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| Treasury Secretary Gallatin, fiscal hardass |
During the Great Government Shutdown of Fiscal Year 2014 (October 1 to 16) the U.S. Treasury reported paying out $6.246 billion in federal salaries and another $2.801 billion in insurance premiums for federal employees. That appears to be about 70 percent of the amount that would have been paid to salaries under normal operations.
So I guess we should call it the 30 percent shutdown.
It is an historic irony that our longest-serving Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin (1801 to 1813, under presidents Jefferson and Madison), would probably have backed the shutdown. As a Jeffersonian, he hated having a national debt at all, and devoted three quarters of federal revenue to pay it down. He helped to create the House Committee on Finance, forerunner of the modern Ways and Means Committee, and encouraged the tactic of withholding funds by the House as a method of exercising congressional oversight of the executive branch.
TSB: That is a great picture! The Treaty of Ghent is a good reminder of the wars and canon fodder of Empire. Invading Louisiana is a lot like putting 26 bases in sub-saharin Africa to stop 4 guys with cell phones from taking over.
ReplyDeleteBut can we talk about something serious like that one Indian who is offended by the name Redskins?
gwb (GO RGIII !) gwb
TSB: They are shutting down the website for a couple months and have invited Ross Perot to 'get under the hood' and see if he can fix it. gwb
ReplyDeleteAh, the Redskins situation! That's the big concern in Washington now. If the owners are so bothered by the criticism, I suggest they change the name to The Thinskins.
ReplyDeleteTSB: Obama promised the Mexican Presidente he would investigate alleged snooping and make sure those responsible were punished.
ReplyDeleteNow it will be interesting to see how he punishes himself since it was all personally approved by him? I hope this doesn't hurt our international credibility gwb
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nsa-hacked-email-account-of-mexican-president-a-928817.html
The French and the Brazilians have called in U.S. ambassadors to complain about reports of eavesdropping and e-mail monitoring, and now the Mexicans, too? Well, I just hope Obama can get to the bottom of all this spying and stuff. I also hope he'll appoint Colonel Sanders to head an investigation into who is killing millions of chickens.
ReplyDeleteTSB: They can't find Col Sanders! Some are saying he ran off with Katherine Sebelius. gwb
ReplyDeleteTSB: It sort of reminds you of the comintern days but they didn't have Google or the Fed. I'm looking forward to the 1st International Conference in 2018 led by Hillary, Napolitano, Alexander, (Rice will be at NFL) and Clapper. Patty Murray will be Senate Majority Leader and Joe Biden will write a book with Harry and Mitch about how they pulled it off! gwb
ReplyDeleteTSB: It was great to see one brave reporter press Ms. Pfarf on her nonsense that 'looking into STATE abuses equals transparency' when the abuses are revealed in NSA documents. Also, this is the best article to summarize the charade that was 'government shutdown theater': http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-10-20/debt-ceiling-was-hit-back-may-so-why-did-it-become-crisis-five-months-later
ReplyDeleteIt worked beautifully for Obama who created it in the 1st place and then hung it on the Republicans
by scaring every vet and grandma into screaming for more debt and more defense and more obamacare! gwb
TSB: What a great day to Sec. State! Since they are taking the total surveillance so well and we are buddies maybe we could get them to pay for their share of it??
ReplyDeleteI mean after all we are still keeping them safe from the Brits and the Germans. gwb
GWB: the manufactured crisis of the debt ceiling was completely blatant but completely successful. Really, you don't have to be a cynic anymore to believe that government keeps the public in a state of perpetual fear in order to keep itself in power.
ReplyDeleteOoops TSB: I forgot to put in the article about Kerry and Fr. foreign minister. Isn't that picture perfect? gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://www.madhyamam.com/en/node/17209
TSB: Listening to Adam Schiff (D) Sen Intel Comm. responding to why are we spying on Brazil petroleum companies: "I can neither confirm nor deny .. maybe there is some national security need..but we are not doing corporate espionage like the Chinese. And NSA people are very PATRIOTIC!
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for the 1st person to question total diplomatic and corporate surveillance world wide.
(which we can neither confirm or deny) I guess if it's ok with Wolf Blitzer we should just shut up. gwb
" the manufactured crisis of the debt ceiling was completely blatant" TSB they can ask their side to go to bat for blatant lies only so many times before they won't do it any more. Of course the question is when that happens will it be too late?
