Those who Short Obama--Beware

I read this little piece of commentary in Slate this morning and it made me quite happy. So, despite the ardent predictions of doom by the radical right, the stock market has risen quite happily since the passage of the Healthcare bill. By the way, since I didn't write anything about it while it was happening, allow me to say:

Wooohoooo!

Look, like all ravingleftatics, I wanted a single-payer system--but getting anything through that morally bankrupt mass of congressmen who were pre-ejaculating in their excitement to quash this bill is an achievement. And, so it seems, due entirely to a partnership of Nancy Pelosi and President Obama. Well good on them. I don't like that the abortion thing managed to slip its way in there, but again, we can pass stronger measures specifically to protect a woman's right to choose. Or slip them in some other omnibus bill. How will this play in the midterms? I don't know, but it would have played disastrously if they'd failed to do it. And Joe Biden? This is a big fucking deal was spot on. Shows that Biden is more of a mensch than Bush ever was in even his wildest G.I. Joe fantasies.

Back to the subject at hand, and the point of this post. One of the most aggravating excuses libertarians give to demonstrate how the free market will grow exponentially only completely unfettered is that strict regulations will encourage capital investors to flee to less regulated places. I can only imagine this being true in one situation. A situation just like 2007 where the market was inflating wildly because of fraud, negligence and non-existent due dilligence. Indeed, when money is easy, go ahead and invest it elsewhere. It doesn't hurt the U.S. and it helps build countries that really need the additional capital. Look at Spain, look at Greece, look at Dubai! Oh wait, look at the collapsing economies of Europe. Look at the people who are suggesting we dissolve the EU and go back to individual currencies. If companies are deciding to invest their money elsewhere, it's time to take your own money and put it under the pillow.

If accounting has taught me anything, it's taught me that despite our faults, the U.S. economy is one of the most protected in the world. And the only other places where anyone would feel comfortable investing their money, are places with similar rules. England, Australia, Japan, Canada. Think about it, where else would you put your money if you wanted it to be safe? Somewhere where the risk is so high it could disappear tomorrow? Regulations establish just cause for market confidence. So there is no basis for the idea of capital flight. The only safe economies in which to invest your money are well regulated economies. Like any risk assessment, the returns for speculation can be high, but then, you get what you pay for. People are looking for a safe place to park their money. Pruning regulations won't help anyone right now. Especially the third and second worlds, who are desperate to instill confidence in their own economies.

The Bill Goes to Vote and Salon Religious Girl

So, I'll be honest. Studying for finals, and working hard--I haven't been too deep into the healthcare bill as it stands. My lefty freinds at FDL (I use the term "friends" loosely, since they don't know who I am) hate the new bill and want the Dems to sink it. The Times came out for it--but let's face it--the Times came out for the Iraq War.

Me? I don't know. Is it dumb to write a post about being on the fence? Maybe. But really, this post is about the Senate--actually working.

The sausage making that creates bills has been well written about. So I won't go there--let me just say this:

Dems--herein lies the lesson. You broke that filibuster, you got that bill through, and you'll get it passed. Good or ill, this is what you can do when you stand up to obstructionism. Well done. I sincerely hope this will be the turning point for the Democrats. The bill is full of nasty compromises, but the sheer symbolism of its possible passage is a big deal. Next stop net neutrality, habeas corpus and the rule of law, environmental reform, and my personal fave, the passage of Dodd's Financial Reform Bill.

One other comment on a totally different topic. Ada Calhoun at Salon wrote a piece about being religious in New York City. Basically, it goes like this: She's a smart, well read, girl living in Brooklyn and she's embarrassed to admit to her friends that she's a Christian. Her friends are angry liberals, and she fully admits to their reasons for their religious choice as being valid and real to them. Interestingly, the firestorm of angry posters, points out what she's complaining about--a lot of very angry atheists claiming that "too bad, so sad" that she feels persecuted when the vast majority of the country--and the city for that matter are religious and are doing the persecuting.

I feel sorry for Ada, no one wants to feel ostracized. And I'd rather have Ada in my liberal leftatic corner, than hurling acid at babymommas at an abortion clinic, but I think an acknowledgement is necessary here. The angry posters have a point--New York ain't the bible belt. Ada might have to face up to some ostracisim, but her friends are her friends, and if they really care about her--they'll love her for who she is regardless of her religion. She's not going to get stoned, or turn into a pillar of salt. At most, she'll get made fun of, at most, some angry jackass at a party will yell at her. But that jackass is a jackass because he's a jackass, not because he's an atheist. And really, Mr. Jackass, probably just wants to have a rousing ideological debate--not to condemn her to a hell he doesn't believe in.

That said, it was a very nice, thoughtful piece on a piece of New York society. I enjoyed it. Well done lady.