Canary in the Wall Street coalmine - Economist "The fall of Bear Stearns": "The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 will probably go down as the single most spectacular event in the humbling of Wall Street. But it was the near-collapse of Bear Stearns, six months earlier, that first exposed the fragility of America’s seemingly mighty investment banks, perched atop mountains of debt and dangerously reliant on short-term funding. And it was Bear that brought the first serious reminder, after years of excess, of Walter Bagehot’s dictum that if you have to prove you are worthy of credit, your credit is already gone."

So Megan purchased a grill at Home Depot - But now she doesn't want it, and feels that the credit card company knew she might not want it, but irresponsibly lent her the money for the grill anyway, so it's really their fault.  You can see where this is going.

Perspective on the homeless cell-phone guy - T-Steel at Moderate Voice has some on the homeless and pre-paid cell phones.

Obama goes all-in - The Times (UK) "Barack Obama bets the farm in a $4 trillion poker game": "The President believes he can change US politics for a generation.  If he's wrong he could bankrupt the whole country."

Exactly my fear: where is the evidence that this level of government spending had a proof-positive effect on improving this or any economy?  And even (through luck or design) if it does, we're leaving future generations a huge pile of debt, one that will crowd out capital and drag on the economy for decades.

Related - WSJ: "Obama's radicalism is killing the Dow."  Investors don't like what they see.

More - Charles Krauthammer has "The great non-sequitur"

The United States now has no energy policy

Word on the street is that President Obama has killed funding for the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, which essentially eliminates any future contribution of atomic energy to support America's growing power needs. There are two important reasons why this is a short-sighted, political decision that will harm the energy and economic security of this country.

First, the United States currently gets one-fifth of its energy from nuclear sources. However, almost all of these power plants are over thirty years old and the older ones will be phased out in the decades to come. There is no way to maintain this energy source without a safe place to deposit nuclear waste, so we're about to lose 20% of all of our electricity. Remember when California was in a panic – and paying through the nose – for electricity because they refused to build power plants? Get ready for that scenario, nationwide. The only viable option to replace those nuclear power plants are coal-fired plants.

Which leads to my second point: Obama, the Greens, and the Democrats might as well pack up their "save the earth" show. Aside from hydroelectric, nuclear energy is the only reliable energy source that emits no greenhouse gases. Mother Gaia is going to be upset if we replace all those clean nuclear plants with power plants burning sooty rocks. In fact, burning coal releases more radioactivity (from isotopes in the ore) than a nuclear power plant does in a hundred years.

During the presidential campaign, Obama said he wants to bankrupt the coal industry while Ted Kennedy does everything in his power to block a wind farm off Nantucket Sound. It appears that the secret of Obama's energy policy is to choke off production while passing on the added cost to average Americans.

Extra – Background on nuclear from Heritage.

More – Timothy Noah makes an ass of himself on Slate:

Global warming has caused some policy experts to call for a revival of nuclear power, whose expansion halted after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. Currently there are 20 applications for new reactors under active consideration at the NRC. As recently as 2007, there were none. Nuclear plants are indeed vastly preferable to coal-fired plants from the standpoint of carbon dioxide emissions. But you can't just take into account the waste that power plants don't create. In shuttering Yucca Mountain, Obama makes it extremely likely that nuclear power in the United States will continue its long, slow, and extremely welcome death.

Well it would be great if power plants didn't create any waste at all but the main difference is this: nuclear waste is tightly contained, controlled, and safe when encased in lead; the waste from burning coal includes greenhouse gases and soot which are spewed into the atmosphere. Which would you prefer, Noah, to run Slate's servers? Or, like most environmentalists, you want the tofu but don't want to process the soy beans?

And before I start getting messages from the tree huggers insisting that Obama's "doubling" of renewable energy will save us: according to the Department of Energy, energy from non-hydroelectric renewable sources accounted for 3% of all energy generated in this country. You'd have to double the renewable contribution three times to equal nuclear and – oh I don't know how many times – to equal coal's 48%. Even though, you'd better hope the sun keeps shinin' and the wind keeps blowin'.

Even more - Q&O: "The coming tax on everything."

