The Sinkhole.


Fannie Mae is everything that is wrong with Washington collected in one gigantic sinkhole. It reported its 10th consecutive quarterly loss and thus needs to draw down another $15.2 billion from the US Treasury. So far, no one has been indicted, much less shipped off to prison, for what can safely be called the criminal mismanagement of this government sponsored enterprise.

He'll Never Leave.


The coalition of the goo-goos and the urban pols is central to the Democratic Party. The case of Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), the tax-cheating head of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, is a metaphor for how the glue that keeps them together is coming unstuck.

Don't Leave Home Without It.


Marco Rubio has positioned himself as the authentic conservative voice in his battle with Governor Charlie Crist for the GOP US Senate nomination in Florida. All the while, he has been expensing his lifestyle on the Florida GOP's Gold American Express Card. The first sentence and the second sentence do not cohere.

US Treasuries


Seeking Alpha has an excellent recap of yesterday's US treasuries auction. It is worth reading in full.

Davis-Bacon Writ Large


The Obama Administration seems not to understand that the United States is broke. The Administration is now seeking to leverage federal procurement policy to reward labor unions. The general rule in life is that when you run out of money, you don't spend more of it. Over to you, Mickey Kaus.

Elliot Spitzer's Legacy


Elliot Spitzer's worst political decision was naming David Paterson as his running mate in 2006. That decision has come home to roost; not for Spitzer but for us. That Paterson has decided not to seek re-election is hardly solace. The likely net result is Governor Andrew Cuomo. There's a good news/bad news joke in here somewhere.

Colorado Springs Meets the New Normal.


Colorado Springs is about an hour and twenty minute drive south from Denver. It's home to the US Air Force Academy, Colorado College, a fairly active software development community and a significant US military presence. It's also broke. Here's how the city is cutting services to balance its budget. This is not Flint, Michigan. This is Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Oh Well.

Hockey fans who eagerly anticipated last night's "game of the decade" saw instead a Canadian rout of a seemingly hapless Russian National team. The Canadians brought their best game. The Russians were surprisingly undisciplined.

It will be interesting to see if the Slovaks can slow down the suddenly unstoppable Canadian offense.

Governor Andrew Cuomo.


Governor David Paterson (D-NY) reels in the wake of this New York Times report. Democrats would like him to resign or at least announce that he will not seek re-election. Gov. Paterson is famously stubborn. I'm not certain he will do what everyone wants him to do.

An "Insurable Interest."


The insanity of CDS continues. Wall Street firms that created the financial instruments that allowed Greece to mask its debt load are now betting heavily that Greece will default on its debt. When everything is a trade, and everything is a trade on Wall Street, the quality of the lives of others doesn't matter. So if you need to burn down someone else's house to make money, you do it.

Grecian Formulas.


If people don't go to work, it will be hard for Greece to pay back its debts, no? We're in Day 12 of the Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis. Still there is no "bailout" package (which is essential). And half of Greece isn't going to work today. Things like this don't end well.

Bad Mortgage Data.

I'm always a bit suspicious of these data about "mortgages being underwater." That said, the numbers in Nevada are truly stunning (70%) even if overstated. Overall, roughly one quarter of the mortgaged homes in the US are "underwater." (via JS)

Hockey!

If you do nothing else today, be sure to tune in at 700pm Eastern time for what may well be "the game" of the modern hockey era. It's win or go home. The Russians are on a mission to reassert themselves as the world's greatest hockey team. The Canadians view hockey as their game. It should be sensational.

Troubled Banks.


I remember reading somewhere that the worst was over for small and regional banks. Apparently not.

White House Intrigue.


"Obama's first year fell apart in large part because he didn't follow his chief of staff's advice on crucial matters. Arguably, Emanuel is the only person keeping Obama from becoming Jimmy Carter," wrote Dana Milbank of the Washington Post. In an online chat with readers, Milbank asserts that Rahm Emanuel was not his source.

Les Gelb takes it from there.

Sales Tax Receipts.


Various analysts use sales tax receipts as a metaphor for consumer economic activity. In New York State, it's not a happy metaphor. On the other hand, it's not as bad as I would have thought. (via Business Insider)

What, you didn't like the Sausage Pizza?

I got just the thing for you. How about a sausage pizza?

Tea Partiers


Given all the hyperventilation that passes for commentary about the "Tea Party," it's refreshing to read level-headed analysis of this populist movement. Unsurprisingly, this analysis is produced by Walter Mead, the Kissinger Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Grecian Formula


When the story broke that Goldman Sachs created synthetic financial products to help Greece mask the true state of its finances, the response was classicly European. The other EU states professed to be shocked, shocked that such a thing could have occurred. What made it all the more shock-shocking was that it was happening all over Europe.

Fool Cell to Fuel Cell?


Bloom Energy revealed the Bloom box on "60 Minutes" last night. If it works, and the first clients say it does, then it's a major development for the United States and for the world.

A skeptical view can be found here.