Minnesota Independent » Jeff Fecke

Fed, JP Morgan Chase bail out Bear Stearns

Jeff Fecke — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0000

In another sign of the worsening American credit crisis, JP Morgan Chase agreed to buy out insolvent investment firm Bear Stearns for approximately $267 million.

Bear Stearns, which was valued at $3.54 billion at close of trading on Friday and almost $16 billion as recently as last year, was damaged fatally by a liquidity crisis evidently brought on by investments in mortgage securities.

As part of the deal, Chase will also get possession of Bear Stearns’ New York headquarters, which is valued at over $1 billion.

In addition, the Federal Reserve has agreed to take $30 billion of Bear Stearns investments on in a massive federal bailout of the firm.

According to an article by Charles S. Morris in the Washington Independent, the Fed took on the debt because “Bear is at the center of a web of other funds that look a lot like Bear – heavily leveraged and holding lots of mortgage-backed paper. If the Fed didn’t act, a lot of them, perhaps most of them, would also fail.”

Madia widens lead for 3rd District endorsement

Jeff Fecke — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:05:21 +0000

Attorney Ashwin Madia picked up 32 of 49 delegates up for grabs Saturday, to widen his lead over State Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, in the race for the DFL’s Congressional endorsement in Minnesota’s 3rd District.

Madia now holds 82.5 of the 124.5 named delegates to the DFL’s 3rd District convention. Bonoff trails with 63. The remaining delegates are split between uncommitted voters and supporters of Edina Mayor Jim Hovland, who suspended his campaign this week.

“I am humbled and honored by the great trust people across the district have placed in me, but I know ultimately this growing movement for change isn’t about a political candidate,” said Madia in a statement. “It’s about the people who believe America can do better and are willing to work hard to help our nation live up to its ideals again.”

Ken Sanguin, campaign manager for Bonoff, said the race was “far from over,” noting that Madia will have to get the vote of 60 percent of delegates at the district convention.

“This election is too important and we are confident that when the dust settles, and the delegates have a chance to spend more time talking to both candidates, Terri will be their choice,” said Sanguin in a statement.

Madia won the majority of delegates in all but one of today’s six Senate district conventions, splitting Senate District 45 evenly with Bonoff, one delegate apiece.

Madia and Bonoff are competing to run against State Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Eden Prairie, for the Congressional seat that will be vacated by the retiring Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn.

Obama ‘pained and angered’ by Wright’s comments

Jeff Fecke — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 02:00:42 +0000

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has strongly decried comments made by his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and defended his decision to remain a part of his church.

“I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy,” wrote Obama. “I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit.”

Continued: Click “Read more.”Obama said he remained at Trinity United Church of Christ, which he called a “diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago,” because of its commitment to working for social justice. And he wrote that he looked to Wright for spiritual guidance, not political ideals.

“Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he’s been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn,” wrote Obama.

Controversy had erupted regarding statements made by Wright, including one statement on race in America which concluded, “God Bless America? No, God damn America!” Wright had also made statements that Hillary Clinton, Obama’s chief rival for the Democratic nomination, had faced an easier road because she was white.

Obama concluded, “Rev. Wright’s statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.”

Wright’s church, Trinity United Church of Christ, is a 6,000 member, predominantly African-American church located in Chicago. The church’s membership includes talk show host Oprah Winfrey, basketball legend Michael Jordan, and golfer Tiger Woods.

House passes FISA bill with no telcom immunity

Jeff Fecke — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:07:43 +0000

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed a reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Services Act that does not include retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.

By a vote of 213-197-1, the House amended the Senate bill to strip language that would have given immunity to telcoms that may have assisted the Bush administration in setting up illegal wiretaps on American citizens.

The bill will now go back to the Senate, which must decide whether to concur with the changes and send the bill on to President Bush, or whether to reject them, and force a conference with the House to work out differences.

Continued: Click “Read More.” Bush has been adamant that any reauthorization include immunity for the telcoms.

In debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that that the president’s demands signaled a fear that the Bush administration could face legal problems if cases against telcoms came to trial.

“First, the President knows that it was the administration’s incompetence in failing to follow the procedures in statute that prevented immunity from being conveyed – that’s one possibility. They simply didn’t do it right. Second, the administration’s legal argument that the surveillance requests were lawfully authorized was wrong; or public reports that the surveillance activities undertaken by the companies went far beyond anything about which any Member of Congress was notified, as is required by the law,” Pelosi said. “None of these alternatives is attractive but they clearly demonstrate why the administration’s insistence that Congress provide retroactive immunity has never been about national security or about concerns for the companies; it has always been about protecting the Administration.”

