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Kyrsten Sinema, unbridled ambition without a constituency

https://digbysblog.net/2023/03/23/kyrsten-sinema-unbridled-ambition-without-a-c…
Created
Fri, 24/03/2023 - 07:00
I guess she’s completely given up on getting Democratic votes in Arizona. But I’m afraid she might have a teensy problem with MAGA Republicans too. She’s an openly bisexual, former Green, pro-choice, DREAM act supporter whose main “independent” credibility lies with her fealty to corporate interests. This is not a recipe for electoral success with well … anyone, and certainly not in Arizona where MAGA is very strong. Has she not heard about the culture war? Ever since Sen. Kyrsten Sinema became an independent in December, her Democratic colleagues have been restrained about the shift, careful not to alienate the Arizona lawmaker when they only have a single-seat majority and need her support on legislation and nominees. Hoping to get through this year, and then gain clarity about whether Sinema will even seek reelection in 2024 let alone continue to caucus with her old party, Senate Democrats have dodged questions about the mercurial marathoner who’s still barely in their ranks. “It’s really early,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who chairs the Senate Democratic campaign arm, told me.

Ron DeSantis is all over the place

https://digbysblog.net/2023/03/23/ron-desantis-is-all-over-the-place/
Created
Fri, 24/03/2023 - 06:30
He’s changed his stance on Ukraine without any explanation so now he appears to be confused and weak. TPM had this observation: For big picture purposes, let me just make this clear off the bat: Ron DeSantis’ position on U.S. support for Ukraine is still unclear. But that is largely beside the point.  Over the course of the last week and a half, the Florida governor has been roundly criticized by fellow Republicans for an answer he gave in a Tucker Carlson questionnaire about his stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the U.S.’s support for Ukraine’s military. His response at the time was more telling about his 2024 campaign strategy than his actual beliefs about the war. In remarks to Carlson, DeSantis characterized Russia’s year-long deadly invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute” and argued that supporting Ukraine’s defense was not necessarily in the U.S.’s best interest. Here’s the full quote: The remark confused some Republicans and supporters who have been following DeSantis’ positioning for longer than the past year.

What’s Actually Behind the Banking Crisis? Why You Pay When They Play.

/index.php/perspectives/blog/whats-actually-behind-the-banking-crisis-why-you-p…
Created
Fri, 24/03/2023 - 05:55

In the following conversation, law and economics expert Walker Todd explains how a financialized system creates havoc and why it’s time to rethink banking

Over the last two weeks, you could hear rumblings under the global financial system as one large, ugly crack appeared after another. Soon everybody was bracing for an earthquake.

We have just witnessed the second and third biggest bank failures in American history, putting the health of the financial system on high alert. Events have sent global markets reeling with fears of fallout not seen since the 2008 financial crisis.

Stupid is as stupid does

https://digbysblog.net/2023/03/23/stupid-is-as-stupid-does/
Created
Fri, 24/03/2023 - 05:00
Alvin Bragg responded to the House Republicans fatuous primal scream earlier today: In a letter to Jordan and others Thursday, Bragg’s office said their request “treads into territory very clearly reserved to the states” — and noted that it had only come after Trump had “created a false expectation that he would be arrested … and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene.” “Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry,” stated the letter from the district attorney’s office, signed by general counsel Leslie Dubeck. Complying with their request would interfere with law enforcement and violate New York’s sovereignty, Dubeck added. The letter also poured cold water on Jordan’s suggestion that Congress needed those documents for a review of federal public safety funds, but said the district attorney’s office would nonetheless submit a letter describing its use of federal funds.

China’s big foreign policy plays leave Australia in the cold

https://johnmenadue.com/chinas-big-foreign-policy-plays-leave-australia-in-the-…
Created
Fri, 24/03/2023 - 04:58
The Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Party Congress in October last year may be seen with the efflux of time as a watershed event, not so much for the extension of Xi Ping’s tenure in the job, but for subsequent sharp policy resets. This year began with the shock announcement that China’s zero covid policy, and Continue reading »

Will there be a reprise of the White Australia Policy?

https://johnmenadue.com/red-alert-will-there-be-a-reprise-of-reds-under-every-b…
Created
Fri, 24/03/2023 - 04:55
With the publication of the series, “RED ALERT” in the two leading newspapers in Australia, predicting that China will invade Australia in three years, the constant push from the ASPI, and the increasingly strident rhetoric from the China hawks in both major political parties, will the Australian security apparatus be encouraged to re-establish a “Chinese Continue reading »

Lesson from a Failed Bank: Only One Real Start-Up

https://steadystate.org/lesson-from-a-failed-bank-only-one-real-start-up/
Created
Fri, 24/03/2023 - 04:01
by Brian Czech

Banks are macroeconomic mirrors. They reflect the activity of the real economy. If the economy is growing, so are the banks, starting with the Federal Reserve and its regional banks, all the way out to tiny First Michigan Bank, Oakwood Bank (the smallest bank in bank-laden Texas), and the patriotically named Citizens Bank of Americus (Georgia).

Not only do the banks,

The post Lesson from a Failed Bank: Only One Real Start-Up appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

Remember Denny Hastert?

https://digbysblog.net/2023/03/23/remember-denny-hastert/
Created
Fri, 24/03/2023 - 04:00
He went to jail for a hush money scheme Here’s a good rundown of why the Stormy Daniels case matters from Amanda Carpenter. It’s actually important, even in the great scheme of things. Donald Trump’s defenders would love for people to believe that the former president entered into totally normal, by-the-book, run-of-the-mill legal agreements with adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to purchase their silence, and that he did so in a way that was agreeable and beneficial to all parties. But that’s not what happened. Trump risks indictment because, allegedly at his behest, an illegal scheme was undertaken to deceive the public at a critical moment before the 2016 election. That was the purpose of the “hush money” payments—not to enrich the women or settle a personal matter, but, in the words of the man who went to prison for arranging the deals, “for the principal purpose of influencing the election.” A reminder of what really happened: In 2016, Daniels and McDougal each wanted to sell her own story about liaisons with Trump to the press.