WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. News & Comment by Don Hughes. October 6, 2008: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is 451 pages long.  Unfortunately about 338 of those pages have nothing to do with economic stabilization and everything to do  with buying votes.  For a look at the full version go here: http://tinyurl.com/4utcew.

According to the Senate committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the stated purpose of the legislation is to provide "up to $700 billion to the Secretary of the Treasury to buy mortgages and other assets that are clogging the balance sheets of financial institutions and making it difficult for working families, small business, and other companies to access credit, which is vital to a strong and stable economy."   For the full summary go here: http://tinyurl.com/4g5uao.

Don't be fooled by the $700 billion price tag.  As of September, the government had already spent $900 billion in rescues and  loans: $300 billion for the FHA to refinance failing mortgage loans; $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; $200 billion for TAF loans to banks;  $87 billion to JPMorgan Chase for providing financing to bankrupt Lehman Brothers, $85 billion for AIG; $29 billion for JPMorgan Chase's buyout of Bear Sterns;  $4 billion in grants to local communities (see FACTBOX). 

Oops, and then today the Federal Reserve expanded it's bank refinancing operation listed as $200 billion above to $900 billion.  That brings the total, so far, to $2.3 trillion (would an exclamation point be redundant?).

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. News & Comment by Don Hughes. October 5, 2008: Personally I believe in free markets and limited government regulation. However, as the following discussion – which is based on The $55 Trillion Question in the 13 October 2008 FORTUNE and How to Burn the Speculators in the September/October 2008 Mother Jones – shows, there is a significant difference between 'limited' and 'no'.

WPCNR NEWS COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. September 25, 2008  UPDATED 11:45 P.M. UPDATED September 27, 2008 9 P.M: Behold, Americans,  through the witchcraft of negotiation by our master congress, the great statemans, George W. Bush , and the  cooperation of greatest  deliberative legislative body and congressional leaders, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, and our own Chuck Schumer -- known to the  free world, America is again on its way to recovery Sunday evening.  Our government watchdogs have brought America back on the road to prosperity in 7 days after just two hours of negotiation Friday,  (one day less than when God created the world),  a lot of handwringing and postering by Republicans  in the House of Representatives scared for their seats, and now on Sunday evening they have brought us prosperity in our time.

The Bail-Out -- as Senator Pelosi called it "A Buy-In" is a done deal. Now there is a little nervousness about congress passing it. President Bush will even address the nation before the markets open on Monday morning.

Look out, world, that nasty old recession, the economic wreck is over! They're just wranglin on who gets the credit.

 Remember, in a joint agreement announced at 3 PM by the Associated Press, after two hours of negotiation Friday, our congress, as predicted by WPCNR this morning has reached an agreement on how the troubled security firms, banks, investment firms of all kinds will have their toxic assets made “whole” viable and good again through cash from congress. Whole lot of that lean, mean green is on the way!

And then...and then....and THEN --  at  11:30 P.M. Friday, that deal appeared to be on the rocks with Republicans balking. But this is simply more ploy, more theatre.  Do you think John McCain just might receive credit for bringing the Republican side around to "save" the deal, and appear to be "the leader" who brought the sides together -- do you think?  With the failure of Washington Mutual conveniently happening the same time the Republicans were balking, and the 11% drop in housing starts being announced too, the pressure is really on. After all how can the Republicans really take credit for creating economic Armageddon? Now it looks as if Big Mac just isn't going to get any credit at all. But anyway...did we really think this was going to be voted down? Really?

WPCNR NEWS COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. September 25, 2008: In Congress's 7 Day Drill, reminiscent of an Eli Manning Super Bowl Drive,  the "Hurry-Up-and-Save-Our-Fortunes-Stop-the-Bleeding-Save the Economy-Stop-the-Madness"  hearings on the Wall Street bailout Wednesday, after some 10 or more hours of hearings in two days, of all the Senators and Congresspersons wringing hands, taunting  the money white knights, Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman  and Henry Paulson, the Treasury “Czar,”  one congressman showed he is by far the smartest man in Congress.

Congressman Gregory Meeks, Democrat from the 6^th District in Good Old  Jamaica, Queens, was the last questioner and the man who asked the last question in the Financial Services Committee Hearing Wednesday. Mr. Meeks had the business smarts to ask Ben and Hank what assurance  there is that the $700 Billion would actually be used by the financial institutions to give out loans instead of using the money to reward stockholders, keeping the bailout money on their balance sheets to attract investment and raise their stock price.

WPCNR NEWS COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. September 24, 2008: It was very revealing watching the Senate Banking Committee Hearings yesterday on C-Span. A little too revealing. Though our Senators huffed and puffed, out local representatives expressed self-righteous indignation, but indicated Paulson’s Ploy was going to go through, perhaps by Friday.

The Senate Hearing on the Bailout In Session Tuesday

WPCNR News Commentary. By John F. Bailey. September 23, 2008: Observation of the Bush Countdown Clock is like watching a clock on a bomb in a James Bond movie.  As the worst, arguably most corrupt and Machiavellian presidency in the history of the country enters its final 120 days, the worst, most unintelligent  congress in the country’s history, huffs, puffs, blusters and refuses to see what is happening to the country.  

