A Bet On The Robert Rubin Wing of Goldman Sachs

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding said Alwaleed will increase his Citigroup stake, his largest holding, to 5 percent. His holdings in Citi are currently less than 4%.

In his mysterious role at Citi as "Director and Senior Counselor", since joining the bank n 1999, Rubin has pulled down $150 million in salary and bonuses.

Hank Paulson Must Think Water Freezes at 60 Degrees

The latest news from our Treasury Secretary is that the consumer credit markets are frozen. The only problem is that Hank Paulson's idea of frozen is different than yours and mine. This guy is probably the only person lookng, in August, for the ice skating rink in New York's Central Park.

Robert Higgs explains:

Notwithstanding the many developments on the bailout front during the past six weeks, the New York Times, like other media outlets, continues to quote Wall Street insiders who report, as Alex Roever of JPMorgan Chase did recently: "You have a market that is frozen." What planet do these guys live on? It certainly is not the same one to which the Federal Reserve's data apply. I’ve been singing this song for many weeks, but I’m going to keep singing it until somebody in the news media wakes up and realizes that these "frozen credit market" tales are pure hooey. Look at the data, for crissake. By now we should all be ready to move beyond hysteria, get a grip on reality, and begin thinking about how to repeal everything the government has done during the past six weeks...

Memo to NYT: check the data on consumer loans published by the Federal Reserve System. The latest report, dated November 7, says: "Consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 1-1/4 percent in the third quarter. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 2-1/2 percent, and nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 1/2 percent. In September, consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 3-1/4 percent." Would you describe this report as indicating a "frozen" credit market? Total consumer credit outstanding in September, $2,588 billion, exceeded the average amount outstanding in any year from 2003 to 2007, the period of the credit bubble.

My gut tells me that in Henry's mind unfreezing this non-frozen market means shipping more billions to the Robert Rubin wing of Goldman Sachs, i.e. Citigroup.

Treasury Secretary Paulson Lied to Congress

I don't know how else to interpret this report from WSJ:

Mr. Paulson wanted flexibility to use the money any way he saw fit. Privately, he told his staff that equity injections might be needed. But in public testimony, he all but ruled out that option, describing it as something a government would do for failing institutions, not the solvent ones he wanted to assist.

Of course, as we now know, the money has gone mostly to solvent financial institutions and in the form of equity investments. With Goldman Sachs, Paulson's old firm, and the Robert Rubin wing of Goldman, Citigroup, among the first to get billions from the Treasury.

The Obama Press Conference: John Maynard Keynes and the Oligarchs Are Alive and Well

John Maynard Keynes and Oligarchs appear to be alive, well and ready for the Obama Administration.

In Barack Obama's first press conference, since winning the presidential election, Obama sounded like a typical big spending Democrat. In opening remarks, he called for a "rescue package" for the middle class, unemployment extensions and other fiscal stimulus. He also said that something had to be done for the automobile industry since it is "the backbone of the country." Somewhere, John Maynard Keynes and Marx are blushing.

Obama did not address how any of these proposals would be paid for.

I took special note of some of the members of his "economic transition advisory team", most of whom stood behind him as he promised to do vasts sums more spending than Imelda Marcos ever did during a good shoe shopping trip to New York City. It was a politically correct mixed crowd that included many women, a Latino and even another African-American, interspersed with oligarchs. Just what you need to fight a downturn in the economy, a politically correct group and oligarchs.

The oligarchs we were told included Warren Buffett (who, golly shucks, usually just represents himself) and Robert Rubin (former Goldman Sachs CEO, now running the Rubin/Citigroup wing of Goldman),but both failed to appear in chorus line fashion behind Obama for the press conference, as did the politically correct and other oligarchs and oligarch representatives.

At the press conference chorus line, the towering Paul Volcker was there, who has been a career long Rockefeller operative. The tiny Robert Reich was there, who was most likely invited as a reward for his regular bashing, on his blog, of Hillary, during the primaries.

An oligarch stepped a bit out of the shadows for the chorus line, Chicago-based Penny Pritzker, who was an early Obama backer, was there. Pritzker served as Obama's National Finance Chair. She and her husband hosted a $28,500 per plate fundraiser for Obama's campaign in Chicago with Warren Buffett and his wife, and Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is 135th richest person on the Forbes 400 list of "America's wealthiest," with an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion US. If one was forced to come up with one name that Obama answers to, Penny Pritzker would not be a bad choice. They are on each others cell phone speed dials, guaranteed.

