezed into days filled with the ordinary demands of are our rich, full, lives.

I hope Matt will continue his detailed and thoughtful writing. But once a week is plenty.

Having Nothing to Say

Or, rather, having nothing to say that isn’t already being said, it has seemed to me that a decent respect for the patience of my readers required a measured and respectful silence.

I confess to a writer’s pride. I fancy myself a master of a style once described as “elegant Victorian snottiness,” but when everyone is writing that the emperor is jay-bird naked what more is there to be said?


Political Irony

The neo-con Republicans wanted to shrink government until it could be dragged into the bathroom and drowned in the tub. Americans so despised the Bush regime that they shrank the Republican Party instead. We have dragged it into the bathroom, now let’s fill the tub.

Tucson Precinct 56

Katherine and I got up at five this morning and hustled off to our Orange Grove School polling place. Arrived at 5:30 to find that we were not the first in line. There were two ahead of us.

When the polls opened there were 56 people in line. When we finished voting there was an even longer line than when we went in. Poll workers seemed to know their stuff although they were a tad slow.

Met District 26 legislative candidate Don Jorgensen out at the 75 foot limit- palm carding.

NY Times reports first election victory for Obama. He carries Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, 15 to 6.

Too Funny For Words

John McCain Accidentally Left On Campaign Bus Overnight

Sarah's Mind

While waiting for news of fresh financial disasters I thought Data Porters might get a chuckle out of this. It was sent to me in an e-mail.

Live Blogging: Retirement's Collapse

I had intended to live blog about today's market. In the end I couldn't do it, hypnotized by the stock ticker. So I settle here for the close, as the Dow tumbles down more than 500 points. That's a 5.11% decline in value for the Dow Industrials. Things are worse for the S+P 500 and the Nasdaq, where losses are 5.74% and 5.80% respectively.

A friend of mine commented the other day that when everyone is panicking it might just be rational to panic too. The downturn is being fueled by the anxiety of retirees who are quite rationally judging that they may not have the time to hold fast.

Traditional wisdom is always that the investor should stay invested, waiting for the turnaround. Many elderly retirees probably hear time's winged chariot hurrying too near for such dallying. They're outa here! . (Interesting Reuters story about that: click)

On a personal note, echoed by other members of our local Geezeropolis, we have postponed projects and purchases we had planned before our retirement nest egg had dropped 30% in value. This behavior is another way in which local merchants and tradesmen are going to pay the price for the economic policies of the Republicans.

Now the Bailout Fun Begins

There's a wonderful line in one of the Nancy Drew mysteries. A group of her girlfriends are hanging out, waiting for Nancy, when she shows up in her convertible. One of them shouts, "Hurrah, girls, now the fun begins! Here comes Nancy Drew!"

A spooky echo of that line has been running through my head: "Hurrah girls (and boys) now the fun begins! Here comes Henry Paulson!"

I have to say this whole financial disaster appeals mightily to my deep-seated capacity for schadenfreude. This is very even-handed of me since it looks like I'm going to have to bend over, along with all of you, and firmly grasp my financial ankles.

The disaster is far from over, and here's why. The foxes got in the hen house, but now it seems that the only creatures that can administer the bailout are the foxes themselves.

The companies, like Legg-Mason, who have the manpower and the expertise to supervise the bailout are really located on both sides of this deal. On the one hand they have an interest in arranging the sale of worthless mortgage securities for the highest possible price; on the other hand it is to our best interest to pay as little as possible. Which interest is going to be most compelling? You betcha!

A Light-Hearted Romp in Tucson

I went to Arizona Theater Company's "Enchanted April" last night. It was a light-hearted romp by New York actors set in examples of simply terrific stagecraft.

ATC audiences adore great sets. They prefer light-hearted romps. They enjoyed the show. Well, why not? It was Georges Feydeau produced by David Belasco.

It makes some of us yearn for the days of ATC's predecessor.

Social Security and The Bailout

I hope the current Wall Street flap has put paid to the financial weasels' suggestion that we privatize Social Security. Aw, they so wanted to be of help managing our retirements. For a fee, of course.

Sure, it's a good idea to save regularly for emergencies and retirement.

But if you've been too busy living from paycheck to paycheck to build up a private retirement stash you’ll be glad for your socialized retirement plan and your socialized medical program.

In your "golden years" Social Security and Medicare are your only safety net.

House Rejects Bailout

What we're seeing is the capitalist system slowly devolving as a result of its internal contradictions. It begins to seem that a debt-based capitalism, one that only survives by borrowing money, is like the one-industry town where everyone lives by doing the other guy's laundry.

