Ward on Words

My ire level is raised this morning - and if I had ever been able to absorb the color-coded messages of our national security alert system, I'd apply the most stressed-out federal color to my own particular sense of security right now. But in my mind, the colors of our national security alert system remain blended in a melange of beige; thus I'll label my color red. Not commy red (that's been out of style since The Wall came tumbling down) - not red-state red, though I'm on board, this morning, with their loathing of government. I'm seeing rage-red today. Flaming hot flickers of red hot rage. Enough to make me want to raise a fling a bunch of verbal pitchforks at people. My ire level is raised today simply because I made the mistake of perusing the news. Here's a sampling of what I've read: WaPo's Bonuses beat profits as bank industry imploded . A news story (but didn't we know this already?) informing us that the NY AG has determined...

According to a story in today's Wall Street Journal , the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) will issue a report today critical of the Troubled Relief Asset Plan's actions to date. TARP was designed by the Treasury Department to "protect and recapitalize our financial system as we work through the stresses in our credit markets." Today's report, says the Wall Street Journal, calls the bailout effort "mismanaged." Mismanaged or not, TARP makes me realize that I want to recharter myself as a bank. For it's as a bank that you become a recipient of the TARP's outstanding generosity. If you look at the organizations that have been granted money from TARP, you see familiar names like Etrade, Goldman Sachs, Capital One, Bank of New York, Northern Trust, Wells Fargo - you can find the list here . I encourage you to check it out. The list of companies is a list of the money guys - the investment companies that paid out huge salaries to people ...

Last week, when the world was abuzz over the expletive-laden discourse Rod Blagojevich had engaged in over a vacant U.S. senate seat, a terrifying news story happened concurrently that was relegated to the sidelines, if noted at all by the news media. I’m talking about the release of the first Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) for Economic Stabilization. You can download the report here . The COP report opens immediately with the acknowledgement that the four members of the panel are not necessarily working in sync. And you don’t have to get far into the report to come to that conclusion: on page two of the report, it’s clear that Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-Dallas) does not approve of this report. In a press release filled with vagueness, Hensarling tries to explain his opposition to the report. He states his goal is “to do whatever I can to ensure that [TARP] works.” And right now, the action he is taking is to vote against the first COP report. I read his brief...