The Chicago Political Machine was well represented by Mayor Richard Daley's brother William, who also is a member of the executive committee at JP Morgan Chase.

Google's Chairman Eric Schmidt was part of the chorus line.

Much to my surprise, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was the token Latino. Readers will recall I had a Q & non-A encounter with the mayor, only a few weeks back.

In short, no one in this group strikes me as the type that understands Say's Law, never mind the business cycle. They all are very good, though, at protecting the very powerful interests that they are aligned with, nothing else. The oligarchs are sleeping very well tonight.

Alert: Obama Press Conference

US President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will hold a news conference at 2:30 EST on Friday after meeting with their team of economic advisers to discuss the transition to the White House.

Obama and Biden will be joined by economic advisers, including former Treasury Secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker, former Securities and Exchange Commissioner William Donaldson and several others. Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett will participate via phone.

All major networks are expected to carry the press conference live.

Wall Street's Influence On Barack Obama

Two spheres of influence appear to circle around Barack Obama. Wall Street investment bankers, who have paid, through donations, to sit at the Obama table, and fellow traveling lefties who appear to be kindred spirits with Obama. Here's a breakdown on the Wall Street influence.

Naturally, Goldman Sachs won't miss a beat with the Obama Administration.

Governor Jon Corzine of New Jersey, former CEO of Goldman Sachs is close to Obama, and what I call the Robert Rubin Wing of Goldman Sachs will have a very strong presence in the Obama Administration. Rubin served as Co-Chairman and Co-Senior Partner at Goldman Sachs from 1990 to 1992. He later became Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration. He is now Director and Senior Counselor of Citigroup, and co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition to Rubin, himself, being a player in the Obama Administration, many around Rubin appear to have likely roles in an Obama Administration.

Lawrence H. Summers, rumored to be a strong candidate for the position of Treasury Secretary, served under Rubin as Deputy Secretary, when Rubin was Treasury Secretary. He also is an Advisory Council Member of Rubin's very own think tank, The Hamilton Project.

Jason Furman, a senior fellow at The Hamilton Project, is an economic adviser to Obama and is likely to be offered some position in an Obama Administration.

Others from the Rubin Wing of Goldman that may end up with positions in the coming Obama Administration are:

Michael Froman, a top executive at Citigroup, who served as Rubin's chief of staff at Treasury.

Jamie Rubin, the son of the former Treasury secretary.

Kevin Thurm, an executive at Citigroup.

Frank Brosens, who runs Taconic Capital Advisors and is seen as very close to Rubin.

Non-Goldman players close to Obama include:

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co

Robert Wolf, an investment banker and CEO of UBS Americas

Mark Gallogly, a private-equity expert who used to work for Blackstone

Jim Torrey, Hedge fund manager Jim Torrey

Josh Gotbaum, the former chief executive of the September 11 Fund who has worked for the Carter and Clinton administrations and Lazard Freres.

Obama has also relied on the left leaning, pro-tax hikes, senior advisers Warren Buffett and Paul Volcker.

At a recent conference held by the Financial Professionals Association, economist Marty Feldstein told the conference that Buffett and Volcker were being used by Obama as fronts to hide a much more radical left agenda that Obama believes in.

Obama's Core Belief System

The soundbites off the release of the Obama Chicago Public Radio interview, do not surprise U.S. News and World Report's James Pethokoukis:

This should be a Saturday Night Live sketch. Use the court to redistribute wealth? Really? The Warren court was not radical? Really? Anyone could craft a theoretical justification to use the court to spread the wealth? Really? This all strikes me as highly weird...Keep in mind, now, that every Obama economic adviser I can think of—Warren Buffett, Austan Goolsbee, Jason Furman, Robert Rubin, Lawrence Summers, Jared Bernstein—thinks that we need higher income and investment taxes to deal with income inequality and that tax rates would pretty much have to double before they would hurt the economy. So Obama's comments reflect a core belief system that he's apparently held for years and continues to hold.

Will we yearn for the days gone by when only the banks were nationalized and Paulson stuffed billions into the pockets of his crony buddies?