WPCNR MR. & MRS. & Ms. White Plains Poll. August 21, 2008 UPDATED August 22, 2008: This week, ground was broken on a new 14-unit "affordable housing" project on Minerva Place. Since this and projects like it have been funded with contributions to the affordable housing fund made by developers who have opted to "buy out" of building actual affordable units in their projects, WPCNR wondered how the populace feels about this continued policy of subsidizing projects like this. The last two projects took some $1.1 Million in city money. The Minerva Place project will use another $1 Million. Some of the apartment units themselves  built previously approach $300,000 per unit to build, and generally pay the developer a developer's fee, and provide the land at reduced cost.

Paul Wood, the Mayor's Executive Officer, wrote WPCNR saying to make clear no tax payer dollars were used in these two products, that all money came from the Affordable Housing Fund, that is funded by developer contributions in lieu of building affordable units. However, tecnically it is city money to use as the council sees fit within the purposes described by the Affordable Housing Fund. 

The affordable housing is meant for so-called "workforce" housing for police, teachers, city employees, then it is thrown open to every one else.  How do Mr. and Mrs. White Plains feel about this on-going effort?  Choose from the following choices:

WPCNR LETTER FROM SAO PAULO. By Captain Andy.  August 10, 2008: Hi John, here are some comments on Sao Paulo.Sao Paulo is the industrial center of Brazil.  What Rio de Janeiro is to  fun, Sao Paulo is to business.  It is a rather large city with a total  population of around 20 million when the suburbs are included.  There are very modern parts of the city, and there are pockets of poverty.

Sao Paulo Sunset.  

Photo by Captain Andy, used with permission.

WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS POLL. August 4, 2008: Should the legislature continue expanding gambling in New York State as a means to bailing the state out based on last week's dire financial forecasts? (And sparing the legislature of the task of spending wisely) What do Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains think? Are we tired of Connecticut and Atlantic City getting all the action?

Vote if you approve of "Anything Goes" Casinos for the state of New York -- then come back tomorrow and pick where Westchester should have it's casino -- after all Westchester's where the money is. Pick from the following locations:

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. News Comment By John F. Bailey. July 29, 2008: As WPCNR reported exclusively last week, (no inside stuff, no informed sources, just reading the certiorari refunds – am I the only person who reads them), the White Plains downtown growth not only has come to a standstill, but the value of its “thriving” business properties in the downtown, if you go by the expert analysis of the Board of Assessment Review awards last week, is in decline. The certioraris  totaling over $500,000 off the assessment roll,  awarded last week are disturbing.

Though White Plains reports it made its sales tax numbers in the last quarter of 2007-2008, and has topped $45 Million, things are not right.

Hasn’t White Plains been in a Renaissance for five years? Or is Renaissance just a feel-good word? Show me the money.

How can this be?

WPCNR THE DAILY BAILEY. By John F. Bailey. July 28, 2008: The school district has engaged a consultant, Hazard, Young & Attea Associates,  at a cost of $70,000 to begin a search for a new Superintendent of Schools for the City of White Plains. This will begin with a series of community input meetings in September to find out what kind of person and leadership skills the community feels the district needs in a new Superintendent. WPCNR feels, from a perspective of eight years of covering the school district, this is a totally unneccessary expenditure (like the scoreboard purchase approved last week), symptomatic of the Board of Education blithe blatant spending policies and failure to to look to where White Plains education is going.

With School taxes poised for a record one-time increase next April (justified by the economic inflation forces at work this summer), the school board should know what they need.

I have taken it upon myself to write the first advertisement for the school district personnel consultant for a "Savior of Schools,"  for not what the school district would like in a Superintendent, but what the district needs -- something unique for school district management. Here it goes:

WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS POLL. July 24, 2008 : Today is the day White Plains cabbies who are not affiliated with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades may enroll in the union with a waiver of the initiation fee at the union's headquarters at 14 Saw Mill River Road between 4 and 7 PM.  To date, city hall has not revealed how many gypsy cabs were nabbed, impounded and fined within the last year. Perhaps none, or one, otherwise, why wouldn't they have that statistic?

However, the questions raised at the union news conference last Saturday about fares, gypsy cabs, taxi stands and the heretofore unreported deliberations of the city's Taxi Committee raise a lot of issues that anyone who has ever experienced the ambience and aggravation of the White Plains taxi system may want to weigh in with their opinions.

In our never-ending quest to involve Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains in the issues of their city, since no one else does, we present the following Taxi Poll that seeks to get what the public would like in a taxi system. The system should not be to the advantage of the cab companies, the drivers, or the city's convenience, it should be for the convenience of the public which is a concept most public agencies do not get, based on WPCNR's observations.

To that end we present the following revolutionary options at the right -- take your pick, Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains and let the bureaucrats know what you want -- not that they will listen.

WPCNR Letter From Rio. By Captain Andy. July 22, 2008: John, well you wanted a report on the ground from your man in Rio. Here it is:

Rio from the Statue of Christ The Redeemer. Photo by Captain Andy. Used with permission.

Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana, Ipanima, the names are all so melodic, and cause  a flood of romantic notions to fill the mind.  So what is Rio really like?  Well here is the inside story. 

WPCNR The Saturday Bailey. NEWS COMMENT by John F. Bailey. July 19, 2008: The Associated Press reported Friday that Barack Obama raised $52 Million in June and Senator McCain about half that. Overall since Mr. Obama started his campaign he has raised $340 Million to Mr. McCain’s $132 Million.

Since most Americans are receiving $1,200 in stimulus package checks from the government, and by cracky, this inconvenient recession has not ended yet, could it be that the appetite for fundraising demonstated by the two Presidential candidates is keeping America from moving forward by taking discretionary spending money out of their pockets and putting it into candidates’ pockets?