ReplyDeleteTSB: I think Juan Cole agrees with me and says it a lot more effectively even though for 10 yrs he has thought me too paranoid and delusional. It's nice to be getting more credible company! gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://www.juancole.com/2013/10/government-constitution-imaginary.html
TSB: Big hearing today with 1. United Health 2.Credit Agency and
ReplyDelete3.The Crony CGI contractors. It reminds me of a PBS show long ago when they went worldwide and interviewed leaders of comprehensive health care programs. The best was the Swiss and that guy said the key was to make the insurance companies compete with each other by making them non-profit and regulated. The best companies make more $$ but the incentive is to get the best value from and for everyone. Here we have monopoly ins. companies and they run the show.. a very glitzy but corrupt show. gwb
Thanks for the link to that Juan Cole piece. I think there is pretty broad agreement between left and right that the Constitution is basically a dead letter today. If the federal government doesn't have to accept any check on its power from the states, which has been the case since the Civil War, than it will inevitably become overbearing and corporatist.
ReplyDeleteI say corporatist instead of "fascist" because that word lost its serious political/economic meaning after WWII and became just an insult. The New Deal's intellectuals were probably the last Americans to use the word correctly (and they used it favorably). Corporativist government is completely opposed to the classical liberalism of the Founding Fathers.
Pretty sad stuff, but be optimistic! The economics of the information age should, logically, create a demand for a more laissez-faire kind of politics - who needs big government in the age of e-commerce? - so I foresee a return to classic liberalism someday.
TSB: A little public hubris and openness from Michael Hayden to one of his media puppets. (and the rest of us) gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nationaljournal.com/pictures-video/the-acela-is-a-great-place-to-stalk-or-overhear-government-officials-20131024
TSB: It isn't just the constitution that has no meaning anymore. With (soon) $20 or $30 trillion in debt it clearly doesn't matter who is elected President or to congress or who is head of NSA, CIA or Pentagon. They are all working for people who want to destroy and replace the current economic order of things. And don't forget, the chicoms actually have education that works. gwb
ReplyDeleteTSB: Negroponte with Wolf to baffle and BS. We only agree not to spy on leaders of 4 countries.
ReplyDelete(by exclusion he's saying we can spy on any corporations we want and
all other friendly leaders) WH says we have legal limits on who we spy on. (what are they?) Negroponte won't admit to any legal limits for NSA. Bottom line: He is not countering anything Snowden is saying. NSA WANTS IT ALL!and they have big future plans for it all! Wolfie says 'thanksomuchthatwashot!'gwb
TSB: This website thing must be really bad.. they put same guy in charge of fixing it that screwed it up in the first place. If this doesn't work out they will turn it over to Putin who says he knows some guys that can fix anything
ReplyDeletereally fast! gwb
TSB: http://rt.com/usa/nsa-site-ddos-attack-754/
ReplyDeleteI emailed Angela for a comment but it's the weekend over there. I'll call her in the morning. gwb
TSB: Interesting that only one sitting member of congress attende the young radical's rally in DC today. *Justin Amash even tho polls show 'total surveillance' is very unpopular. DOD's latest really weird Keith Alexander video
ReplyDeletewhere he pines for a dictatorship
(in minute 21) so we could jail all the journalists who publish our secrets is super creepy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kc5Xvr24Aw
It's going to be great to see what happens in the house next where everyone seems to be scared to death of Keith.. but very fickle.
gwb
TSB: Never heard back from Angela but I'm pretty sure she is actually looking for a way to get back at Obama. gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://rt.com/news/obama-nsa-spying-merkel-808/
TSB, James: This is great!! It appears that Alexander and Clapper have been fired by Obama and they owe their demise to Snowden! See this great analysis by Juan Cole.
ReplyDeletegwb
http://www.juancole.com/2013/10/americas-branch-government.html
TSB: If you can understand what DiFi is upset about you are way ahead of me. Didn't she tell us it's all legal and essential? And doesn't she admit here she's been in the dark for 10 years? So she's mad at Obama cause he's in the dark too? gwb (I wonder if she has noticed that Alexander was fired?)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478601/Senate-intelligence-chair-says-totally-opposed-spying-friendly-nations-Obama-finds-staring-party-Congress.html
DiFi has a common Washington dilemma - she needs to reconcile POTUS's need for plausible deniability with the traditional expectation that 'the buck stops here' in the White House.