Sarah Palin Appearances Cancelled; Meets With AIPAC

Except for a meeting with the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, Sarah Palin appearances have been canceled, according to WSJ. "She has to familiarize herself with every position John McCain has held over a number of years. That takes work and briefing," one McCain aide said. She has been kept from contact with the media and others by Republican operatives. Palin spent Tuesday in her hotel suite meeting with campaign aides and working on her speech.

She had private sessions with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and members of the pro-Israel group AIPAC. An AIPAC spokesman said Gov. Palin told its members she would "work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Israel."

Gov. Palin met with the campaign's top political advisers, including McCain campaign manager Rick Davis, senior strategist Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, Sen. McCain's closest aide. The campaign released a photo of her sitting with Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, the wife of her running mate, but didn't provide any other details.

She also met with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who handles domestic policy for the McCain campaign, and Randy Scheunemann, who directs foreign policy.

According to WSJ, beginning next week, Gov. Palin will travel to battleground states, starting with Florida, a McCain aide said, and including a heavy dose of visits to rural areas. She has 16 fund-raisers scheduled for this month in swing states.

The Myth of Sarah Palin as Tax Cutter and Budget Cutter

Anne Kilkenny reports from Alaska:

During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%.

She inherited a city with zero debt, but, despite the increase in taxes,left it with indebtedness of over $22 million.

What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be...While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.

And as governor, as I have already pointed out. Palin proposed a $750 million oil tax increase (bad enough). But it came out of the legislature at over $1.5 billion. According to Alaskan Andrew Halcro, "she signed it saying she thought it was close enough."

Palin signed into law a $6.6 billion operating budget—the largest in Alaska's history.

Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month energy debit cards. Of course, basic economics teaches the last thing you want to do, when a commodity is rising in price, is to encourage consumption. She also proposed providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates, again the last thing you want to do. She subsequently dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send Alaskans $1,200 directly.

In October 2007, Palin called a 30-day special session to raise the state's oil tax rate.

The governor's plan is called Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share, or ACES. Clear and equitable share? Doesn't sound very free market oriented--and it isn't.

It raises the state's current net profits tax on North Slope oil from a 22.5 percent to 25 percent base. There's also a "progressivity" surcharge where generally, when oil prices rise above roughly $50 a barrel, the tax rate increases by another .2 percent for each additional dollar a barrel. Thus, at $100 per barrel the tax jumps to 35 percent.

The bill also has a tax floor, at $40 per barrel. Palin said of her bill:

Progressiveness is the additional share we capture when oil prices and profits are high. I chose to set the progressiveness knob [i.e., the windfall profits tax] at a relatively low level in exchange for more security when prices are low. We accomplished this through a gross tax floor at our legacy fields. If the Legislature chooses to discard that floor, then the knob on progressiveness needs to be set higher — to make sure we capture a more equitable share when prices are high and profits extraordinary.

No tax cutter or budget cutter here.


Kilkenny report via Andrew Sullivan

Palin Hires Lawyer For Troopergate

The Alaskan Legislature is investigating whether Sarah Palin fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan after he refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister.

The Legislature's investigating committee disclosed today that Palin hired an attorney. The committee released an e-mailed letter it had received from the lawyer on Friday, the day McCain announced she would be McCain's running mate.

"We have been hired to represent the Governor and the Governor's Office" in the investigation, Anchorage attorney Thomas V. Van Flein wrote. "We fully welcome a fair inquiry into these allegations. ... Please know that we intend to cooperate with this investigation."

Palin Versus Biden...

...if she lasts that long.

The vice-presidential debate is October 2nd.

ACES Up, Way Up: More On Palin's Tax Increase

In October 2007, Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin called a 30-day special session to raise the state's oil tax rate.

The governor's plan is called Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share, or ACES. Clear and equitable share? Doesn't sound very free market oriented--and it isn't.

It would raise the state's current net profits tax on North Slope oil from a 22.5 percent to 25 percent base. There's also a "progressivity" surcharge where generally, when oil prices rise above roughly $50 a barrel, the tax rate increases by another .2 percent for each additional dollar a barrel. Thus, at $100 per barrel the tax jumps to 35 percent.

The bill also has a tax floor, at $40 per barrel. Palin said of her bill:

Progressiveness is the additional share we capture when oil prices and profits are high. I chose to set the progressiveness knob [i.e., the windfall profits tax] at a relatively low level in exchange for more security when prices are low. We accomplished this through a gross tax floor at our legacy fields. If the Legislature chooses to discard that floor, then the knob on progressiveness needs to be set higher — to make sure we capture a more equitable share when prices are high and profits extraordinary.