Doesn't it seem that if there is something wrong with our debt-ridden financial system it is simply a mistake to prop it up by more borrowing from ourselves and foreign governments? We are becoming our own loan sharks. What happens when we can no longer pay ourselves the vig? I suppose we break our own kneecaps.

Let's postpone the "bailout" for ninety days. There's plenty of money in the system. The problem is that the financial industry is sitting on it hoping that the government will print more so it doesn’t have to risk its own.

NY Times Story

Tucson Notes

Looking Back

Happy Birthday to Me!

I understand it's a matter of profound indifference to most of you who stumble on The Data Port in Lefty Blogs, but I’m 79 years old today. There is no particular virtue in being old; no wisdom bestowed by age that recommends what is written here. Still, the memory of those years does much to inform what I believe and write about. Getting clear about all that is what these occasional Looking Back pieces will be about as I sweep into my Eightieth year.

I have lived, in accord with an old Chinese curse, in interesting times. I actually remember events that many (or perhaps most?) of the inhabitants of this small slice of the blogosphere know only as 'history.'

My life is bracketed by two great financial collapses: the stock market crash of 1929, and our current financial system disaster. I was only a month old on Black Monday, October 28. The next day, Black Tuesday, a record 16.4 million shares were traded and at one point the ticker tape fell two and a half hours behind. While I was asleep in my crib the Great Depression had begun.

Annexation
I had meant to comment about the information meeting on possible annexation by Tucson of a parcel of land north of River Road. Other stuff came up. I think the city officials knew that dog wasn’t going to hunt, but they had to respond to a request made by a resident in the area.

Foothills people fear over-building, which they believe city zoning will make inevitable. Ironically, as soon as the CC&Rs on granddad's three and a half acres expire the folks up here tend to break the property into smaller parcels and build houses.

Downtown Saturday Night
I went. I’ll probably go again. It seemed thin.

While Tucson Watched the Debate

I went to the Rogue Theatre's wonderful production of Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author."

Six Characters is a play that most actors have heard of and some Lit Majors have actually read, but no one has had an opportunity either to act in or to see performed. It is precisely the sort of play that the Rogue Theatre has made one of their priorities to present.

Six Characters is a thinker's play, the sort of theatre that invites a post performance bottle of wine (or in my case two martinis) and a long discussion with friends about (among other things) the nature of theatrical reality.

When you enter the Zuzi Theatre a group of local actors are lounging on stage waiting for their director to arrive and begin the rehearsal. Soon a family of mysterious Characters arrive and ask the actors to tell their story.

You’ll soon realize that Six Characters is more than a 'think' piece; you’ll be riveted by the dreadful things that are going to be revealed about these characters.

The show is crisply paced (not always the case with Rogue productions) thanks to the marvelous direction of David Morden and a fresh translation/adaptation by U of A professor Patrick Baliani. I was specially tickled by sly insider references to past Rogue shows, a gentle dig at ATC’s hiring practices, and a couple of references to traditional Rogue rehearsal practices that only a former Rogue performer (as I am) would catch.

Finally, let us praise whatever gods or benefactors are responsible for the new seats in the Zuzi Theatre.

Republican Bailout Plan

Shrink the economy until it's small enough to drown in the bathtub.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime

Here's a great quote from a Huffington Post story on the bailout debacle.

"Bush is no diplomat," said a Democratic staffer, "but he's Cardinal freaking Richelieu compared to McCain. McCain couldn't negotiate an agreement on dinner among a family of four without making a big drama with himself at the heroic center of it. And then they'd all just leave to make themselves a sandwich."

Tucson Downtown Saturday Night

These Downtown Saturday night events used to be a regular feature of Tucson nightlife. I'm not sure why they were discontinued. Maybe they were too threatening to the suits; all those freaks, ya know.

This seems like a tailor-made opportunity for some spontaneous street theater protesting whatever you have to protest. I'll be there; maybe with a sign. With or without signs this is a good chance to mix with your neighbors.

Here’s the announcement from the Downtown Tucson Organization.

CONGRESS STREET URBAN BLOCK PARTY
Saturday, September 27
6:00pm. FREE

Join us Downtown for an evening of free arts and entertainment. Take a stroll down Congress Street and experience live music, DJs, street performers, vendors, multi-media visuals, gallery openings and more. It’s all happening Downtown, Saturday Night, September 27.

