Daily Flog: Future heads toward a sharp loss; robot monkeys mesmerized by TV

Posted by Harkavy at 8:33 AM, October 10, 2008

The only market in New York City still functioning is the farmers' market in Union Square — at least it'd better be when I stop by later this morning to buy something from Apple Mary.

Wall Street? Don't even go there. Yesterday was its worst day since 1987 or 1937 or 1934, or 1642, depending on which panic-stricken "expert" you listen to.

Things continue to be "unprecedented" — a word that, as I've noted, pops up everywhere but unfortunately is not overused. What could be scarier than that? The Wall Street Journal trumpets one of its excellent stories this morning this way:

Depression? How about psychosis? Everywhere but in China, which stands to take over the world economy a lot sooner than expected. Only there are government officials able to step back and watch while Wall Street burns down and the fire spreads elsewhere. See McClatchy's 'China sits out global crisis, focusing on own growth.'

Here? Nothing but panic in the financial markets, and the shit's already rolling downhill. Return to America's best newspaper chain and see McClatchy's Kevin G. Hall: 'American heartland is suffering from Wall Street's woes.'

As for people who have to wear ties every day, the Washington Post's "Fears of Recession Deepen Rout: Stock Decline Sweeps Through All U.S. Sectors and Pummels Asian Markets," is stuffed full of paragraphs like this one:

Don't go farther south into lower Manhattan than the Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill in the Village, where you can see the mysterious artist Banksy's exhibit of robotic pet hot dogs.

Read the N.Y. Times piece "Where Fish Sticks Swim Free and Chicken Nuggets Self-Dip," if you want, but stop by for what might be the most pertinent image: a robot rhesus monkey sitting with headphones on, mesmerized by a TV screen. He's supposed to be watching porn, but he's probably watching the BBC.

Perhaps the person who has the best perspective on the situation is Seth Glickenhaus, who was around during the Great Depression's inception. At 94, he's still picking stocks for his investment firm.

Exactly two years ago today, Barron's Sandra Ward extracted this overall analysis — mostly accurate — from Glickenhaus (read it at seekingalpha.com):

OK, so companies aren't better managed and they aren't adjusting faster. But Glickenhaus makes you think: You want to end the war in Iraq? Maybe we'll be too broke and will have to bring our troops home. Maybe when they get back here, they'll have to defend D.C. against a new Bonus Army. Maybe they'll want to stay over there rather than return to the U.S. only to find their families sitting on the curb after losing their homes. No, they'll surely want to get out of Iraq, even if it means they'll have to go on guard duty at banks here.

Only slightly less fearful than Iraq is the global panic, because there aren't any more poorhouses for us to go to. Go back to yesterday's news and read "Fear Trumps Greed as Market Woes Paralyze Economies," in which Bloomberg's Matthew Benjamin and Michael McKee deftly parse the psychology of the horrorshow "feedback loop" (as the BBC and others call it):

There's plenty more in this adroit story:

So who should take a stab at trying to be the new FDR? Loudmouth stock expert Jim Cramer, as glib in print as he is on TV, opts for Barack Obama over John McCain. In his recent New York piece "Wall Street, Fall 2009," Cramer writes:

That may well be, but America is a depression, not a recession.

Before the newspaper industry tanks and while I still have my computer, I've typed these headlines . . .

NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

OpenSecrets.org: 'Wall Street's Favorite Candidates'

Slate: 'Who Died and Made Bloomberg King of New York?'

N.Y. Post: ' "PEOPLE HAVE LOST ALL FAITH': 678-PT. DOW FALL PUTS YEAR'S LOSS NEAR 40 PERCENT'

Wall Street Journal: 'Futures Head Toward Sharp Losses'

N.Y. Daily News: 'With stock market falling, advice on what to do about 401(k)'

Wall Street Journal: 'U.S. Weighs Backing Bank Debt'

Wall Street Journal: 'At Morgan Stanley, Outlook Darkens; Stock Tumbles 26 Percent'

CNN: 'Smoke detected at Japanese nuclear plant'

Wall Street Journal: 'Finland's Martti Ahtisaari Wins Nobel Peace Prize'

N.Y. Post: 'PRAYING FOR ALMIGHTY $$'

Guardian (U.K.): 'Markets crash: How panic spread around the globe'