Great discourage oil drilling when prices are high, and encourage (by lowering the tax burden)when prices are low. Plain is clueless.

Get a load of this comment:

Keep in mind that the original oil tax rate recommendation was 25 percent. That's the same rate we are recommending in ACES. It has been reviewed by numerous economists with worldwide oil and gas experience. There is no dissension -- 25 percent is the right number.

No dissension? Off the top of my head, I can think of a dozen economists that would disagree with the tax. But she presents it as a fait accompli that there is no dissension. Any economic conservative or libertarian who backs this woman is displaying more a sign of a willingness to jump on a bandwagon, before knowing all the facts, than anything else.

Did I Say Daffy...

Sarah Palin is in way over her head. It sounded daffy to me that Palin had a fifth child at 44, as I pointed out in my post Sarah Palin: Daffy With A Touch of Igloo Trash , just this morning:

Then, of course, there is the curious fact that, though she already has four children, is the Governor of Alaska and is in her 40's, she has another child.

Also, in looking over pics, to find one of Sarah Palin with the baby, I noticed that most of the pictures of the McCain-Palin public announcement of the Republican ticket had Bristol in the background lovingly holding the baby. My thought at that point, and there was no reason to then blog it, was that Bristol wanted a baby real bad. She just had that look of care about the baby.

Now, the theory has broken that the most recent baby may not be Sarah's but that of her daughter, Bristol.

From the Alaska Daily News March, 6, 2008 via the Daily Kos:

JUNEAU -- Gov. Sarah Palin shocked and awed just about everybody around the Capitol on Wednesday when she announced she's expecting her fifth child.

The governor, who recently turned 44, told a handful of reporters as she was leaving work to expect a new member of the first family, then headed to a reception at the Baranof Hotel to feast on king crab.

Palin said she's already about seven months along, with the baby due to arrive in mid-May.

That the pregnancy is so advanced astonished all who heard the news. The governor, a runner who's always been trim, simply doesn't look pregnant.

Even close members of her staff said they only learned this week their boss was expecting.

Daily Kos:

Apparently her teenage daughter was out of school, unseen, for months, because she "had mono".

You really have to blame John McCain for this. He plucked a woman, literally out of the wilderness, to be his running mate, without properly vetting her. Supposedly, the McCain camp didn't even know that Palin was under investigation for ethics violations for trying to get her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Though she has high, albeit declining, approval ratings in Alaska, my guess is she was almost in over her head in Alaska, never mind a heartbeat away from the presidency.

UPDATE: Who would have figured? There are TWO pregnancies outside the middle of the bell curve, in the Palin family. We now have a very plausible explanation of "pregnancygate”. Sarah delivered a baby, Trig, and according to Sarah and Todd Palin in the following statement:

Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned.

We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.

UPDATE 2:

This may not be over. Stay tuned. McCain and Palin might be off the charts nutty with what they are trying to pull off.

Sarah Palin In Profile: The View of An Alaskan Politician Who Ran Against Her

Andrew Halcro, a Republican turned independent, who ran against Sarah Palin for governor in 2006, provdes some insights into the woman who will join John McCain on the Republcan ticket:

Palin is a fighter and is has an amazing way of filling a room with her presence. During the gubernatorial race in 2006, it was an amazing sight to behold at every debate. No matter what she said, if anything, people would just gush at her optimism and her compelling story.

While I and others criticized her glittering generalities during the campaign, the more she spoke them the more people fell in love. That is the significant power she has of making voters forget about the policy and focus on the person.

Palin should never, ever be underestimated. Far too many seasoned politicians have doubted her ability due to her appearance that she lacks any grasp or vision about public policy challenges.

I recall during a late night flight back from a Fairbanks campaign event in 2006, sitting next to former Governor and Democratic opponent Tony Knowles on the plane, talking about Palin's uncanny popularity.

I remember Knowles saying that what was most surprising to him regarding his polling was that Palin scored off the charts with well educated moderate and liberal women. This seemed counter intuative given Palin's inability to articulate public policies and her very conservative postion on issues such as abortion...

Another weakness is Palin's habit of tailoring the facts of a situation to meet her political needs.

