Oooops! Was That A "Boner?"

MeanMesa is delighted to once again elevate our clean little blog with the latest White House rebuttal to the endless "gloom and doom" messages from House Minority Leader, John Boehner (R-Ohio).

This guy could completely fill an entire blogspot with nothing besides his own ranting.  MeanMesa promises that our postings will not get stuck in this swamp of misinformation, and this commentary from the White House is a good way to put that plan in motion!

From the White House Blog: Recovery Act.  Read the article here.

An Increasingly Awkward Dance

Posted by Jared Bernstein on August 25, 2010 at 04:09 PM EDT 

 

Ever since the Recovery Act passed last February, Congressional Republicans who opposed this economic rescue plan have had to do an awkward dance around the truth.  After all, when you declare from the beginning that the Recovery Act won’t create a single job, you’re going to be forced to do a little two-step around the facts as week after week leading economists, the nation’s governors, and even your own constituents say otherwise. 

But yesterday, when Representative Boehner declared that “all this ‘stimulus’ spending has gotten us nowhere” on the same day the nonpartisan CBO said the program has created or saved as many as 3.3 million jobs nationwide and his own home state’s Department of Transportation said nearly 9,500 construction workers were on the job in July just on Ohio Recovery Act transportation projects alone… well, let’s just say that dance got a little more… awkward.   

Now, Representative Boehner was one of the first to declare the Recovery Act dead on arrival - the day it was signed into law, he declared it would “do little to create jobs.”  But as soon as June 2009, as funding for Recovery Act transportation projects began to flow into Ohio, he said those dollars would be used for – get this – “shovel-ready projects that will create much-needed jobs.”  [Boehner.House.gov, 6/15/09]

And then when the nonpartisan CBO, Congress’s top watchdog and an institution widely respected on both sides of the aisle, began weighing in on the job impact of the Recovery Act, the dance got a little more complicated.   Check out these quotes from Rep Boehner, followed by the facts:

AUGUST 2009: Maintains that stimulus hasn’t created any jobs:  “You know, after the $1 trillion dollars stimulus bill that didn’t create any jobs.”  [Hugh Hewitt Show, 8/29/09]

• NOVEMBER 2009: The nonpartisan CBO announces the Recovery Act created or saved as many as 1.6 million jobs through September 2009.  [CBO Report, 11/30/09]

JANUARY 2010: Says the stimulus “clearly hasn’t worked”: “Their trillion-dollar stimulus plan from a year ago clearly has not worked.”  [NPR, 1/27/10]

• FEBRUARY 2010: The nonpartisan CBO announces the Recovery Act has created or saved as many as 2.1 million jobs nationwide through December 2009.  [CBO Report, 2/23/10]

MAY 2010: Still asking where the jobs are: “Where are the jobs?” [Boehner Statement, 5/7/10

• MAY 2010: The nonpartisan CBO says the Recovery Act created or saved as many as 2.8 million jobs through March 2010.  [CBO Report, 5/25/10]

And then, of course, yesterday was the most difficult dance step of all: on the very same day that he declares in a major speech that the Recovery Act has “gotten us nowhere,” first,the nonpartisan CBO announces the Recovery Act has created as many as 3.3 million jobs nationwide and lowered the unemployment rate by as much as 1.8 percent through March of this year [CBO Report, 8/24/10], and then the Ohio Department of Transportation announces that nearly 9,500 construction workers were on the job on Ohio Recovery Act transportation projects in July, the highest monthly total since it began.  [Columbus Dispatch, 8/24/10]

I suspect those nearly 9,500 Ohio construction workers and 3.3 million Americans at work thanks to the Recovery act would disagree with Rep. Boehner’s statement that the Recovery Act has “gotten us nowhere.”

The White House "Fires the Next Salvo" at the "Boner" & Cronies

MeanMesa has had the lingering irritation at the tsunami of unchallenged lies and half-truths vomiting from the neo-con throats of the "Bagger's" national "talking point" mouth pieces.  Aside from the fact that famed Australian fascist, Rupert Murdoch, and his medieval, Saudi Prince Wahhabi henchman own every word broadcast under the heavily soiled label of Fox "News," there remains the fact that all sorts of other corporate "media news" fraud outfits have taken up the same drooling allegiance to these insipid "free range" cracks.

