Long weekend reading material

Since it's almost Thanksgiving, I'm lazy and instead of being original, I'm going to point out another original work someone else did.

Nate Silver, the King Of Numbers and future billionaire, has an interesting analysis of what type of president Barack Obama will be. Since much has been made by liberals about Obama's centrist and Clinton-friendly cabinet appointments, a lot of people are wondering whether Obama will govern from the left or the center. Nate answers that question with a nifty chart and numbered paragraphs. It's very good and you should read it. Again, it's right here and totally worth your time.

Charles or I might update over the long weekend, but if not, have a Happy Thanksgiving, and try not to laugh too hard in front of any Republican relatives you have when this is shown during football.

While You Were Sleeping...

If only it was all a dream.

I hope everybody had some nice dreams last night (except Ty, cuz he's a Vikings fan, and Vikings fans should have nightmares every night), because while you were sleeping the government was handing more of your money over to Wall St.

The Fed decided to "invest" $20 billion more in Citigroup late Sunday night without as much as a question, a plan or a peek at their breasts.

The government is also planning to absorb about $300 billion in troubled assets that may or may not pan out to be anything.

The $20 billion "investment" is in addition to the $25 billion that Citigroup already got from the bailout package just last month.

CEO's from the Big Three really need to take notes from the banks, because Citigroup exec's didn't even have to fly in on a private jet to get the money...the government delivered it right to their front door like Domino's Pizza.

I wonder what will happen while I sleep tonight?

Obama introduces new stimulus package

Pictured: Barack Obama delivering the stimulus package (or packages)

Today Barack Obama unveiled his Money Team to the world and announced another stimulus package. Normally this means either bailing out banks or mailing checks to everyone who filed a tax return last year, but apparently not this one. Obama says this will be used to create 2.5 million jobs, focusing on education, clean energy and infrastructure. So how much does it cost to pay 2.5 million people to build solar-powered schools that are all next to the highway? We don't know, because also unlike other stimulus packages, this one doesn't have a dollar amount yet, but Obama did say it needed to be big enough to "jolt" the economy. So it will cost elevnty billion dollars.

As for the auto industry, the president-elect said he wants to help, but they'll get their bailout when they have a plan that doesn't beghin and end with "bild moar ESS YOO VEE, kount muneez."

Guess who won't be foreclosed on this Christmas? EVERYONE

It's a Christmas miracle! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have heroically suspended their campaigns (of foreclosing on everyone's houses) for the holidays. From November 26 (the day before Thanksgiving) until January 9 (the day after the BCS National Championship Game) the former mortgage titans will take a time out from foreclosures and evictions.

What does this mean long term? Not much! All they're doing is putting off the inevitable, and by the time we actually have a new president, everyone will go back to being homeless again.

The companies plan to reduce interest rates for up to five years and lengthen repayment terms to as much as 40 years to trim monthly payments to roughly 38 percent of a homeowner’s monthly pretax salary. In some cases, borrowers may qualify to temporarily reduce the principal amount of the loan, which would be due without interest if the house is sold or refinanced.

“The Hope Now program is not going to be enough. It’s an incremental step,” said housing advocate John Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition in Washington. “Obviously, we’re pleased that they’re doing this, but absent a substantive foreclosure program, I wonder if this is this just another problem they’re leaving for the Obama administration.”

But still, Christmas. It's saved now.

Your guide to the Great Minnesota Recount of 08

The loser will be drowned in this, as is custom around here

Well, it's official. Today the Minnesota Senate recount has officially begun. Now Minnesota will be in the news for things other than lutefisk and terrible sports teams. But if you live somewhere else, you might not know what the heck is going on in that crazy chunk of ice that people somehow manage to live on. So here's your guide to the recount that's just like Florida in 2000, only not really.

Who are these people?
Norm Coleman, the Republican senator, and his challenger Al Franken, the star of the underrated show Lateline. Coleman won by 215 votes, which is close enough to trigger a state recount.

Who else?
There's Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who got in some hot water for this Hannity & Colmes appearance, in which he recycled an already-debunked talking point about missing ballots lost in someone's car. Then there's Mark Ritchie, who is our Katherine Harris, only in a shocking Coen brothers twist, he is actually a Democrat, and a man. He is a radical Muslim Acorn, like our new president, because he was at the Democratic National Convention, probably sitting next to Bill Ayers.

Why should anyone care?
It changes the makeup of the senate and gets the democrats closer to 60 seats if Franken wins. For Minnesotans, it means the beginning of the end of the most expensive and bitter senate campaign in state history, guaranteed to leave half the state angry with whoever wins. Also, Saturday Night Live trumps In Loving Color in something.

What are they looking for?
Voting irregularities. When the votes were originally scanned, it only counted votes where someone had correctly filled in the circle next to a candidate's name. Now, with a hand recount, they will count any mark on the ballot that signifies who someone would ovte for, including circling the candidate's name, putting a check by the candidate's name, or writing the candidate's name on your ballot in your own drool. This is expected to help Franken.

How long will this take?
Forever

Election day results keep pouring in

Convicted felon Ted "Senator" Stevens is not going back to Washington. The Anchorage Daily News is reporting that he trails his Democratic rival, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by over 2,000 votes, and they're actually running out of ballots to count in Alaska. And FiveThirtyEight, the rightest of all political prediction sites, has called the race for Begich.

The ADC does say that recount is "likely," but I'm not sure who would call for one. Stevens could, but all that would do is force the Republican caucus to expel him, which they clearly don't want to have to do. The GOP would rather he just lose outright and save them the embarrassment that would come from having to formally expel one of their senior members for being a felon, so I doubt they'll make as much noise as they have been in Minnesota.

Anyway, stay tuned for more information on votes that were cast two weeks ago.

Are You Kidding Me?

What is there to debate?

Now they get a conscience.

The "Big Three" helped build this nation by providing millions of jobs and creating the primary form of transportation for the country.

Now that the industry is on the ropes, it is actually finding trouble getting a lifeline from Congress.

Executives from the nations' big automakers are on Capitol Hill this week begging Congress for a $25 to $50 billion piece of the $700 billion pie slated for the financial sector.

The surprise is that after cutting that big check to bailout the banks without even a plausible explanation, Congress is refusing to bailout automakers.

So let me get this straight...Congress had little problem handing Henry Paulson up to $700 billion that he's already admitted he didn't know how to spend (just last week Paulson told Congress that he plans to shift rescue plan funds to loan consumers money because the initial plan isn't working), but they're having trouble handing a fraction of that money to an industry that is the lifeblood of many middle-class Midwestern communities?

Seriously? Is this some kind of joke?

Does Congress really want to put at least 1 million more people on the unemployment line while Wall Street fatcats skate out of the backdoor with minor injuries?

Can we just start 2009 now?