Wall Street Journal: 'Economists Expect Crisis to Deepen'

Guardian (U.K.): 'Huge bonuses for City high flyers will be hard to rein in'

CongressDaily: 'Senator urges suspension of Iraq publicity contracts'

Wall Street Journal: 'McCain Campaign Is at Odds Over Negative Attacks' Scope'

Wall Street Journal: 'AIG Increases Borrowings While Racing to Sell Assets'

China Digital Times: 'China Says it Won't Torture Guantanamo Detainees'

Detroit News: 'College students face barriers to voting'

N.Y. Times: 'States' Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal'

N.Y. Post: 'BAGHDAD GOES BOOM - IN STOX'

Daily Flog: Celebrity roast of Lehman on Capitol Hill

Posted by Harkavy at 7:52 AM, October 6, 2008

Passing through the four stages of our grief with lightning speed, Wall Street became Fall Street, then Wail Street, and now Bail Street.

But there's never enough money to satisfy these self-proclaimed victims. Late last week, the Wall Street Journal's Robert Frank reported, in "Wealthy Are Afraid They'll Run Out of Money":

Now it's time for others to look closely. Who will lose the blame game? Setting up today's scheduled grilling of ex-Lehman's ex-CEO Richard Fuld by Henry Waxman's House committee, this morning's Wall Street Journal peers into the what exactly happened at the bankrupt investment bank's HQ on Avenue of the Americas.

We were fooled, yes, but we won't get Fuld again — assuming he even shows up. As of late last week, Waxman was still stonewalled on his September 18 request for Fuld's and Lehman's e-mails and memos. Check out the PDF of Waxman's scathing September 26 letter to Fuld.

But others already have some details on who and what moved in Lehman's bowels.

In "The Two Faces of Lehman's Fall: Private Talks of Raising Capital Belied Firm's Public Optimism," Carrick Mollenkamp, Susanne Craig, Jeffrey McCracken, and Jon Hilsenrath reveal inside dealings and double-talk at the investment bank's HQ.

That story's just a biopsy. There's enough blood and garbage on the Street to keep crime-scene investigators enthused for years. Is there a forensic proctologist in the house?

For one thing, despite this weeper from the WSJ — 'The Lehman Stock Slide Hits Home: Employees Face $10 Billion in Losses' — Fuld and others have stashed cash where the sunshine laws don't shine.

There's a big difference between money on paper and cash in the wallet. Yes, the value of Fuld's stock cache has bottomed out. But Fuld cashed in for more than $50 million during only two days of insider sales of Lehman stock before it began its last precipitous slide in 2007, according to SEC records (see illustration above).

Wonder if Waxman will bring up that profit-taking with Fuld later today. As Reuters noted yesterday:

Don't expect that hearing to be televised, so instead of browsing porn, watch Lehman's jerkoff CEO on the live stream on C-SPAN.

But first . . .

NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

Reuters: 'British commander says war in Afghanistan cannot be won'

Bloomberg: 'Fuld May Blame Confidence Crisis for Lehman's Fall at Hearing'

Agence France Presse: 'JPMorgan blamed for Lehman collapse in court documents: report'

Wall Street Journal: 'Bailout's Bid to Limit Executive Pay Will Be Tough to Realize'

N.Y. Times: 'Full of Doubts, U.S. Shoppers Cut Spending'

Reuters: 'Spermicide Coke, stale chips research wins Ig Nobels'

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: 'Chairman Waxman Announces Hearings on Financial Meltdown'
Oct. 6: Lehman bankruptcy and AIG bailout, Day One
Oct. 7: Lehman bankruptcy and AIG bailout, Day Two
Oct. 16: Regulation of hedge funds
Oct. 22: Breakdown of credit rating agencies
Oct. 23: Role of federal regulators

Washington Post: 'Artful Dodging Trumps Open Evasion, Studies Show: Palin Criticized After Avoiding Questions'

IOL (South Africa): 'Racism: the elephant in the US polling booth'

L.A. Times: 'Frank talk of Obama and race in Virginia'

BBC: 'Saudi cleric favours one-eye veil'

Wall Street Journal: 'The Lehman Stock Slide Hits Home: Employees Face $10 Billion in Losses'

Haaretz: 'Israeli investment bankers find Wall St. tumble ruins Rosh Hashanah'

N.Y. Times: '11 Die as U.S. Force Raids House in Iraqi City and Man Detonates a Suicide Vest'

IRIN: 'IRAQ: Move to allow doctors to carry guns provokes mixed reaction'

L.A. Times: 'Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviator'

BBC: 'Somalia is 'most ignored tragedy'

Washington Post: 'Registration Gains Favor Democrats: Voter Rolls Swelling in Key States'

New York: 'Wall Street, Fall 2009: Things look grim at the moment, but where will we be a year from now? That depends on who’s president.'

