Things Worth Reading (20060712)

As of July 12, 2006:

Alterman: Robert Novak, traitor - Altercation - MSNBC.com: "The upshot here appears to be that Novak lied to everyone in order to betray his country on behalf of Rove and company. First he revealed the name of an active CIA officer, blowing any and all operations with which she has ever been involved, costing the country millions, and possibly endangering lives despite the specific request from the agency that he not do so.... "Harlow, the former CIA spokesman... warned Novak, in the strongest terms he was permitted to use without revealing classified information, that Wilson's wife had not authorized the mission and that if he did write about it, her name should not be revealed. Harlow... called Novak back to repeat that the story Novak had related to him was wrong and that Plame's name should not be used...." Next, [Novak] played Joan of Arc by insisting he would never reveal the names of his sources to Mr. Fitzgerald while simultaneously doing just that. Why in the world is The Washington Post continuing to stand by this scoundrel? Is it all because he’s a member of the club and insiders protect their own? It worked for Kim Philby and I’m beginning to think it’s working here too."

Andrew Tobias on the benefits of competition, Medicare, and drug prices: Yes, competition and bargaining are good things. Extending PhRMA's monopolies is not a good idea.

Brad Delong on the Bush administration's latest round of deficit spin games: In which I correctl predict that the press corps will fall for it once again.

Digby on the Problem with Joe Lieberman, and with Joe Lieberman Weekly: Digby is a national treasure.

SSRN-Secret Compensation by Iman Anabtawi: There's a question about whether businesses should honestly report the options they grant?

Paul Blustein: Smaller Budget Deficit Projected: Tax Cuts Credited; Long-Term Outlook Still Seen as Bleak Paul Blustein: White House Lowers '06 Deficit Estimate: Paul Blustein is best-of-breed among Washington Post reporters. He should be doing a better job.

Daniel Gross: More Irony Please: Daniel sees irony in a place where it's only there because he puts it in there himself.

Barry Ritholz: The Big Picture: Jobs Report Redux: "David Rosenberg has an even more sharp tongued riposte: 'The argument that the household survey "better captures the 'entrepreneurial spirit' of America" is a hoax of gargantuan variety'.... [P]lenty of people legitimately work at home. But anytime I ever knew anyone who was 'looking for work', they invariably described themselves as 'self-employed/independent contractors / freelancers'."

Barry Ritholz: The Big Picture: Making Insider Trading Legal: "I'm still digging out from what I missed while on vacation, but this obscure speech from SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins last week could not go unreported on. Jesse Eisinger rightly calls out this absurdity by a man who's job is ostensibly protecting investors."

NYO - Off the Record: The Wall Street Journal news reporters appear annoyed at the failure of the news editors to protect them from their own editorial page.

Khalilzad Is Unhappy: "U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Says Highly-Touted Baghdad Security Crackdown is Not Succeeding.... President Bush trumpeted a major joint US-Iraqi effort to improve security in Baghdad.... 'Q: Hello, Mr. Ambassador. So the security crackdown in Baghdad has been going on a couple of weeks -- what's your assessment of how well is it going? Is it succeeding?' 'AMB. KHALILZAD: It has not produced the results I expected so far. The plan is being reviewed, and adjustments will be made. No, it has not performed to the level that was expected'...

Worse than Selim the Sot: 'Justice Department Lawyer To Congress: "The President Is Always Right.".... Steven Bradbury, head of the Justice Department's office of legal counsel..'

Mercury Rising: Augusto Pinochet got $26M peddling cocaine: "Augusto Pinochet's $26m (£14m) fortune was amassed through cocaine sales to Europe and the US, the general's former top aide for intelligence has alleged. In testimony sent to Chilean Judge Claudio Pavez, Manuel Contreras alleges that Pinochet and his son Marco Antonio organised a massive production and distribution network, selling cocaine to Europe and the US in the mid-1980s. According to Contreras, once Pinochet's ally and now a bitter enemy, Pinochet ordered the army to build a clandestine cocaine laboratory in Talagante, a rural town 24 miles from Santiago... to produce... 'black cocaine' capable of being smuggled past drug agents in the US and Europe."

FT.com / Comment & analysis / Comment - Edwin Truman - Time is running out to rebuild the Fund: "The IMF has shaped a prosperous global economy and stable international financial system for more than 60 years. It is in eclipse. Time is running out to reform the Fund. At your first IMF annual meetings in Singapore in September, you face this big challenge. If you and your colleagues fail to address it, the adverse consequences for global economic and financial stability could be enormous. The Singapore meetings should produce concrete progress on a three-part package: meaningful governance reform, significant steps in policing the policies of the systemically important countries and a strengthened IMF role in crisis lending."

Kotlikoff: Is the United States Bankrupt?

The Washington Monthly: 'Riverbend gives us a clue in her description of the sectarian massacre that unfolded last Sunday in a Baghdad neighborhood.... [T]he reason for the nonresponse is probably pretty obvious: the Shia-controlled Interior Ministry had no interest in stopping the massacre and the U.S. military wasn't capable of stopping it. They "sat by" because there was nothing they could do to prevent the fighting and no one wanted to be caught in the middle of a full-blown (though neighborhood-sized) civil war when it finally broke out. Despite everything, I'd be in favor of staying in Iraq if anyone could provide a plan for success that seemed even minimally credible. But no one has. That leaves only one sensible option.'