Alberto Gonzales Wants to Tell the Truth?

First, some context. You don't need to watch the entire video to get the point.



The Wall Street Journal reports that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales “said he is writing a book to set the record straight about his controversial tenure as a senior official in the Bush administration." Assuming he won't compose the shortest memoir ever, Gonzales should truthfully answer this question: Has he had an amazing recovery from amnesia, or did he repeatedly lie to Congress?

Blagojevich Makes Illinois a Sad State

Yesterday, disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich held a press conference to announce his selection of former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama. The event ranged from sad to pathetic to embarrassing. U.S. Representative Bobby Rush, called to the podium to endorse Burris, chose to emphasize race as his reason for blessing the governor's choice. Rep. Rush could have chosen his words more carefully, particularly this quote: "So I applaud the governor for his decision, and I will ask you not to hang or lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer."

In an interview after the press conference, veteran Illinois Congressman Danny Davis spoke well of Roland Burris. Davis noted that Blagojevich had offered him the position, but he declined.

Rod Blagojevich is a digusting figure – the latest manifestation of the worst of politics. In another circumstance, Roland Burris might be a good choice. Burris is a man who thinks ahead. He likely has a plan to deal with the Senate Democratic leadership's resounding rejection, but how will he deal with public disapproval? In a poll this morning on Chicago's WGN TV, 70% of the respondents were against the Senate accepting his appointment.

The Increasingly Depressing Legacy of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney

Yesterday, 31 Republican and 4 Democratic Senators detoured Detroit's $14 billion bridge loan. The lame-duck free-trader in the White House favored granting the money. Why do I think that George W. Bush is desperately trying to avoid the chiseled-granite marker of Herbert Hoover? Are you surprised that Dick Cheney has a clue?

Update: Add another link to the chain of evidence of duplicity and incompetence: Reuters reports on a Bush administration $100 billion failure in Iraq.

Edited 12-14-08 at 12:44 pm.

Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

Visual acuity improves with hindsight. Still, it's hard to understand how American automobile manufacturers let their situation deteriorate to the point of crisis. The auto industry's woes are a replay of the collapse of the domestic steel industry in the 1980's. As John Hoeer documented in And the Wolf Finally Came – The Decline of the American Steel Industry, self-serving, short-sighted behavior by management and the union is bad for business. Both parties functionally ignored the obvious challenge that foreign steel manufacturers presented. By the time the steel industry and the United Steelworkers were done fighting over concessionary contracts, the game had changed.

More than 350,000 steel industry jobs have disappeared since 1977. Since the 1980's, most of the losses have been due to automated manufacturing processes that have multiplied productivity.

Profits for steel makers are closely tied to the numbers of autos sold. Automobile production costs reflect the price of steel. As domestic steel companies endured bankruptcy, reorganization, and fought for trade regulation, the Big 3 was there, watching from a front row seat.

Many Americans, including the Republican side of the U.S. Senate, believe that a $14 billion loan is not the best avenue to avoid a Detroit debacle. Some analysts believe otherwise. Parallels between the decline of domestic steel and auto companies don't necessarily translate into the same prescription for survival. Comparing the auto industry's plight to steel, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Len Boselovic recently wrote:

Even when the steel industry hit bottom, a few stable producers remained standing that had enough staying power to acquire their fallen foes, such as U.S. Steel's $1.3 billion acquisition of National Steel. Also, a major financial buyer emerged: financier Wilbur Ross, who lined up credit to purchase Bethlehem, LTV Steel and Weirton Steel.

The Big 3 have attracted some private capital in recent years, with Cerberus Capital Management acquiring a controlling stake in Chrysler last year for $7 billion. But there is no private source of capital to fund their way out of the recession now.

Boselovic interviewed Scott Paul, of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, who warned of far-reaching effects if General Motors, Chrysler, or Ford goes under:

The Washington, D.C.-based policy analyst said the auto industry has a much larger economic footprint than steel. Including dealers and parts suppliers, it employs more than 1.5 million workers, spends $156 billion annually on parts, materials and services and supports as many as one in 10 U.S. jobs. Car manufacturers are the biggest customers for steel, plastics, electronics and computer chips.

Today, the House of Representatives passed a bill to aid GM and Chrysler. Ford Motor Company does not face short-term liquidity problems, but supports loans to the other car companies.

The Senate will take up the issue on Thursday. Although President Bush favors the loan legislation, it's not likely to get to his desk in it's present form.

Bad News for Newspapers

The Associated Press (AP) wire service reported this evening that U.S. newspaper advertising sales revenue dropped 18% in the third quarter of 2008. A decline in print advertising has been a major factor in staff cuts at newspapers. Circulation numbers are down in most U.S. markets as more people read the news on the web. Internet ad revenues are a fraction of what papers used to receive for full-page spreads from department stores and automobile dealers.The AP is the world's largest news gathering operation, and is a cooperative owned by its member television, radio, and newspaper organizations. It serves approximately 1700 papers.

This week, the CNN News Summit in Atlanta will host 30 editors interested in learning more about CNN Wire, a new service looking to supplement, and possibly compete with the AP. They hope to convince cash-strapped newspapers that with AP subscription fees scheduled to rise in 2009, CNN's worldwide staff of 3,800 can provide news coverage at a lower cost.

Newspapers are facing a serious dilemma as they straddle the printing press and the rapidly moving world of Moore's Law. Distributing tons of paper is far more costly that moving electrons, but the savings realized by posting news on the internet is not enough to keep red ink off a paper's bottom line. They need a new business model, and until someone has a better idea, we need newspapers.