If you are a Senator, a dirty shirt preacher or some other slack jawed right wing pundit, these "two sides of everything" idiots have a microphone for you.  Further, whether PBS, CBS or whomever, there will not be so much as the faintest little "peep" of accountability for what you've said!

No wonder every hill billy and bigot in the country thinks Obama is a Muslim.

Well, there's a little relief.  The White House has continued on its campaign to bring back a little common sense to the discussion.  Although this new evidence of having actual gonads seems tragically limited to the internet world, it's still a good start.  When the folks who are seriously trying to save the country go main street with their comments, MeanMesa will be happy, indeed.

From the White House Blog, August 24, 2010:  (visit the site here.   )

Their Economic Policies Haven’t Changed, So They Won’t Bring the Change We Need

Posted by Dan Pfeiffer on August 24, 2010 at 06:00 AM EDT 

 

Later today, House Minority Leader John Boehner is slated to give a speech at the City Club of Cleveland laying out the major planks of his party’s economic agenda.  Unfortunately, families in Ohio and across the country don’t need to wait until the speech to learn about these economic policies because they’ve been living with the impact of many of these same old policies for years.  Today, Ohioans will hear an argument for a return to the economic policies that turned a surplus into record deficits and helped create the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

While the rhetoric today may be new, the ideas remain the same: out-of-control deficits, decreased oversight of the big Wall Street banks that helped create the financial crisis and putting special interests first by maintaining tax loopholes for corporations that ship American jobs overseas.  Ohioans are also likely to hear a case for extending the Bush high income tax cuts, which provide an average of $100,000 to households making more than $1 million per year while providing nothing for the middle class.  This tired approach to cutting taxes for the richest is the poorest way to support our economy, according to the independent CBO (PDF), and it adds more than $700 billion to our deficits.  At the same time, Rep. Boehner has repeatedly voted against efforts to cut taxes and extend credit to America's small businesses - putting partisanship above what our economy and our small business owners really need. 

And American families haven’t forgotten that after years of economic policies that lined the pockets of the special interests while leaving middle class families out in the cold, it was Rep. Boehner who said earlier this summer that the reform bill strengthening oversight on Wall Street was , “killing an ant with a nuclear weapon.”  Americans who felt the impact of a financial crisis that led to the loss of nearly 8 million jobs and cost people their homes and their life savings considered it more than an “ant.”  


Today, Ohioans will hear the Minority Leader’s support for the same old failed economic policies that steered our economy into the ditch that we’re just now beginning to climb out of.  We cannot afford a return to the past. These failed economic policies haven’t changed, and they won’t bring the change American families need.

Instead, after 22 straight months of job loss, we have now seen our economy create private sector jobs for seven months in a row.  We are cutting government spending, and reducing the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next ten years; putting ordinary Americans at the front of the line; cutting taxes for and extending credit to America’s small businesses; and investing smartly in our children’s future with a better education and a stronger economic foundation.

Ho Hum. Lies about the banks and lies about the White House

Another refreshing "Turn and Fire" departure from a White House which has been far too reluctant to simply share the truth and hope for the best.

Hey.  We can handle it.

MeanMesa is relieved to note that the Obama administration has begun to forcefully dislodge the glacial morass of half-truths so carefully fabricated by the neo-cons.  The direct citation posted below is from the White House daily blog.  This Short Current Essays posting is much more about the nature of the carefully groomed misinformation campaign than about the banks, although both issues may be of interest to our visitors.

Read the White House Blog here

Please note that the "Fiction" comments are easily traced to the inflammatory commentary of the legion of suspiciously paid pundits now charged with discrediting the administration.  The hill billies and bigots who tune into such sources daily are, presumably, neither capable of considering factual information nor particularly interested in anything which might impede their rush to ever more ossified racist positions.

