"Face The Nation" and "Meet the Press"

Meet the Press Transcript: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27873500/

Face the Nation video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4628191n

"Face The Nation" this morning:

I heard Austan Goolsbee, a member of Obama's Economic team talk about the auto makers. He said, it's reasonable that if companies want to avoid bankruptcy and they're having problems they restructure their company. And, part of that restructure often includes a bridge loan. However, and most importantly, the loan is contingent on a business plan. If the government is going to provide a bridge loan to the automakers because the current credit markets are too frozen to provide it, then its even more important to the taxpayers that we have a reasonable plan from the automakers.

The auto maker CEO's displayed their incompetency this week when they not only flew to Washington DC on private jets, but incomprehensibly did not have a plan in place. That's strange and ridiculous. So, I'm glad a plan is being required.

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Nancy Pelosi discusses the auto maker bailout. A person commented on the Face the Nation website. I don't like registering for the websites so I'm not going to comment, but this is the person's comment and what I would have said: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/23/ftn/main4628137.shtml

Comment: "Bob, another puff piece interview this time with Pelosi. After you two roundly criticized the Big 3''s management, you didn''t ask the next question. What about labor and the UAW? Was this a mistake, or were you told to dtay away from that topic? The biggest expense for any organization is labor. With union members making an unrealistic $100,000 or more per year, there has to be a reduction. Nor did you mention the job bank workers who get paid for doing nothing. If a plan emerges from the next administration that doesn''t touch excessive labor costs, we will know that Obama is tied to big labor. That won''t fly with a lot of people. You should have challenged Pelosi on that. Since you didn''t, your interview might as well have never happened."

My response: "I disagree...Nancy Pelosi has no obligation to make any comment about the unions. Its the auto makers who signed the union agreements and agreed with the current labor costs. The CEO's will be developing some kind of business plan to discuss their restructuring. Its incumbent upon them to work with the unions to create a workable solution for the company and the workers. I hope the unions will consider the companies a partner in regional economic survival. But, that's between them. The suggestion that the government - congress, even - should interfere with labor relations is the kind of government interference in the free market that will only compound the problems we currently face."

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Nancy Pelosi also discussed the 700 billion dollar bailout.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Let me talk to you just about the economy in general. So far, the Treasury, I guess, has used 250 billion of the 700 billion dollar financial bailout that passed the Congress. Yet the stock market seems to be in free fall, nobody seems to know what's going on. Do you have confidence in this plan that Secretary Paulsen has put forward. And do you have confidence in him generally?

NANCY PELOSI: Well, earlier this week, on Monday, the House Democrats called in Secretary Paulsen and Chairman Bernanke. We're all busy people, and I said to them 'I know you're busy and you're under pressure. So are we. We want to know what's going on with this rescue plan. It was supposed to instill confidence, we don't see that in the markets.' They maintain matters would be much worse if we had not made that infusion of cash. We thought that this money was going to circulate credit, put credit out there, so many more people could function in a business sense. And that doesn't seem to be happening. They tell us it will. We were very concerned about the fact that the legislation called very specifically for them to help with mortgage forebearance to help people stay in their homes. They've done nothing on that score. They've testified to that effect the next day in front of all of Congress. And I think they got the word that we want to see some results from this legislation. But, again, as they say, it would be worse without this. Now we have another installment of the money, and I think that Congress is going to demand some real accountability - I know they will - before we can proceed with other money.

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I no longer trust Henry Paulsen. Well, I only barely did before, but I was willing to give him a chance. And then, on "Meet the Press" I hear this exchange:

MR. BROKAW: Well, let, let me take this to the next phase, if I can. I want to share with you what Secretary Paulson had to say recently, November 13th, about the stabilization of the American banking system. Here's what he had to say.

(Videotape)

SEC'Y HENRY PAULSON: I believe the banking system has been stabilized. No one is asking themselves anymore is there some major institution that might fail and that we would not be able to do anything about it. So I think that is a positive.