Yesterday in her Dayton acceptance speech, Palin stated, "...I championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. In fact, I told Congress -- I told Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that bridge to nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, I said we'd build it ourselves."

This was not true.

Not only did the state keep the money that was earmarked for the bridge to be used on other transportation projects, but Palin had been a strong supporter of the bridge during her gubernatorial run in 2006, claiming Alaska needed to seize upon the seniority of its congressional delegation...

As a close observer of her administration, Palin has had a habit of holding press conferences surrounded by the crutch of her staff.

When questions get too detailed, she anxiously looks around the room for someone to save her...

She has also exhibited a quick temper with those who question her...

In April of 2006, Palin and I shared a cup of coffee together in the Captain Cook coffee shop. We had just been at a debate up at the University of Fairbanks the night before and she said although the was impressed with my ability to state policies and figures, when looking out over the audience, she wondered to herself if having a grasp of that really mattered.

In October of 2006, at a health care debate at UAA late in the campaign, while Tony Knowles and I waited backstage to go on, Palin sat in the corner with two of her aides trying to force feed her health care information. She ended up walking on stage with an arm load of health care reports.

The fact was that having a grasp of policies and figures didn't matter. Because at the end of the day, policies and figures didn't win the election; Palin won the election by being the candidate that people liked the most, not the candidate that knew the most.

Raising Taxes: The Sarah Palin Method

Palin proposed a $750 million oil tax increase (bad enough). But it came out of the legislature at over $1.5 billion. According to Alaskan Andrew Halcro, "she signed it saying she thought it was close enough."

Sarah Palin: Balancing BlackBerries and Baby

Via Meghan McCain

Sarah Palin: Daffy With A Touch of Igloo Trash

Maybe John McCain thinks he needs the vote of southern California's notoriously clueless Valley Girls to put him over the top, otherwise the choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate makes little sense.

Let's put it this way, Sarah Palin appears, well, Valley Girlish, on the issues. Last year, Alaska Business News asked her about the war in Iraq.:

Alaska Business Monthly: We've lost a lot of Alaska's military members to the war in Iraq. How do you feel about sending more troops into battle, as President Bush is suggesting?

Palin: I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe. Every life lost is such a tragedy. I am very, very proud of the troops we have in Alaska, those fighting overseas for our freedoms, and the families here who are making so many sacrifices.

I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments... WTF?

According to Mark Benjamin at Salon:

Seven months into the surge, she still either had not formed any opinion on the surge or the war or just wasn't sharing. "I'm not here to judge the idea of withdrawing, or the timeline," she said in a teleconference interview with reporters during a July 2007 visit with Alaska National Guard troops stationed in Kuwait. "I'm not going to judge even the surge. I'm here to find out what Alaskans need of me as their governor."

That's a little weird, since Fort Richardson, near Anchorage, has dispatched countless soldiers to Iraq, including many who did not make it back. And Palin's own son, Track, is an infantry soldier who could go there any time.

Next to Palin, Dan Quayle begins to look like Henry Kissinger.

Then, of course, there is her support of Pat Buchanan:

Pat Buchanan brought his conservative message of a smaller government and an America First foreign policy to Fairbanks and Wasilla on Friday as he continued a campaign swing through Alaska. Buchanan's strong message championing states rights resonated with the roughly 85 people gathe.red for an Interior Republican luncheon in Fairbanks. … Among those sporting Buchanan buttons were Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin and state Sen. Jerry Ward, R-Anchorage.

Buchanan on Hardball also said of Palin and her husband that "They were at a fundraiser for me." He called her a "terrific gal" and a "rebel reformer."

But this isn't your run-of-the-mill Buchanan supporter. Buchanan supporters aren't sending their children off to fight in Iraq.

And, though she wore a Buchanan button, she responded to the AP story in a letter to the editor, saying that "the article may have left your readers with the perception that I am endorsing this candidate, as opposed to welcoming his visit to Wasilla. As mayor, I will welcome all the candidates in Wasilla."

Just having some fun with buttons, I guess. It's all a bit daffy.

Then, of course, there is the curious fact that though she already has four children, is the Governor of Alaska and is in her 40's that she has another child.

Daffy times 2?