The Limbaugh - Hannity message to the ill informed and uninterested is clear. "Resistance is futile.  Contradiction is error.  The entire world is trying to deceive you.  There is no need to think.  Just listen to me and be afraid.  Very afraid."

MeanMesa considers the Beck far too similar to the Borg. Yuck.  This old geezer ain't even close to being ready to take this garbage layin' down.

The really startling part of this story is that, while  irritatingly similar to the relentless, idiotic ideology of the neo-con pundits, this story "originated" as an Associated Press release.  MeanMesa just has to wonder, "How exactly could this have happened?"  Think it over a little.  News-wise, maybe the corporate media fraud is more "invective infected" than even we thought.

Since the idea is clearly to "get the word out," MeanMesa is pleased to do our part.  Take a minute to read through the White House posting.  You'll get the idea right away!

From the White House:

The White House Blog

Distorting the Small Business Jobs Act

Posted by Jen Psaki on August 01, 2010 at 09:37 PM EDT 

 

 

America’s small businesses are essential to our nation’s economy and its recovery. They create two out or every three new jobs in the private sector. Their ability to hire and expand is crucial to putting our economy back on the right track. But in the wake of this recession, too many small businesses are struggling to find the loans they need to strengthen their companies.

And that’s why President Obama has called on the Senate to swiftly approve the Small Business Jobs Act – a set of tax breaks and lending incentives designed to spur hiring and growth at small businesses.

As we continue to fight for essential assistance to small businesses we know there will be a lot of misinformation and given what is at stake we want to provide the real facts.

Below is a point by point fact check of a story about the small business legislation the AP ran this weekend:

1. FICTION: “Congress is at work on a new program that would send $30 billion to struggling community banks”

1. FACT: To participate, a bank’s Federal regulator must deem it viable – helping to protect taxpayer investments and ensure that they can increase lending. Indeed, Treasury and the Administration have opposed any program that has a focus on “bailing out” struggling banks rather than supporting viable institutions that will extend more credit.

When banking groups or Members of Congress have proposed legislation that requires Treasury to allow weaker banks to participate, the Administration strongly and successfully opposed these measures. For example, when an amendment was added to the House bill to allow small banks to be able to put off recognizing losses in impaired real estate loans, the Secretary of the Treasury publicly and strongly opposed it, and worked so that this measure was not included in the Senate bill. In fact, the Administration supported in the House and Senate language that explicitly prohibits banks on the FDIC’s problem list from participating. 

2. FICTION: “Yet under the new program, the 775 banks on the government's ’problem’ list could qualify for bailouts for the first time.” 

2. FACT: The legislation explicitly states that “an eligible institution may not receive any capital investment under the Program, if (i) such institution is on the FDIC problem bank list; or (ii) such institution has been removed from the FDIC problem bank list for less than 90 days.”

3. FICTION: “For banks in the hardest-hit areas, it can be nearly impossible to recover once too many loans sour. Yet the bill would require that banks be protected against "discrimination based on geography." It says the money must be available to lenders in areas with high unemployment.” 

3. FACT: The legislation requires that regulators or Treasury not “discriminate” on the basis of a bank’s location.  It does not remotely suggest that a weak bank can get capital simply because it is in a high unemployment area or distressed location. Not even close. To the contrary, the legislation is crystal clear that every bank must stand on its own and pass the same consistent, uniform viability test administered by its regulator – no matter where it is located. In addition, Treasury anticipates that the application process would allow for other Federal regulators to confirm the primary regulator’s decision where necessary. 

4. FICTION: “Many community banks are overseen by state regulators struggling under budget cuts and limited expertise. Many are ill-equipped to monitor banks during a crisis” 

4. FACT: The legislation makes clear that every bank’s primary Federal regulator would play the key role in determining whether or not an institution was eligible for the program – not state regulators. In addition, the legislation provides for strong oversight by the Treasury Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office – institutions with extensive experience in overseeing programs that require similar expertise as the SBLF. 