Flam Chen







Fire and stilts spectacular!
Don't miss Flam Chen’s Downtown Saturday Night special performance of "Critical Stilts" at 9:30pm.

Live Music



Downtown Saturday Night live music at various locations along Congress Street:


6:00-7:00pm - Tender Strings
6.30-7.30pm - Low Ones
7:00-8:00pm - Carlos Solorzano
7:00-9:00pm - Stefen George
7.30-9.30pm - Beatnik Dream Vacation
8:00-9:00pm - Leila Lopez
9:00-10:00pm - Cassette Culture

Hey, Congress-- Stay on the Job!

It looks like Congress is going to be panicked and rushed to action on the bailout. There seems to be an indecent desire to adjourn on Friday so it can get back on the campaign trail.

Frankly, my dears, some of us won't give a damn about your re-election if you screw this up.

There is an interesting short comment to today's NY Times column by David Brooks:

"After being told we were doomed unless we handed over absolute authority to the President to wage war on Iraq, now we are told we are doomed unless we hand over unprecedented power to the Treasury Secretary. Don't be fooled again.

I have another term for the merger of government and corporations - it was done once before when people were told to ignore checks and balances and just to trust their leader, and it was called National Socialism."

— Scottsdale Jack, Scottsdale, AZ

Scottsdale Jack nails it!


Post Script: Write your Representative. I did.

Pssst...Hey, Buddy,You Wanna Buy some Derivatives?

Our masters in Congress are running around in ever tightening circles, bewildered by the disaster brought on by a Republican philosophy of non-regulation on the one hand, and Democratic inaction on the other.

Well, never you mind. After 48 hours of the deepest thought Washington’s financial wizards have done an end run around Congress and come up with a plan to solve the last financial crisis…a version of the Resolution Trust Corporation.

Hang on to your hats, gang, this ain’t your father’s RTC. Back in the day the RTC simply took over the properties of the failed Savings and Loan banks. That stuff had real value… land and buildings. This time around the suggestion is that we save Wall Street by actually buying all the phony paper it holds. (Bargain price half a trillion rapidly depreciating dollars.)

Two problems: No one knows exactly what that paper is worth, and there seems to be no notion of what to do with it once we own it.

Maybe we could use it to paper the National Outhouse.

Wall Street Cooks the Books

Where were the “quants” when we needed them? The “quants” were the quantitative analysts: economists and computer techies, whose job it was to warn a banking firm's traders of risk. They were there, but they were systematically undermined by bankers with deals too rich to ignore.

In an article on the technology pages of the New York Times for September 18th Saul Hansell writes:

They (the “quants”) were developing systems that would comb through all the firm’s positions, analyze everything that might go wrong and estimate how much it might lose.


As a mater of fact the computer models did a pretty good job of alerting financial institutions to risk. The bankers were now in a tough position.

Top bankers couldn’t simply ignore the computer models, because after the last round of big financial losses, regulators now require them to monitor their risk positions. Indeed, if the firm’s models say a firm’s risk has increased, the firm must either reduce its bets or set aside more capital as a cushion in case things go wrong.


According to Gregg Bermann, co-head of Risk Metrics, a risk management software company quoted in the NY Times article:

There was a willful designing of the systems to measure risks in a certain way that would not necessarily pick up all the risks. They wanted to keep their capital base as stable as possible so that the limits they imposed on their trading desks would be stable.


As Hansell says,

Lying to your risk-management computer is like lying to your Doctor. You just aren’t going to get the help you really need.

Glass-Steagall

Well, not a glass steagall, more like a paper steagall. As a matter of fact no steagall at all. Oh-my-God! I just love it. I wish I were sorry to be thinking, “I told you so,” but I can’t help myself.

In case you don’t know about Glass Steagall let me remind you:

The Glass-Steagall Act is the Depression-era law that separated commercial and investment banking. It was functionally repealed in 1998, when Travelers (the parent company of Salomon Smith Barney) acquired Citicorp. And it was officially repealed in 1999. But recent events on Wall Street-the failure or sale of three of the five largest independent investment banks-have effectively turned back the clock to the 1920s, when investment banks and commercial banks cohabited under the same corporate umbrella.
--Daniel Gross, Newsweek


“Trust us,” said the members of he financial ruling class, “we’re too smart to get into trouble, too responsible to need regulation.” Yeah, sure. As always in a class war it’s the little guys who get screwed.

One bright note: It may cost us 85 billion, but at least we have a socialized insurance company to show for it. That’s a good first step.