Walt Disney couldn't think this up for movie plot. A 40-something, former beauty pageant contestant and governor of Alaska, still nursing her infant son and clueless about foreign affairs and economic issues, is chosen as a vice-presidential running mate of an old man who has had more bouts with cancer than she has had babies.

There is, also, the trailer trash Jerry Springer angle to the story, though this is Alaska, so, perhaps, it is more like an igloo trash story. Palin's divorced sister is in a nasty custody battle with her ex, who happens to be a state trooper. Naturally, in what can only be described as a hell hath no fury Jerry Springer moment, sis, the Governor Sarah, uses her office to try to get said state trooper fired--with all the attendant investigations and ramifications.

And, oh yeah, the ex-husband-in-law trooper apparently tasered his son. It was supposedly because the kid wanted to know what it felt like and dad swears it was on "test mode".

There's more, Jerry Springer would really be proud, there is a rumor that the Governor's husband has a "John Edwards problem times ten zillion."

Palin Will Be Ready

"Palin will be ready for that 3 a.m. phone call: She’ll already be up with her baby. "- Kate O'Beirne via Rames Ponnuru

The Sarah Palin Ethics Probe

Mudflats reports, one would guess, from the mudflats:

...if McCain had made his selection six months ago, the squeaky-clean governor meme would have made a little more sense. But, Sarah Palin is currently under an ethics investigation by the Alaska state legislature. The details of this investigation read like a trashy novel, and I suspect that the players will soon have newfound celebrity on the national stage. I’ll try to explain for all you non-Alaskans who suddenly have good reason to want to know more about Sarah Palin. For those of you not interested in trashy novels, feel free to skip ahead. Here it is…what we in Alaska call “TrooperGate”.

Sarah Palin’s sister Molly married a guy named Mike Wooten who is an Alaska State Trooper. Mike and Molly had a rocky marriage. When the marriage broke up, there was a bitter custody fight that is still ongoing. During the custody investigation, all sorts of things were brought up about Wooten including the fact that he had illegally shot a moose (yes folks this is Alaska), driven drunk, and used a taser (on the test setting, he reminds us) on his 11-year old stepson, who supposedly had asked to see what it felt like. While Wooten has turned out to be a less than stellar figure, the fact that Palin’s father accompanied him on the infamous moose hunt, and that many of the dozens of charges brought up by the Palin family happened long before they were ever reported smacked of desperate custody fight. Wooten’s story is that he was basically stalked by the family.

After all this, Wooten was investigated and disciplined on two counts and allowed to kept his position with the troopers. Enter Walt Monegan, Palin’s appointed new chief of the Department of Public Safety and head of the troopers. Monegan was beloved by the troopers, did a bang-up job with minimal funding and suddenly got axed. Palin was out of town and Monegan got “offered another job” (aka fired) with no explanation to Alaskans. Pressure was put on the governor to give details, because rumors started to swirl around the fact that the highly respected Monegan was fired because he refused to fire the aforementioned Mike Wooten. Palin vehemently denied ever talking to Monegan or pressuring Monegan in any way to fire Wooten, or that anyone on her staff did. Over the weeks it has come out that not only was pressure applied, there were literally dozens of conversations in which pressure was applied to fire him. Monegan has testified to this fact, spurring an ongoing investigation by the Alaska state legislature. But, before this investigation got underway, Palin sent the Alaska State Attorney General out to do some investigative work of his own so she could find out in advance what the real investigation was going to find. (No, I’m not making this up). The AG interviewed several people, unbeknownst to the actual appointed investigator or the Legislature! Palin’s investigation of herself uncovered a recorded phone call retained by the Alaska State Troopers from Frank Bailey, a Palin underling, putting pressure on a trooper about the Wooten non-firing. Todd Palin (governor’s husband) even talked to Monegan himself in Palin’s office while she was away. Bailey is now on paid administrative leave.

As if this weren’t enough, Monegan’s appointed replacement Chuck Kopp, turns out to have been the center of his own little scandal. He received a letter of reprimand and was reassigned after sexual harrassment allegations by a former coworker who didn’t like all the unwanted kissing and hugging in the office. Was he vetted? Obviously not. When he was questioned about all this, his comment was that no one had asked him and he thought they all knew. Kopp, defiant, still claimed to have done nothing wrong and said to the press that there was no way he was stepping down from his new position. Twenty four hours later, he stepped down. Later it was uncovered that he received a $10,000 severance package for his two weeks on the job from Palin. Monegan got nothing.