BBC: 'Two Black Hawks down in Baghdad'

Caucasian Knot (Moscow): 'Authorities in Ingushetia terrorize the population'

BBC: ' "Milkshake murderer" loses appeal'

N.Y. Times: 'Microwaved Chicken Isn't Necessarily Cooked Chicken'

Wall Street Journal: 'China to Allow Short Selling on Trial Basis'

The Age (Australia): 'OJ Simpson isolated in jail "for his own safety" '

N.Y. Daily News: 'Friends of Mayor Bloomberg make contributions to a third party'

Jurist: 'Fraud charges laid against USAID subcontractor in Afghanistan'

China Digital Times: 'Chinese Cities Wake up to a New Superfood: Yak Milk'

N.Y. Post: 'SUIT SLAMS DONUT-COP "CRULLER-TY" '

N.Y. Daily News: 'Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie seem happy together in NYC'

Daily Flog: America's King Henry; money bailout for Wall Street but no bailout from Mets' bullpen

Posted by Harkavy at 8:58 AM, September 29, 2008

Please recall what Mr. Dooley said a century ago: "Trust everybody, but cut the cards." Especially when people like Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are wheeling and dealing.

Under the bailout, we won't need to appoint Mike Bloomberg our economic czar. (He'll be free to change NYC's law and remain our mayor.)

Paulson would no longer be just another Cabinet member. He would become King Henry.

That's not hyperbole if you believe that bullshit walks while money talks. Your money. Which he would use, at his discretion (not yours or your elected officials') to bail out his Wall Street pals. As the N.Y. Post puts it: "YOUR $700 BIL TO THE RESCUE."

Paulson's control over your money would be unprecedented. In "Treasury Would Emerge With Vast New Power," the N.Y. Times's Floyd Norris writes:

You become the Belgian Congo, and he becomes your King Leopold, controlling your financial resources. Instead of keeping the loot, he'll hand it off to bankers; hopefully he won't cut off your hands.

Who elected this guy? Under the bill, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs can auction off assets, or he can just simply set prices. Every pension fund, bank, broker, pol will have to kiss his butt. Weak "oversight" panels would supposedly keep an eye on him, but that wouldn't amount to much control over Paulson's power. Norris adds:

Leave aside regime frontman George W. Bush's brief public P.R. appearance early this morning on the White House lawn. It was supposed to soothe bankers and traders and big investors, but it didn't calm any of them, based on early action in the markets this morning.

What will matter to them is what Paulson says and will do. He's about to become the most powerful man in America. No exaggeration. Just follow the money — and the guy who will control it.

What really went on in the private meetings that resulted in a bailout plan that would give the unelected Paulson more direct power over the nation's money than FDR had during Depression I?

Which leads to this question: Are Dick Cheney and Bush as paranoid and vain as Richard Nixon? Please say yes.

Then we'd have videotape of at least some of those private meetings Paulson conducted to hammer out the Cash for Crash bill. Maybe we'd even have video of Paulson going down on Nancy Pelosi in the White House to plead for a bailout of his Wall Street pals.

It probably wouldn't be the first time that Hank Paulson has been secretly taped in the White House. Before launching his career as an investment banker, Paulson was an aide to John Ehrlichman during Watergate. He's certainly familiar with private meetings in the White House about how to bail out an administration. Maybe he even sat in on some of those famous meetings of the coverup conspirators more than 30 years ago.

To refresh your memory, here's a snippet from the momentous July 16, 1973, Watergate hearing:

Play it again, Sam.

But first . . .

NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

Scotsman (U.K.): 'Judgment day for world economy'

N.Y. Post: 'BASE BAWL AT SHEA: FANS' LAST WHIFF AS METS STINK UP JOINT'

Telegraph (U.K.): 'Belief in God "really can relieve pain" '

Register (U.K.): ' "I can see dinosaurs from my back porch": Palin-tology and the threat to science teaching'

IAN (Indo-Asian News Service): 'Attack against Christians will not be tolerated: Dikshit'

N.Y. Times: 'Holiday Bombings Kill 27 in Baghdad'

Slate: 'Death of the Wall Street Jerkface'

McClatchy: 'Anger at bailout turns on fat salaries for Wall Street execs'

Register (U.K.): 'How an Italian judge made the internet illegal'

McClatchy: 'Rescue package aside, economy faces deep challenges'

N.Y. Post: 'STREET FAIRS FOUL, SAYS MIKE'

Slate: 'Tie Goes to Obama: Neither candidate won a clear victory'

Telegraph (U.K.): 'Miriam Margolyes' lesbian confession gave her mother a stroke'

Jurist: 'Pastors challenge US ban on political campaign activity by tax-exempt groups'

Bloomberg: 'European Lenders Get Bailouts as U.S. Crisis Spreads'

Wall Street Journal: 'Lehman's Demise Triggered Cash Crunch Around Globe'

McClatchy: 'Bailout plan faces a tough vote in Congress today'

Telegraph (U.K.): 'US warship challenges Somalia pirates'

Daily Flog: White House on its knees, the rest of us on our backs, Wall Street zipping up

Posted by Harkavy at 9:40 AM, September 26, 2008

We feel the bankers' pain.

Running down the press:

A surprisingly lively New York Times lede this morning:

Not since the Clinton Administration has it been widely reported that people were on their knees in the White House and that a president talked about a sucker going down.

And this time it's a Treasury secretary on his knees, not just an intern. This is some serious shit.

Or not. McClatchy's Kevin G. Hall, who constantly snoops for fresh angles and comes up with solid material, writes in "Is the bailout needed? Many economists say 'no' ":

What? A story in the national press about the plight of the rest of us? How dare he!

John McCain's own September surprise isn't working out too well, as another McClatchy story points out. In "McCain gets blamed for angry end to Bush's bailout meeting," David Lightman and Margaret Talev write:

Yes, "principled." Buy or sell? Sell.

No question that the month has been tough on McCain, but just think about those poor mid-level banker types on Wall Street, which is just a little more than a stone's throw from my office. (If I had an arm like Rocky Colavito's and a bag of stones, I'd take the subway down there and start hurling, instead of just hurling over my latest bank statement.)

Anyway, in "Big banks delay decisions on bonuses," the Financial Times (U.K.) reports on the plight of British bankers' bonuses, which depend on how U.S. firms decide their own bonuses:

Well, we appreciate that news from the other side of the pond that at least we won't all drown. I'm certainly looking forward to my own bonus. I hope those bananas at the Astor Place kiosk are still only 35 cents apiece.

And here's a September surprise, again courtesy of the FT, whose Cash for Crash coverage rocks and is free for the viewing. In "Hedge fund chief warns on wrongdoing," Gillian Tett and James Mackintosh report a frank admission from a financial-world insider:

Chanos is of course saying this as a defense of short-selling, setting up the argument you'll hear in the coming years that there's a big difference between conniving and illegal conniving.

And here's something else in this FT story that comes as absolutely no surprise:

Weary of skipping around the web? Do some one-site shopping this morning. Here's a clump of readable FT stories that you could skim through and try to choke down over your third cup of coffee — remember to take small bites and chew thoroughly unless you want to spit up hairballs later in the day:

'US "will lose financial superpower status" '
'Church accused over short selling'
'WaMu seized and sold to JP Morgan'
'Flight from Morgan Stanley brokerage'
'Nomura offers bonuses to Lehman staff'
'CVS is added to ban list on short selling'

At least one of my Voice colleagues is staying focused on the presidential race: See Lynn Yaeger's "How I'm Contributing to McCain's Campaign Suspension."

And now . . .

NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

N.Y. Times: 'In Storm's Aftermath, Cow Roundups in Southeast Texas'

N.Y. Daily News: 'Shoplifter turns in Brooklyn rapist'

Washington Post: 'Health Insurance Costs to Spike an Average 8 Percent'

Slate: 'Things Fall Apart'

BBC: 'Arming the Taleban'

Washington Post: 'U.S. Has Achieved "Victory" in Iraq, Palin Tells Couric'

Haaretz: 'Jewish terrorists tried to murder left-wing professor'

Washington Post: 'Away from Wall Street, Economists Question Basis of Paulson's Plan'

IRIN: 'Charity coffers face credit crunch'

Washington Post: 'Carbon Is Building Up in Atmosphere Faster Than Predicted'

Haaretz: 'Peres: U.S. has no choice but to save world from Ahmadinejad'

Washington Post: 'Negotiations Falter on Financial Bailout Package'

N.Y. Post: 'EX-CON HELD AS "JESUS RAPIST" '

Washington Post: 'Debate Remains In Limbo'

L.A. Times: 'Palin talks to Couric — and if she's lucky, few are listening'

Baltimore Sun: 'McCain hints debate appearance "possible" '

Financial Times: 'Ex-Merrill chief considers hedge-fund return'

Jurist: 'US military commissions prosecutor resigns due to "ethical qualms" '

N.Y. Times: 'Pakistani and American Troops Exchange Fire'

Daily Flog: Panic spreads to McCain; White House meeting will solve everything; the world sneers

Posted by Harkavy at 10:14 AM, September 25, 2008

You can't spell "down" without "Dow."

The only good thing about this morning's scheduled meltdown meeting of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and John McCain is that it confirms that Bush will not be president for much longer — he's actually hosting his successors in the White House.

Otherwise, what the hell are these guys doing? This is not democracy.

Neither Obama nor McCain has won the presidency yet, and Bush is the lame duck. Even if Bush were capable, it's not in our interest for the three of them to reach a consensus unless it's conducted in a democratic process as a publicly hashed-out and argued bit of horse-trading (I'm not talking about a debate). Even then it wouldn't be democratic because we haven't elected any of these three guys to lead the country starting in January 2009.

Besides, you can hardly call this a meeting of the minds if one of the participants is Bush. The mindless, careless, disinterested front man hasn't been running the country — Dick Cheney has, with the help of three guys formerly on our payroll: Karl Rove, Don Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz.

Democracy is what's going on in Congress right now: messy, contentious, and often ugly, with alliances shifting and factions of Democrats and Republicans forming with each other and dissolving, instead of a strictly bipartisan war in which Republicans march in lockstep at the White House's bidding.

Democracy is also messy, ugly episodes like the Bonus Army, the economy-ravaged, broke World War I vets who camped out in protest in D.C. and clashed with the Army in 1932, during Depression I.

Is a Wall Street Executive Bonus army forming? Or is the government worried about the broke-ass rest of us descending on D.C.? The Register (U.K.) reports this morning, based on an Army Times story: "US Army unit deployed to home front: Nonlethal force for civil unrest." (For background on the grim 1932 clash, see NPR's 2005 video and story "Soldier Against Soldier: The Story of the Bonus Army.")

Still, there may be no need to rush into a massive bailout — as Press Clips reader John McGowan argues in a detailed comment attached to my Tuesday item "Krauts Sour on Wall Street Bailout."

Don't pay much attention to Bush's speech last night. He doesn't know shit about the economy — even with his daddy's help he couldn't make it in the oil bidness, and he became the Texas Rangers' owner without investing hardly any money at all. (The real owners brought him in so they could pimp for a new stadium at public expense, a previous example of his pimping for corporate welfare).

Now, he's performing as the front man for the GOP/Wall Street types who hunger for a quick dose of corporate welfare at our expense through a plan that would throw the rest of us onto the welfare rolls.

Yes, there is definitely pressure on the U.S. from other countries to be quick about a bailout plan ("Overnight Markets," Financial Times).

Although maybe there's not as much pressure from other countries as Hank Paulson and crew would have us believe: See this morning's Washington Post story "U.S. Appeals Abroad Fall Flat as Leaders See No Crisis at Home."

Still, there's no doubt that something does have to be done quickly, but maybe it doesn't have to be an entire, massive bailout right this second. Aren't there more intermediate steps that could calm things down without putting the average American in deeper hock for the unimaginable future?

