I've given up for the evening attempting to configure a recalcitrant firewall. To cheer up, I turn to Paul Krugman, who reminds us that a 0% Fed rate means we're in trouble:
ZIRP!
That's zero interest rate policy. And it has arrived. America has turned Japanese.
This is the thing I’ve been afraid of ever since I realized that Japan really was in the dreaded, possibly mythical liquidity trap. ...
Seriously, we are in very deep trouble. Getting out of this will require a lot of creativity, and maybe some luck too.
At least I think I've figured out where I mis-configured the firewall....
Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has started impeachment proceedings against Governor Blagojevich:
Madigan, a veteran Southwest Side Chicago lawmaker and head of the Democratic Party of Illinois, announced the move against the state's first Democratic governor in more than a quarter century at a news conference at the State Capitol.
"It is my intention to appoint a special committee to begin immediately an investigation into the governor's conduct in office and to undertake the preparatory work that is a prerequisite to an impeachment proceeding in the Illinois House," Madigan said.
Yes, you read that right. His own party chair is heading up the impeachment. And he still won't resign. I mean, how does he think this is going to turn out?
People with a sense of history may find Nixon aide Dean's advice to the incoming president interesting:
Because of my own personal experience with Watergate, the mother of modern presidential scandals, not to mention being a student of scandals that followed, I speak as someone who learned the hard way by making mistakes and then watched as others made their own similar and unnecessary blunders.
...[I]n the interest of the nation presidents (which would include presidents-elect) must openly and aggressively confront any and all scandals that affect them. The more innocent they are the more aggressively they should address the problem to end it before it grows.
The best governor we have right now is so bad that convicted felons Dan Rostenkowski and George Ryan both felt moved to say something. And no one laughed at them.
Wow. That says something.
The AP calls his approval rating "shockingly low," missing the obvious point that it's shockingly high. Who, really, are those 8%? And 8% of what, one has to wonder?
Holy {bleep}:
Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan filed a motion with the Illinois Supreme Court today aimed at removing Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office.
Such a motion is untested in the state's history. The case could determine whether the governor is fit to serve.
Madigan will hold a news conference at 11:15 a.m at the state office complex in downtown Chicago.
More details to come.
Unprecedented. And (full disclosure) even though I've already contributed to Madigan's own campaign, I'm not sure this is the kind of precedent we really want.
On the other hand, what in all of Christendom will convince Blagojevich he needs to resign? Maybe he really has left the realm of the sane.
Our public debt has topped $10.6 trillion:
| Current Debt |
Held by the Public |
Intragovernmental Holdings |
Total Public Debt Outstanding |
| 12/09/2008 |
6,410,734,685,101.64 |
4,245,384,542,301.41 |
10,656,119,227,403.05 |
But at current interest rates, it's like a license to print money!
President-elect Obama says Blagojevich must go:
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs says the president-elect agrees with other prominent politicians in Illinois and elsewhere that "under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."
In response to questions from The Associated Press, Gibbs said Obama believes the Illinois legislature should consider a special election to fill the seat. Gibbs says the hope is to put a process in place to select a new senator who will have the trust and confidence of the people of Illinois.
Care to bet the governor holds a press conference tomorrow morning? Care to wager on its content?
Lots of speculation today whether Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) is "Senate Candidate 5" from the Federal complaint against Gov. Blagojevich, but he was asked to "share some thoughts" with the FBI:
Jackson said this morning he was contacted Tuesday by federal prosecutors in Chicago whom he said "asked me to come in and share with them my insights and thoughts about the selection process."
Jackson said, "I don't know" when asked whether he was Candidate No. 5, but said he was told "I am not a target of this investigation."
Jackson said he agreed to talk with federal investigators "as quickly as possible" after he consulted with a lawyer.
...
The FBI says that during an Oct. 31 conversation, Blagojevich described an approach from an associate of Senate Candidate 5: "We were approached 'pay to play.' That, you know, he'd raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him [Senate Candidate 5] a senator."
On Thursday, the FBI says Blagojevich "was giving Senate Candidate 5 greater consideration for the Senate seat" because he might "get some [money] up front, maybe."
It goes on:
Jackson said Tuesday that he met with Blagojevich Monday "for the first time in years" and voiced his desire to fill Obama's empty Senate seat. He said he was "shocked" to find gambling in this establishment by Blagojevich's arrest, adding that "if these allegations are proved true, I am outraged by the appalling, pay-to-play schemes hatched at the highest levels of our state government."
Another sad point to all of this, as Josh Marshall pointed out earlier: Blagojevich isn't just a former lawyer, he's a former prosecutor.
The biggest controversey about today's news at my client's office comes down to this: who is actually the stupidest governor in the US, Blagojevich or Palin? The morning's events bring this important question to the fore.