After extensive news coverage about all this nasty behind-the-scenes scandal, which is definitely NOT squeaky clean, Palin’s approval ratings fell to 67%, still high, but a far cry from the 90% number that’s being thrown around so glibly by the Republicans today. Alaskans are quickly becoming disillusioned once again.

University of Colorado Sophmore Put Sarah Palin On The VP Map

Adam Brickley, who on his blog profile lists his interests as "politics, Zionism, and 'fighting socialism'," may be largely responsible for getting Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket.

Brickely started a "Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President" blog last year and, according to the Anchorage Daily News, has relentlessly promoted the idea ever since.

The Daily News continues:

Brickley has never been to Alaska or met Palin. But while researching potential vice presidents, he stumbled on Palin and thought she would be a good No. 2 to just about all of the major Republican candidates in the race at the time. …The "Draft Palin" movement picked up momentum in more mainstream media, including a column last summer by Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard.

Others followed, including talk over the past couple weeks from conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

According to Brickley's blog, tonight:

Just so that you all know, I did receive a brief phone call tonight from Todd and Sarah Palin. Thanks to them for being so kind.

What The Hell Are Lew Rockwell, Thomas DiLorenzo and James Ostrowski Thinking?

Rockwell, DiLorenzo and Ostrowski are all ga ga, here, here and here, over John McCain's VP pick, Sarah Palin. They write she's a Paulian, she's a Buchanaite, in fact, she probably would jump on any bandwagon that has wheels and is looking to stir up trouble.

As we have already pointed out, Palin signed into law a $6.6 billion operating budget—the largest in Alaska's history.

Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month energy debit cards. Of course, basic economics teaches the last thing you want to do, when a commodity is rising in price, is to encourage consumption. She also proposed providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates, again the last thing you want to do. She subsequently dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send Alaskans $1,200 directly.

In short, economically clueless.

As far as foreign policy is concerned, she has put her son in line for a potential tour of duty in Iraq. He joined the army on 9-11-07. Nuff said.

Frankly, what we have here is Mary Tyler Moore without the Ford mustang--maybe a great candidate to star in a modern day version of the Minnesota-based situation comedy, but not a Minnesota convention-based Republican VP candidate.

Begala: Is McCain Out of His Mind?

Democratic strategist Paul Begala on McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as VP:

John McCain needs what Kinky Friedman calls "a checkup from the neck up."

In choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate he is not tinking "outside the box," as some have said. More like out of his mind.

Palin a first-term governor of a state with more reindeer than people, will have to put on a few pounds just to be a lightweight. Her personal story is impressive: former fisherman, mother of five. But that hardly qualifies her to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

For a man who is 72 years old and has had four bouts with cancer to have chosen someone so completely unqualified to become president is shockingly irresponsible. Suddenly, McCain's age and health become central issues in the campaign, as does his judgment.

In choosing this featherweight, McCain passed over Tom Ridge, a decorated combat hero, a Cabinet secretary and the former two-term governor of the large, complex state of Pennsylvania. iReport.com: 'McCain pick might be a gimmick'

He passed over Mitt Romney, who ran a big state, Massachusetts; a big company, Bain Capital; and a big event, the Olympics.

He passed over Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Texas senator who is knowledgeable about the military, good on television, and -- obviously -- a woman.

He passed over Joe Lieberman, his best friend in the Senate and fellow Iraq Kool-Aid drinker.

He passed over former congressman, trade negotiator and budget director Rob Portman.

And he also passed over Mike Huckabee, the governor of Arkansas.

For months, the McCainiacs have said they will run on his judgment and experience. In his first presidential decision, John McCain has shown he is willing to endanger his country, potentially leaving it in the hands of someone who simply has no business being a heartbeat away from the most powerful, complicated, difficult job in human history.

Senator Barbara Boxer Issues Statement on Palin

Boxer on Palin:

The vice president is a heartbeat away from becoming president, so to choose someone with not one hour’s worth of experience on national issues is a dangerous choice.

If John McCain thought that choosing Sarah Palin would attract Hillary Clinton voters, he is badly mistaken.

The only similarity between her and Hillary Clinton is that they are both women. On the issues, they could not be further apart.

Sen. McCain had so many other options if he wanted to put a woman on his ticket, such as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe -– they would have been an appropriate choice compared to this dangerous choice.