ReplyDeleteObama has no easy way out. Either he did know what NSA was doing - and therefore is lying when he denies it now - or he didn't know, and therefore he was incompetent as the chief executive and chief consumer of intelligence. That's why people are getting fired; those scoundrels at NSA must have been going rogue on him and misleading Obama.
TSB: Thanks! That is a good explanation from a political standpoint but I prefer Juan Cole's more historic class based view: 'But the German Chancellor is a European white person, a peer of the politicians in Washington, and it is not gentlemanly or ladylike to spy on their persons. (German industry or ordinary German citizens would be a different matter)'.gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://www.juancole.com/2013/10/together-against-feinstein.html
TSB: (exerpt from yesterday's hearing on NSA)
ReplyDeleteRogers: I would argue the fact that we haven’t had any complaints come forward with any specificity arguing that their privacy has been violated, clearly indicates, in ten years, clearly indicates that something must be doing right. Somebody must be doing something exactly right.
Vladeck: But who would be complaining?
Rogers: Somebody who’s privacy was violated. You can’t have your privacy violated if you don’t know your privacy is violated.
This is brilliant logic by Chairman Rogers. gwb
TSB: But then I got to thinking. Now that all those important people
ReplyDeleteknow that their privacy was violated does that mean that their privacy WAS violated? No,No.. I get it.. their privacy was violated by Snowden! gwb
GWB: Was your privacy violated if you didn't know about it? That's a great philosophical question. Rogers has quite the subtle mind.
ReplyDeleteIf a tree falls in the forest would NSA hear it? Probably.
What's your next post going to be about TSB? gwb
ReplyDelete"If a tree falls in the forest would NSA hear it? Probably." and they would have the algorithm for deciduous or coniferous.
ReplyDeleteTSB: The Colbert Report spent all day thinking about this too. He says 'from now on this will be known as THE ROGERS PRInCIPLE:
ReplyDeleteYou can have privacy or security as long as you don't know which one it is.' gwb
TSB: What a bunch of bull! Hillary's popularity sliding to 46%? They should poll bankers!gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nationalreview.com/corner/362637/hillary-clintons-lucrative-goldman-sachs-speaking-gigs-alec-torres#!
And a year from now when she has 10
times as much money as anyone else who is going to challenge her? Maybe mayor Bloomberg? gwb
James: It figures NSA would be on top of the tree situation. I'll remember to walk softly next time I go in the woods. (I just hope they weren't watching the last time my wife and I were in a tent.)
ReplyDeleteGWB: Next post? IDK, I'm still wiped out from a vacation last week, the exhausting kind wherein I drive to Florida for a nephew's wedding. I hope to recover this weekend.
TSB: That sounds exhausting. I'm going to take a nap. Enjoy the weekend. gwb
ReplyDelete"GWB: Next post? IDK, I'm still wiped out from a vacation last week, the exhausting kind wherein I drive to Florida for a nephew's wedding. I hope to recover this weekend."
ReplyDeleteWhat man, gallivanting about in balmy Florida while the faithful wander aimlessly searching for guidance, signs, and maybe a portent here and there! To your duty, sir!
TSB:James:
ReplyDeleteNSA Spied on World Bank, IMF, UN, Pope, World Leaders, and American Politicians and Military Officers
Posted by : George Washington
Post date: 11/01/2013 - 12:45
Proof that NSA Spying Is Not Very Focused On Terrorism
A lot of those really are terrorists but my sources say they are spying on James as well. That has to stop! So far, all I rate is Google and Burger King. gwb
Apparently NSA is spying on James, you, me, and I suppose on each other. Where do they find the time? I can't even get up the energy to do a blog post!
ReplyDeleteAh the dossier grows with each passing day. If they are spying on us to the degree reported (which I believe is true) then what they glean about what the american people really think must be frightening to them.
ReplyDeleteTSB: I'm pretty sure it was the trip to Florida. I still get exhausted just thinking about it. You were right about 'affordable health insurance' being the next big disaster. I've had to go back to work for the government doing disability evaluations so I might be able to afford some but so far it's really interesting. gwb
ReplyDeleteTSB: What is this country coming to? http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/05/man-seeks-millions-after-nm-police-force-colonoscopy-in-drug-search
ReplyDeleteI would have told those cops my insurance doesn't cover torture and then CALLED THE COPS!! gwb
TSB: It's official!! Sharon and Bush 'polloniumed' Arafat. gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/6/swiss-study-poloniumfoundinarafatasbones.html
So 13 yrs later is anyone better off?
