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Reuters blog archive
from Nicholas Wapshott:
It’s not Watergate, it’s Whitewater
The trifecta of scandals -- Benghazi, the IRS and snooping on journalists -- that has broken upon the heads of the Obama administration is as bad as Watergate. No it isn’t, says Bob Woodward, whose reputation was made by doggedly pursuing the source of a burglary of the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Hotel. No it isn’t, says Carl Bernstein, who shares the bragging rights for toppling President Richard Nixon. Oh yes it is, says Peggy Noonan, the Republicans’ mother superior, writing, “We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate.”
Really? How about the Iran-Contra scandal in 1986 that besmirched the honesty of President Ronald Reagan, for whom Noonan used to write speeches? Perhaps she penned Reagan’s first denial, “We did not -- repeat -- did not trade weapons or anything else for hostages, nor will we,” or maybe his amnesiac mea culpa four months later, “I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.” Strange the tricks age plays on the memory. And I am not talking about Reagan.
If you were a precocious five-year-old at the time, you would have to be 32 to recall the Iran-Contra scandal, in which, with or without Reagan’s say-so, administration officials, in defiance of Congress’s clearly stated wishes, secretly sold weapons to America’s perennial enemy, the terrorist state of Iran, then passed the proceeds to Nicaraguan insurgents. Even if you were the smartest kid you would have to be over 41 to remember Watergate and, in President Gerald Ford’s words, the “long national nightmare” that led to Nixon’s resignation ahead of certain impeachment.
Unless investigations prove that President Barack Obama’s actions or inactions led to the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi, or that he directed the Justice Department to subpoena the phone records of 20 AP reporters or that he directed the IRS to investigate Tea Party groups, the current scandals are not Watergate, or even Iran-Contra.
from MacroScope:
Letter of the Lew: Treasury comments on change of guard at troubled IRS
Here are comments from a U.S. Treasury official on Secretary Jack Lew’s meeting with incoming Acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel this morning, following a scandal of political targeting that cost the previous acting commissioner his job. Treasury officials knew about the problem as early as last June, according to this report in the Wall Street Journal:
Secretary Lew met with incoming Acting IRS Commissioner Werfel this morning and directed him to conduct a thorough review of the organization in an effort to restore public confidence in the IRS and ensure the organization is providing excellent and unbiased service to the taxpayer. Secretary Lew also requested that he take actions immediately as appropriate, and that within the next 30 days, Werfel report back to the President and him about progress made in three areas: 1) ensuring staff that acted inappropriately are held accountable 2) examine and correct any failures in the system that allowed this behavior to happen and 3) take a forward-looking systemic view at the agency’s organization.
from Unstructured Finance:
Outrage isn’t asleep it’s just gone underground
By Matthew Goldstein and Jennifer Ablan
Where is the outrage? A year ago, the Occupy Wall Street movement was just getting started, with mass demonstrations across the nation against corporate malfeasance and greed.
But now it's been crickets and we don't mean the game. There's been no marching on Wall Street nor on the steps of Capitol Hill since the latest revelations of bad behavior in the financial sector. The populist uproar has been rather sedate in the face of the deepening scandal that big banks rigged Libor--a benchmark lending rate; JPMorgan Chase’s mounting losses from disastrous credit bets and a possible cover-up attempt; and the disappearance of customer funds from Iowa futures broker PFGBest, discovered after its founder tried to commit suicide and left a note outlining a 20-year fraud.
from MacroScope:
‘What’s it got to do with me?’ Turning a blind eye to Libor lies
Barclays was fined a record $450 million last month by U.S. and UK authorities for manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, the interest rate that underpins transactions worth trillions of dollars worldwide, between 2005 and 2009. More than a dozen banks are expected to be drawn into the scandal, which is being probed by authorities in North America, Europe and Japan.
Below is the fascinating account of a former bank staff who worked alongside money market traders on just how it all went down:
from Oddly Enough Blog:
You’re lacking in your hacking!
Lamar, get in my office!
What's up, Boss?
Look, you've had enough time! I told you if you want to make it in journalism, you need to hack into some voice messages, and I want to see what you've got. We're on deadline!
I think you'll be pretty happy, Boss. Look at this one. "It's me. Pick up tuna fish and vodka on the way home."
from Oddly Enough Blog:
Sometimes the blog just writes itself…
Okay, these numbers just make no sense to me. The latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows that 82 percent of Americans now disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job.
So wait. You're telling me that 18 percent of Americans DO approve of how they're doing? Seriously?
from Oddly Enough Blog:
Throw it! What are you waiting for?
Mr. Blog Guy, let me say we appreciate you cooperating with this Senate investigation into journalistic practices. I know you're a busy blogger.
Anything I can do to help Senator. I'm happy to testify.
Now, during your years as a wire service reporter, can you give us an idea what your daily expenses were like? Remember, you are under oath.
from India Insight:
DMK, Congress to untie the knot?
By Annie Banerji
Cast as the villain in high profile graft cases and reeling from its huge loss in the Tamil Nadu state elections in May, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) appears to be in freefall.
The party has declared an emergency meeting in the state capital to discuss potential strategies regarding the recently incarcerated daughter of the DMK chief, Kanimozhi and the party's strained ties with the ruling Congress party, itself struggling to shake off its scam-ridden identity and public resentment for its lack of initiative and inability to tackle corruption.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
This just in, Arnold has a driveway!
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Blog Guy, I was stunned by the news that actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child with a member of his household staff.
We were all shocked, believe me. We expect more than that from people in entertainment and politics, don't we?
from India Insight:
Indian politicians and the art of the tell-all memoir
Along with the likes of Shakespeare, Britain has a longstanding literary tradition of a different kind -- the explosive political biography, memoir or diary.
Britons can gorge on countless books of their lawmakers who wash their dirty linen -- and other people's linen -- in public. The diaries of Alan Clark in the 1980s gave readers a glimpse of the tears and infighting in Margaret Thatcher’s government as well as his own amorous conquests.