But in this country, there's always such a rush by lobbyists that all important issues can't be fully hashed out. Remember that during the hubbub leading to the disastrous October 2002 Iraq war resolution, debate was sharply curtailed on the orders of the White House and the GOP leaders who controlled Congress.

And after the unjustified invasion, Democrats like Henry Waxman and Byron Dorgan were prevented from conducting hearings on how the Cheney-Rumsfeld regime was conducting the war. (See my April 2005 item "Fix Your Corrupt Regime" for details.)

Just one of many examples: In February 2005, Waxman pushed for a hearing on allegations of "waste, fraud and abuse in U.S. Government Contracting in Iraq." He was rebuffed and had to hold an unofficial hearing that, even though it revealed fascinating and major corruption including actual bundles of cash, had no official standing and, as a result, garnered little press coverage.

And now there's a real danger of another invasion: the possibility of a GOP-engineered October Surprise involving Pakistan that could scare voters into sticking with the Republicans and electing McCain. Scott Horton laid that out in Harper's the other day.

For guidance, however, look to the markets — the one stock exchange that hasn't yet melted down and isn't asking for a bailout: Intrade Prediction Market, where the current action on John Delaney's sophisticated and clever operation shows that the betting favors Obama.

I wrote about Intrade during the Paul Wolfowitz and Scooter Libby meltdowns, but because our site is screwed up you may not be able to find those items. So here they are:

"Wolfowitz Out? Bet On It." (May 7, 2007)
"Wolfie's Stock Soars" (May 8, 2007)
" 'You're a Criminal!' " (June 6, 2007)

And now here's a collection of today's links from all over . . .

NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

McClatchy: 'Election officials telling college students they can't vote'

BBC: 'US rivals in economy crisis talks'

N.Y. Daily News: 'Naked man falls to his death after Tasered by cops in Brooklyn standoff'

Slate: 'Is Paulson's bailout bill unconstitutional?'

Dawn (Pakistan): 'We’re in a state of war: Asif'

N.Y. Times: 'Bush Aides Linked to Talks on Interrogations'

N.Y. Post: 'WALL STREET WHIZZES LOOK TO HEAD WEST'

BBC: 'What would financial Armageddon look like?'

N.Y. Daily News: 'This loss to Brewers could strand Mets in October'

N.Y. Post: 'PLAY TRIPPER: PAUL'S GAL SKIPS MTA VOTE FOR HIS ISRAEL JAUNT'

BBC: 'Q&A: US $700bn bail-out plan'

BBC: 'Japan offers solution to financial crisis'

Financial Times: 'Bail-out fears hit credit markets'

Financial Times: 'Banking after the bail-out'

Financial Times: 'Bail-out cost ‘impossible’ to estimate'

AME Info (Dubai): 'Jordan poised to enter nuclear age'

Bush prepares to step into it

Posted by Harkavy at 4:47 PM, September 24, 2008

We can't wait for the president's special speech to the nation tonight on the bailout.

Jacob Weisberg, start typing. George W. Bush is going to talk to the nation tonight about the financial crisis.

Yes, John McCain earlier today began trying to cancel his own TV appearance Friday with Barack Obama. There goes some good TV, but McCain's strategy can be appreciated on two levels: as a desperation move so Obama can't hammer him into the ground during the current anti-GOP groundswell and as a way for McCain to scurry back to Capitol Hill for some photo-ops with the moderate Republicans in Congress who are now trying to look like critics of Wall Street. (Some of them really have been, but McCain's never been one of them.)

But now we can tune in at 9 tonight for some great TV.

Where does Jacob Weisberg fit into this? The editor-in-chief of the Slate Group has doggedly compiled Bushisms for several years now. He'll probably get writer's cramp tonight when Bush aims to bail out the bailout plan.

The president wants to convince us to support his administration's plan to hand over millions to Wall Street's financiers — or at least to those who haven't already made a killing by gambling that the Street would turn into a sinkhole. (See my item on short-seller John Paulson.)

Holy Cicero! Can't wait to hear Bush explain to us just what happened on Wall Street. But it's unlikely that Bush could top his August 5, 2004, oratorio when he was handing a check to the Pentagon for $417 billion — small change compared with the $700 billion he's seeking tonight.

Here's what I wrote at the time, in