In addition, Sarah Palin is under investigation by the Alaska state legislature, which makes this more incomprehensible.

Sarah Palin: Not An Economic Genius

Sarah Palin , John McCain's new vice-presidential running mate, will fit right in with McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, given her total lack of understanding of basic economics.

There's not a lot out there on the internet about Palin (Most likely because she hasn't done much.) But she can be tracked the way a bear in Alaska can be tracked. Alaskan bears dump enough dung, as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game puts it, that you can tell what type bear lies ahead by examining the dung they leave in their tracks.

The Alaska Fish and Game says:

Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear dung.

Black bear dung is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear dung has little bells in it and smells like pepper.

Palin's dung may not be left behind in quantities that would make a grizzly proud, but, never the less, a search of her record reveals some dung that doesn't appear to be as pretty as the black bears' with berries or the grizzlies' with bells---but it sure does stink.

In a move that would make Obama proud, but which makes no economic sense, Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month energy debit cards. Of course, basic economics teaches the last thing you want to do, when a commodity is rising in price, is to encourage consumption. She also proposed providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates, again the last thing you want to do. She subsequently dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send Alaskans $1,200 directly.

The debit card proposal may be just one clue that we may have a very big spender on our hands. Clue #2: As governor, in June 2007, Palin signed into law a $6.6 billion operating budget—the largest in Alaska's history.

Clue#3: In a real nutty escapade, when the Alaska Creamery Board recommended closing Matanuska Maid Dairy, an unprofitable state-owned business, Palin objected, citing concern for the impact on dairy farmers and the fact that the dairy had just received $600,000 in state money. When Palin realized that the Board of Agriculture and Conservation appoints Creamery Board members, she simply replaced the entire membership of the Board of Agriculture and Conservation The new board reversed the decision to close the dairy. The new board approved milk price increases offered by the dairy in an attempt to control losses, even though milk from Washington was already offered in Alaskan stores at lower prices. In the end, the dairy was forced to close.

On a more positive note, Palin strongly supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

In a move that would make Chcago poltcans proud, Palin is currently under investigation by an independent investigator hired by a legislative panel to determine if she abused her power when firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. On July 11, 2008, Palin dismissed Walter Monegan as Commissioner of Public Safety and instead offered him a position as executive director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he subsequently turned down. Monegan alleged shortly after his dismissal that it may have been partly due to his reluctance to fire an Alaska State Trooper, Mike Wooten, who had been involved in a divorce and child custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly McCann.

A governor for just 20 months, prior to that she was two-term mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town with a population of 6,500.

Obama's Economic Brain Trust?

Barack Obama plans to meet a panel of advisers today to examine his campaign’s ?economic policies. The gathering will include Warren Buffett, the billionaire ?investor, Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman, Paul ?Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, and ?both Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, the former Treasury secretaries.

Obama told NBC on Sunday that the team would discuss a second potential stimulus package, ways to shore up the housing market, and energy and infrastructure initiatives.

Let's see what comes out if this group. You have Goldman Sachs represented through Robert Rubin. You have the great investor Warren Buffett who turns into an economic idiot whenever he talks about economic policy.

Does Goldman Sachs Run The World? Part II: The Obama Infiltration

By far our most popular EPJ post, ever, has been our Does Goldman Sachs Run The World? post.

Here's an update on Goldman Sachs and their latest power move, the infiltration of the Barack Obama campaign.

The infiltration is led, of course, by Robert Rubin, former Co-Chairman of Goldman Sachs, and who is now advising Obama. There's is also some talk of him as Obama's VP.

Further, Obama has named Jason Furman, his top economic adviser. Furman, with Rubin, was an aide in the Clinton White House, and worked there directly under Rubin. He is also a close associate of Rubin through their work together on the Hamilton Project.

Which doesn't mean that current Goldman employees aren't paying attention to Obama. David Brooks of NYT reports that:

When you break it out by individual companies, you find that employees of Goldman Sachs gave more to Obama than workers of any other employer...Over the past few years, people from Goldman Sachs have assumed control over large parts of the federal government. Over the next few they might just take over the whole darn thing.

Opensecrets.org identifies Goldman Sachs as one of the most influential organizations in federal politics and reports that Goldman employees have donated $571,330 to Obama.