5. FICTION: “This time, money is more likely to disappear as a result of bank failures or fraud” 

5. FACT: The independent Congressional Budget Office – which initially projected significant losses under TARP’s Capital Purchase Program (even though it now forecasts taxpayer savings for the program) has estimated that the Small Business Lending Fund would provide taxpayers with $1.1 billion in savings over 10 years.  While CBO acknowledged there were other ways to do such scoring, the way the CBO chose and – by which Congress must abide – found that this program would not cost the taxpayer a penny. 

6. FICTION: “It's supposedly reserved for banks deemed ‘viable.’ But regulators won't consider whether banks are viable now.” 

6. FACT: The only way a community bank (under $1 billion in assets) can get access to the full 5 percent of Risk-Weighted Assets in the program is to be found to be viable before it receives any government capital.

 

The Senate Legislation provides one narrow exception to this rule: in cases where a bank’s Federal regulator determines that the bank has sufficiently strong management and solid long-term prospects – but nevertheless has a small capital shortfall – the legislation allows the bank to get government capital equal 3% of risk-weighted assets provided that private investors will invest the same amount, dollar-for-dollar.  So not only must the government determine that the bank is otherwise viable, but private sector investors must be willing to contemporaneously put in at least as much of their own private sector capital at risk as the government for the bank to be eligible.  Furthermore, the new private capital must be junior to the government’s investment – meaning that Treasury gets repaid in full before any other new investors.  Indeed, when the Congressional Budget Office reviewed this new proposal, because of these protections, they did not think this narrow exception would add any costs to the program at all. None. 

7. FICTION: “But Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and others have questioned whether the problem is lack of capital, or if there simply aren't enough creditworthy borrowers.”   

7. FACT: As Chairman Bernanke himself stated last month: “it seems clear that some creditworthy businesses--including some whose collateral has lost value but whose cash flows remain strong--have had difficulty obtaining the credit that they need to expand, and in some cases, even to continue operating.”

Indeed, the National Federation of Independent Business – which reported in a survey earlier this year that 45 percent of small businesses found that their borrowing needs were not being satisfied – stated recently that “the lending fund has the potential to help credit-worthy small businesses that have had difficulties obtaining credit, which is a good thing.” At the same time, the Small Business Jobs Act is designed specifically to address the range of problems facing small businesses – which is why it includes a series of targeted tax incentives for new investments, enhancements to SBA programs, and a new State Small Business Credit Initiative in addition to the SBLF. 

8. FICTION: “The administration's haziness about whom the program benefits has fueled comparisons to the $700 billion bailout known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.” 

8. FACT: The Administration has been very clear about the intent of this program: it is to stimulate lending to small businesses by providing capital and incentives to the community banks on Main Street that make these loans. Indeed, the design of the program has been very explicit in addressing this goal – the program is directed only at small banks, which do the overwhelming amount of their commercial lending to small businesses, and the benefits banks receive are linked directly to their lending to small businesses. Loans over $10 million or to businesses with revenues over $50 million would not be counted. 

9. FICTION: One source quoted in AP story stated, "What we lack here is oversight and true accountability." 

 

9. FACT: There is no doubt that the legislation establishing the Small Business Lending Fund would provide for strong oversight and accountability. As a new program established through new legislation separate from TARP, the Small Business Lending Fund – in addition to requiring a small business lending plan from participants and regular reports on the impact of SBLF capital – would be subject to robust oversight from the Treasury Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office. These two bodies have a strong record of expertise and experience suited to the task of overseeing this program. For example, Treasury Inspector General Eric Thorson – nominated by President Bush in 2007 – has substantial experience and existing responsibilities relevant to monitoring a program like the SBLF: overseeing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, conducting material loss reviews of Treasury-regulated financial institutions that cause losses over $25 million to the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund, and ensuring accountability for Recovery Act programs overseen by Treasury, to name a few.

Jen Psaki is Deputy Communications Director

Our Constitution and our democracy are based on the idea of an "informed electorate."  When the prerogatives, agenda, honor and conduct of the Fourth Estate become so soiled, we citizens must charge ourselves to be even more vigilant about the "news" we allow to enter our understanding of events and upon which we base our opinions.  

MeanMesa's compliments to the President.