Unidentified Man: There could be a failure of another major institution?

SEC'Y PAULSON: I, I got to tell you, I think our, our major institutions have been stabilized. I believe that very strongly.

(End videotape)

MR. BROKAW: And shortly after that statement, as we all know, Citibank, one of the largest financial institutions in the world, had its stock drop by 64 percent in a matter of days, hours. It was in free fall. It's now looking for additional government assistance.

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And then, there's this article from the New York Times yesterday:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/business/23citi.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

The headline is The Reckoning: Citigroup pays for the rush to risk.

Which leads to another sidenote. The article states:
"The bank’s downfall was years in the making and involved many in its hierarchy, particularly Mr. Prince and Robert E. Rubin, an influential director and senior adviser.

Citigroup insiders and analysts say that Mr. Prince and Mr. Rubin played pivotal roles in the bank’s current woes, by drafting and blessing a strategy that involved taking greater trading risks to expand its business and reap higher profits. Mr. Prince and Mr. Rubin both declined to comment for this article."

Who is Robert E Rubin? From the article:
"When he was Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration, Mr. Rubin helped loosen Depression-era banking regulations that made the creation of Citigroup possible by allowing banks to expand far beyond their traditional role as lenders and permitting them to profit from a variety of financial activities. During the same period he helped beat back tighter oversight of exotic financial products, a development he had previously said he was helpless to prevent.

And since joining Citigroup in 1999 as a trusted adviser to the bank’s senior executives, Mr. Rubin, who is an economic adviser on the transition team of President-elect Barack Obama, has sat atop a bank that has been roiled by one financial miscue after another."

And that's all for the sidenote.

*****

On "Meet the Press" James Baker suggests that it would help confidence if Obama and Bush could find even one thing that they agree on to help the economy for the immediate days and weeks ahead. I agree. Somebody's got to be in charge. Bush is President, but doing nothing. And Obama is President-elect and can't do anything. Unfortunately, they have differing views on solving the problem, but there must be ONE thing they could agree on.

"MR BAKER: May I say one other thing, Tom? I, I think that a lot of what we're seeing out there today is a lack of confidence, and the president-elect and, as a matter of fact, the current president have to face this problem over the next 60 days. It's unfortunate that we're in this interregnum of a transition, but I think that something very useful might even come out of the two of them sitting down together and addressing not the, not the midterm, not the mid and long-term problem that we face that was the subject of the president-elect's speech, but the--but facing--but addressing stability of our financial system and to see if there isn't something that they could do jointly, together, over the next 58 to 60 days that would help us make sure that the--that the financial system is stabilized and, and secure. Because if that goes under, then this thing is even, believe it or not, going to get worse. And I think just the mere fact of their sitting down together and seeing if there's not one thing that they could come together on would do a lot to restore confidence and, and remove the anxiety and fear that's out there."

"MR. BAKER: I agree. I agree 100 percent. We can only have one president at a time, but nothing would do more to create confidence and, and eliminate the fear and anxiety that's out there, particularly in the finance--in financial markets, than to see the incoming president and the outgoing president get together on a--on some sort of a proposal or, or program over the short term. I'm not talking about the, the mid, the mid-term or, or long-term correction of the economy, but something that would do a little more perhaps to make sure that our, that our banks don't continue to slide down and, and that would stabilize our financial system, which is critical."

*****

Tom Brokaw spoke to Joe Lieberman. I don't like Joe Lieberman anymore. I won't support him. Its not because he supported his friend John McCain. Its because he supported the campaign of his friend John McCain. He liked Sarah Palin, he said Obama wasn't experienced enough. He's lucky I wasn't deciding his fate because I would have kicked him out of the Democratic caucus. I would shun him. Another reason I'm not in charge of anything. I'm not temperate enough.

*****

In the roundtable discussion of Meet the Press, the group seems to think Baker's idea to get Bush and Obama to present something jointly is a good idea. Also, they think the unions should be part of the testimony on capital hill. I don't - let the company and union work it out themselves.