What's good for Viking Pundit is good for America - Megan McArdle: "GM is toast"

Out-of-control spending - Harvard professor Greg Mankiw on government spending as a percentage of GDP: "To this day, we have yet to come to grips with how to pay for all the government created during [the post World War II era] - a problem that will become acute as more baby boomers retire and start collecting the benefits promised."  That sounds familiar.

I got nothin' tonight - Enjoy these pictures of women trying out to become a New England Patriots cheerleader.

AIG's secret bailout partners

Before our daily meditation on the AIG bailout, a word from Charles de Gaulle (maybe):

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

Somehow, the collapse of AIG will create a black hole which will end life on Earth as we know it. So says Fed chairman Ben Bernanke:

But he said, "We really had no choice" but to prop up the company because the consequences of failure could be disastrous.

No choice! The fear in Washington is that if AIG collapses, it's going to drag a lot of AIG creditors and partners down with it. But, since they all played roulette with credit default swaps, why should they be shielded from risk? Furthermore, as the new majority stakeholder in AIG, could we at least know the names of these partners in crime?

This strikes me as a completely legitimate question. After all, the reason A.I.G. is being propped up is that the government fears that if the company defaulted the counterparties would suddenly be faced with tens of billions of dollars worth of unacknowledged losses - and they would go bust. It would make the Lehman fiasco look like a garden party. As Nouriel Roubini put it on CNBC recently (I’m paraphrasing): It’s not a bailout of A.I.G.; it’s a bailout of the counterparties?

What’s more, a fair amount of what A.I.G. was doing was pretty sleazy behavior, using credit default swaps to help banks evade regulatory capital requirements. And yet when newspapers like this one have requested the information, they have been ignored or turned down.

The answer, as I understand it, is that A.I.G. views these as “confidential transactions,” and the government (as per usual?) is going along with that rationale. One government official told me that if the federal government divulged the names of the counterparties it would amount to a violation of the Trade Secrets Act - unless the counterparties agreed to it, which they never will.

Pretty unsatisfying, isn’t it? Gobs of tax money is going to bail out unnamed companies - and yet we aren’t allowed to know who they are, and are supposed to take it all on faith. You know those awful cases you read about every once in a while where a child dies in a troubled home - and then the state health department won’t divulge any information out of “privacy concerns”? This strikes me as the financial equivalent of those cases. As excuses go, it sure is convenient.

Enough is enough. AIG is not indispensable and taxpayer wallets aren't bottomless.

Also - WSJ: "AIG's black box"

Remember those taxes only paid by top earners?

Get ready for more stories like this:

Also drawing fire is [Obama's] proposal to start taxing industries on their greenhouse gas pollution -- a move sure to raise consumers' electric rates.

First of a long series, I'm sure.

Flashback - This guy said that Obama's cap-and-trade scheme would cause consumer's energy bills to "skyrocket."  What a hater.

Obama's secret tax revenue plan - Step #1 - nominate person who owes taxes.  Step #2: Profit.

Apropos of nothing, there's a new episode of "Intervention" on tonight - Reuters "U.S. rescue efforts may risk double-dip recession": "U.S. companies, consumers and communities may grow so addicted to government financial help that cutting them off could trigger another recession soon after the current one ends."

Editorial integrity - Hoystory notes that the NY Times' position on Senate filibusters shifts with occupants of the White House.  Surprising, I know.

Now that's forecasting! - Greg Pollowitz on December 18th, 2008: "Anyone want to bet on a snowstorm hitting D.C. on March 2, 2009?"

Tim Blair has the history of global warming protests with Coldest Warmenist Protest.  A global warming march is like a rain dance for snow.

Back to the future

Is this statement in Timothy Geithner's future?

"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong . . . somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. . . . I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started. . . . And an enormous debt to boot."

Via Mona Charen, that was FDR's Treasury Secretary Henry Morganthau, testifying to Congress in May 1939. (HT: Patterico)

Here we go again, part 2, um four – AoSHQ "AIG Bailout #4": "Tomorrow (that is, Monday), AIG is expected to announce the single largest value loss of suffered by a company in a single quarter. The announcement will be made concurrently with the announcement of AIG's latest bailout from Treasury. This will be the fourth AIG bailout."