Minnesota lawmakers voting for the measure were Reps. Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, Collin Peterson and Tim Walz, all Democrats. Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann, John Kline and Jim Ramstad opposed the bill. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., did not vote.

Bush ‘envious’ of troops in Afghanistan, calls their work ‘romantic’

Jeff Fecke — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:05:44 +0000

George W. Bush videoconferenced with military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan Thursday morning. “I must say, I’m a little envious,” he said. “If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.”

When Bush was younger and not employed in the White House, of course, he had the opportunity to be on the front lines. During the Vietnam War, Bush landed a pilot’s spot, thanks to strings pulled by Texas’ Democratic lieutenant governor Ben Barnes, in a so-called “Champagne Unit” of the Texas Air National Guard. In his application for the six-year stint, Bush checked the box that read, “‘I ‘do not’ volunteer for overseas.’” In 1972, Bush dropped off the map — missing his military physical and months of duty.

Bush also told the assembled contractors and soldiers that their work in Afghanistan “must be exciting… in some ways romantic.” But with a million pounds of metal raining down on the landscape in the first nine months of 2007, “alarmingly high” civilian casualties (350 killed by coalition forces and 438 by insurgents, as of last September) and the deaths of nearly 500 US troops there so far, perhaps that “romance” looks a bit difference on the other end of the teleconference screen.

Paul Schmelzer contributed to this report.

Pictured: George W. Bush action figure by Merit International

Edina mayor suspends congressional campaign

Jeff Fecke — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:31:36 +0000

Edina Mayor Jim Hovland today suspended his campaign for the Democratic endorsement in the 3rd Congressional District.

Hovland, a recent convert to the DFL, had been trailing behind attorney Ashwin Madia and State Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, in the race for the endorsement. The winner will face off against State Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Eden Prairie, for the seat vacated by longtime Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn.

In a statement announcing the campaign’s suspension, Hovland said, “I continue to stand by my pledge to support the candidate endorsed by the Third District Convention in April. However, in the event that no endorsement takes place at that convention, I plan to reevaluate my options at that time.”

In a statement sent to Minnesota Monitor, Madia praised Hovland, saying, “He’s a good friend and a strong voice for our progressive values. While his substantive contribution to our debates will be missed, I know Jim will continue his great efforts throughout our district and I look forward to working with him.”

Bonoff also issued a statement, saying, “Jim is an excellent public servant and a great asset to the people of Edina. Over the last few months I have gotten to know Jim well and I have nothing but respect for the way he conducted his campaign. Mayor Hovland is honest, upfront, well-versed in the issues, and I am proud to call him my friend.”

The departure of Hovland will leave the DFL race between Bonoff, a two-term state senator who serves as vice chair of the E-12 Education Subdivision, and Madia, a Gulf War veteran and attorney. Madia currently holds a lead in pledged delegates to the district convention.

Clinton apologizes for Ferraro flap: ‘I certainly do repudiate it.’

Jeff Fecke — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:20:56 +0000

Speaking before the National Newspaper Publishers Association, an association for African- American community newspapers, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., apologized Wednesday night for comments made by former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., a prominent Clinton supporter, regarding Clinton’s chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Ferraro had initially said that Obama owed his position in the race to his being African-American, and later said she was criticized for her comments because she was white.

Clinton called those comments “ridiculous” and “wrong-headed.”

“I certainly do repudiate it and I regret deeply that it was said,” she said. “Obviously she doesn’t speak for the campaign, she doesn’t speak for any of my positions, and she has resigned from being a member of my very large finance committee.”

Continued: Click on Read More (includes video link)Clinton also apologized for comments made by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, during the South Carolina primary in January. Bill Clinton had sought to minimize Obama’s victory there, noting that African-American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson had won the state during his 1984 and 1988 presidential runs.

“You know I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive,” Hillary Clinton said. “We can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama.”

Clinton acknowledged that the rancorous Democratic primary had opened divisions in the party, and said she would support Obama if he earned the nomination.

“Once one of us has the nomination there will be a great effort to unify the Democratic party and we will do so, because, remember I have a lot of supporters who have voted for me in very large numbers and I would expect them to support Senator Obama if he were the nominee.”

More: Watch the video of Clinton’s appearance before the National Newspaper Publishers Association at C-SPAN. [Link opens through your default media player.]

Analysis: Clinton faces uphill climb in remaining states

Jeff Fecke — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:31:17 +0000

There are six weeks until the Pennsylvania primary, and just a handful of states are still waiting to cast their ballots. So where does the Democratic race stand, and can it be said to still be a race? Here’s a quick run-down of the states outstanding, and where Clinton and Obama can look to advance between now and June.