TSB:
ReplyDelete"World's Strongest Cyclone Ever" Slams Philippines With 200 MPH Winds
Submitted by Tyler on 11/08/2013 - 07:38
My comment: Remember Kyoto! Our propaganda corporate masters may not believe in global warming but somebody better pretty soon. gwb
'Pretty sad stuff, but be optimistic! The economics of the information age should, logically, create a demand for a more laissez-faire kind of politics - who needs big government in the age of e-commerce? - so I foresee a return to classic liberalism someday.'
ReplyDeleteTSB: That is an interesting view. I think of the internet like the printing press. Suddenly information was available to non-elites on a massive scale..so it had to be stopped. First order of business has belen to criminalize revealing what is actually going on. Twitter seems to guarantee no one will ever understand a complicated issue. Total surveillance is a big necessity to protect the big (daily) lies?
gwb
TSB: I bet 5 pesos you will do a veterans day post. For me, Ann Jones tells the story of today's vet the best having reported on them since 2002 in Iraq and Afghanistan. Few will read her new book because we are so sick of these wars with out purpose,strategy, or civil involvement but this little intro is great. gwb http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175769/tomgram%3A_ann_jones%2C_silent_soldiers%2C_the_losers_from_our_lost_wars/#more
ReplyDeleteGWB: I've got to disagree about global warming causing that cyclone. Accumulated Cyclone Energy is measured and recorded, and it's at historic lows. This year to date has seen only 74% of the yearly average ACE, and it's even lower in the Western Hemisphere, where we'll set a new record if we go about ten more days without a hurricane.
ReplyDeletehttp://models.weatherbell.com/tropical.php
(BTW, good guess about Veterans Day. If fact, I'm stirring myself up this morning to do something about the British Remembrance Day observance.)
Way to go TSB! That's not a guess. It's a yearly occurrence like the Queen manning a big gun!
ReplyDeletegwb
TSB: Maybe you are using too short of a time frame with that ACE stuff? Have you seen this long term graph of Co2 levels?
ReplyDeletehttp://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
doesn't that have something to do with the unprecedented storms like the one that hit your neighborhood? gwb
GWB: If Co2 is at higher levels at the same time that cyclones/hurricanes are less frequent, then isn't there no correlation between Co2 and cyclone activity (unless its a negative one)?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what NASA is saying with its Co2 graph, but I do know I'd rather be living after the Industrial Revolution than before it.
Anyway, some parts of NASA don't agree with the part that puts out the 'Co2 causes global warming' thesis: the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) data says exactly the opposite.
For a fairly good site on climate issues go to:http://wattsupwiththat.com/
ReplyDeleteHi James! I couldn't find anything there on how to argue with a Whig but I really enjoyed this piece about a guy figuring his doctor was full of whooey and getting his heart fixed in the same week! gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/11/10/who-is-your-favorite-cardiologist/
I had to look up Watt's Up to see the post about the cardiologist. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI really like that Bjorne Lomborg guy on any environmental issue. I like his practicality: for example, we can address malaria in Africa right now with known technology and available resources, so why advocate roling history back to pre-industrial days in order to possibly lower global temperatures and thereby maybe reduce mosquitos which perhaps could result in less malaria in Africa (and disregard all the other problems that would best be relieved by promoting economic development instead of retarding it).
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/11/10/schumer-chicken-slaughtered-raised-in-china-could-pose-major-risk/
ReplyDeleteTSB: Nothing to worry about with the filthy Chi-com chicken imports. We will just put it all in big blenders and then treat it with chlorine and other chemicals
and feed it to football fans. I hear Col Sanders and Sebelius will be personally inspecting it.
gwb
GWB: That Chi-Com chicken decision was exactly what I thought of when someone asked me whether the Great Government Shutdown of 2013 wouldn't deprive us of food safety inspectors. With rulings like that one, we might be better off if the USDA stayed shut down.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I hope you're surviving the Little Government Shutdown of November 11, 2013 (AKA, the federal holiday) in good order.
TSB: I caught a rumor last week that Obama was going to take up this serious Redskins situation but I think
ReplyDeletethat was dropped in favor of the 'we fumbled the rollout' apology tour.
Next week look for what NSA has found going on in the Dolphin's locker room and some major indictments from justice. Could require another golfing trip to Miami next weekend with NFL officials. gwb