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me...ah, here's some more money.

Remember when AIG was "too big to fail"? Well, what if there's nothing to prevent it from failing no matter how many life lines we throw? There seems to be no bottom to the crisis and no other solution than to shovel more taxpayer money into this Titanic.

Extra - Minuteman: "AIG Round Four"

Here we go again, part 1

The Massachusetts state constitution stipulates that everybody in the Bay State pays the same income tax rate. But Beacon Hill needs money! What to do...what to do...

Here's an idea: Change the state constitution so we can tax our wealthiest citizens, those who make at least $250,000 per year, just a little bit more when times are tough.

Taxing the rich! Who says liberals are out of fresh ideas? I like this response:

Here's a good idea, what say that every family earning more than $250,000 per year, move out of state and take their business and skills with them. That would make the kind of state Democrats crave - a welfare state.

More taxes! Boston Globe: "Logan parking costs may soar - Governor proposes adding $2 'carbon fee' to lot, garage rates." Because everybody loves flying so much these days, they won't mind another fee.

Related - Tigerhawk notes that businesses are fleeing/failing in New Jersey thanks to high tax rates. NJ is the worst state for entrepreneurship and Massachusetts is #44.

Amazing Race update – Gypsies, tramps and Phil

Here's another week with a West Coast NASCAR race that has to compete with the start of the Amazing Race. Well, I'll try to flip back and forth.

The nine remaining teams started out from Salzburg and find their way to Bucharest, Romania and a gymnastics studio. Tammy & Victor hit their connections in perfect sync and take what appears to be a significant lead. Whoops! Spoke too soon: the flight that Team Esquire is on has "issues" and has to return to the airport. They miss the next earliest flight and now leave five hours later with a bunch of other teams. That's bad luck. Brad & Victoria roll the dice on a flight through Amsterdam but they miss their connecting flight.

Once at the gym, it's a Roadblock: one team member must do some gymnastics. The funny "aren't they uncoordinated?" music starts and the Racers don uniforms to go through their motions. Kris of Team America looks good and finishes first. Teams now have to head to Brasov, Transylvania but it looks like everybody's bunched up at the train station. The next morning, everybody's on the train except Brad & Victoria who are still stuck in Amsterdam and are almost certainly going to come in last on this leg.

Once in Transylvania, it's the Detour: Gypsy Moves or Vampire Remains. Teams may either move a gypsy camp down the road or drag a coffin through the woods and impale some wood onto stakes (in honor of Vlad the Impaler). Victor leads Tammy down the wrong path to the Vampire task by following markers for a trail and not for the Amazing Race. They're way up a mountain in Romania. Meanwhile, after moving the gypsies, it looks like Kris lost his fanny pack with Team America's passports and money. Eventually they find it and head off to the Pit Stop.

A pan flutist waits at the Romanian Pit Stop where Mel & Mike come in first. Back at the Detour, Tammy & Victor are so far up the mountain, they're going to need oxygen masks soon; nevertheless Victor insists they're on the right path. Tammy isn't buying it, for good reason. Could Brad & Victoria catch up?

Nah. Tammy & Victor finally figure out they're going down the wrong path and eventually complete the Vampire Detour. Brad & Victoria finish in the dark and are eliminated at the mat.

Team standings:

#1 – Team White Guys – Mel & Mike
#2 – Team America – Amanda & Kris
#3 – Team Sistahs - Kisha & Jen
#4 – Team Say What? - Margie & Luke
#5 – Team Mighty Mites - Mark & Michael
#6 – Team Drinkcart - Christie & Jodi
#7 – Team Ginger - Jaime & Cara
#8 – Team Esquire - Tammy & Victor
#9 – Team Something - Brad & Victoria

Next week – Siberia.

Immobile automobiles - Here's a stunning photo gallery of unsold cars around the world.  (HT: Megan.)

Jobs that involve taking green from your wallet - City Journal "The green jobs engine that can't": "There may be legitimate arguments for taking dramatic steps to fight climate change. Boosting the economy isn’t one of them."