State	Date	Analysis	Clinton	Obama
Pennsylvania 158	4/22	Pennsylvania looks to be the most difficult state on the map for Obama to win, and the easiest for Clinton to claim. Al Giordano has looked at the state, and forecasts a “big delegate victory” for Clinton. He’s projecting a 60-40 Clinton win, which he translates out to a net +26 for Clinton. I see no reason to doubt that, and that’s the number I’m plugging in.	+26
Guam 4	5/3	Do I have any specific knowledge of what’s going to happen in Guam? No, not at all. I’m basing this slight Clinton pick-up on the fact that it’s a fairly conservative Catholic territory, and Clinton has done well among Catholics. This could just as easily swing to native Pacific Islander Obama, though, so take this with a big grain of salt.	+2
Indiana 72	5/6	Of all the states left on the board, Indiana is probably the purest toss-up. It borders Obama’s home state of Illinois, so he should get a regional boost from that. But it also borders Michigan and Ohio, at least one of which has been won by Clinton. It’s the most conservative of the Rust Belt states, and is really divided between the Chicago-oriented northwest and the south of the state, which is pretty southern. So will it behave more like Ohio, or more like Wisconsin? I think Obama’s proximity nets him a narrow win here, but it’s the best shot for a Clinton surprise.		+5
North Carolina 115	5/6	Just as it’s very unlikely Clinton can lose Pennsylvania, it’s very unlikely that Obama can lose North Carolina. I’m going to go conservative and give Obama a +15, but he could do much better than that.		+15
West Virginia 28	5/13	West Virginia should trend strongly toward Clinton. There’s no reason to think that the mostly white, working-class voters there will break differently than they have anywhere else. Not a big state, but a Clinton win.	+4
Kentucky 51	5/20	Here’s the thing: while I think Clinton will win Kentucky for the same reasons she won Ohio (and the same reasons I think she’ll win West Virginia and Pennsylvania), this could very well be the last state Clinton can win. Michigan and Florida are open questions right now, and the remaining states favor Obama. Clinton will need to get a big, big win here, and surprise somewhere else.	+8
Oregon 52	5/20	There’s no reason to think that Oregon should be particularly different than Washington, which went heavily for Obama. Full of the latte liberals Obama has run strong with, it should more than offset a loss in Kentucky.		+10
Puerto Rico 55	6/1	Puerto Rico is going to be interesting. It’s the last major prize, save possibly Florida and Michigan. And at first blush, it would appear to be solid Clinton territory, with its obviously strongly Latino population. But here’s the thing: Obama has the endorsement of An Spitzer out as N.Y. gov Jeff Fecke — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:49:09 +0000 Eliot Spitzer, the combative New York governor who has been under fire after revelations he engaged the services of prostitutes, announced today that he will resign effective next Monday, March 17. Spitzer, a Democrat who rose to prominence as the picture of a squeaky-clean, take-no-prisoners prosecutor, was subdued in his resignation. “I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me,” he said, according to a report in the New York Times. “To every New Yorker, and to all those who believed in what I tried to stand for, I sincerely apologize.” Spitzer will be replaced by current Lt. Governor David Paterson. Paterson will become New York’s first African-American governor. The first-term Lt. Governor previously served as New York Senate minority leader, and had been touted by some as a possible successor to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., should she be elected President. One unanswered question is how this affects the campaign of Clinton for the presidency. Both Spitzer and Paterson are superdelegates, and both had already endorsed Clinton. But it is unclear whether Spitzer will retain his superdelegate status after he resigns. New York has no provision for replacing a Lt. Governor, so it is possible Clinton will lose a delegate. Ferraro: ‘I will not be discriminated against because I’m white’ Jeff Fecke — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:47:46 +0000 Under fire for saying Barack Obama is leading the Democratic race for the presidency because he is African-American, an unrepentant former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., lashed out at critics in a series of interviews on Tuesday. “Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up,” Ferraro said in an interview with the Daily Breeze. “Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white. How’s that?”Contacted for comment by the New York Times, Ferraro reiterated the criticism. “Every time [Obama's] campaign is upset about something, they call it racist,” she said. “I will not be discriminated against because I’m white. If they think they’re going to shut up Geraldine Ferraro with that kind of stuff, they don’t know me.” And in an interview with Fox News, Ferraro said concerns by the Obama campaign over her statements were “offensive.” “Any time someone says something about the [Obama] campaign, they’re accused of being racist,” she said. Clinton’s camp removed Ferraro from the campaign’s finance committee, and issued a statement in which Clinton said, “It’s regrettable that any of our supporters on both sides say things that veer off into the personal. We ought to keep this focused on the issues. That’s what this campaign should be about.” Ferraro ran for vice president in 1984 with Walter Mondale against Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. She was the first woman to stand for election on the national ticket of a major party.