Round-Up!

First, we’re telling the Germans and French and others that they’re wrong to accuse us of spying on them.  We wouldn’t spy on our allies.  How can they say such things?  Shocking!

Second, Warren Buffet says JPMorgan Chase shouldn’t be held responsible for bad things done by Bear Stearns and WaMu before they were acquired by Morgan.  Sounds right, even considering that Buffet is a Jamie Dimon fan and has a financial interest in JPMorgan.  Also, Buffet says, JPMorgan did the government a favor by making these acquisitions.

But then Jon Stewart comes on and says that at the time of the acquisitions Dimon said the liabilities of Bear Stearns and WaMu should be JPMorgan’s responsibility.  And even set aside $28 billion to cover the downside, more than twice as much as the fines that are to be levied on JPMorgan.  Stewart also shows video of financial pundits saying in 2008 how smart Dimon was to make the purchases.  These same pundits now say the government is wrong to punish JP Morgan.

Who’s right in all this mishmash?  Depends on what your bias is.  Show me your ingoing bias and I’ll tell you what you think!

Third, Detroit outrage:  A new hockey arena is to be built in Detroit.  Cost: $650 million.  Amount of public money to be spent on the arena:  $283 million.  Owner of the Red Wings hockey team:  Billionaire Mike Ilitch.  Announcement of the public subsidy comes the same week that the City of Detroit declares bankruptcy. 

Is there something wrong with this picture?  Ask the people of Detroit who have minimal public services, e.g., takes hours for the police or fire fighters to respond to an emergency!  The Michigan Governor who approved the deal:  Tea Party advocate for less government in our lives, Rick Snyder.  Who says money talks?  Ain’t no talkin’ necessary on this one!