Your Tax Dollars at Work, Garbage In - Garbage Out

America needs to be a place where all of us can feel a part of the American dream. But it will not happen by dividing us into racial groups. It will not happen by trying to turn the poor against the rich. It will not happen by asking Americans to accept what is immoral and wrong in the name of tolerance. - J.C. Watts

A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both. - Milton Friedman

This week, aside from Sheriff Joe Biden telling us that the stimulus worked, we get this garbage in, garbage out from economists Mark Zandi and Fed apologist Alan Blinder, titled "How We Ended the Great Recession".

http://www.scribd.com/doc/35002562/How-We-Ended-the-Great-Recession

So this is what we get from our government, two economists who predicted the stimulus would be hugely beneficial, conduct a study that concludes that the stimulus was hugely beneficial.
HOW STUNNINGLY INEPT.

DEFINITION OF CONFIRMATION BIAS:
Confirmation bias (or myside bias) is a tendency for people to prefer information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses, independently of whether they are true.

Buried in the minutiae of the study is the admission that what the Federal Reserve did actually had more impact than our tax dollars.

Also, the authors compare the "success" against a set of alternatives that suggest that the administration and the Federal Reserve just "do nothing" in response to the collapse of the financial system and the economy.

SERIOUSLY?!? Is that the standard we are looking for? Is that where the bar is set? IT WAS BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING?? That's even worse than, "close enough for government work".

The larger problem the "useful tools" in the administration have is that the facts (economic data) keep flying in their faces. My Dad used to say "don't let the facts get in the way of a good story". This is often described as "anchoring" instead of the term confirmation bias. I just hope that they don't pull the whole economy down again by remaining "anchored" to what appear to be failed policy choices.

This is a pretty accurate synopsis of the situation from back in January 2010. Zandi was a goofball then, he's more of one now.


http://michaelscomments.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/an-accurate-unemployment-projection/

The Obama administration has explained the dire employment situation thusly:

The economy was way worse than anybody thought
Their predictions were in line with other economists
Things would have been worse without the stimulus
All in all, a nice deflection of blame from themselves (and usually on to the preceding administration). But history isn’t so kind.

You see, back around the time that the Obama team put forth their errant predictions, a fellow named Mark Zandi (Moody’s Economy) made a similar set of predictions using an actual economic model. And here’s how he did:

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you – the unemployment rate is closely tracking Zandi’s predictions for the non-stimulus case. This leads me to the following conclusions (which are somewhat at odds with the administration’s spin):

The economy was exactly as bad as some economists thought
The Obama team’s predictions were much more optimistic than other economists’
The stimulus has had no effect

You can believe the spin or the facts you see/feel for yourself.

My conclusions would echo those of one of the commentators to the story and flow from the wisdom of Milton Fridman:

“I think the government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem and very often makes the problem worse.”

“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”

The discrepancy may be explained by either the economy being in worse shape than economists thought at the outset (the Obama excuse, even though we were told this was the worst thing since the Great Depression). In this case the model of the economy without stimulus is wrong.

Alternatively, the discrepancy can be explained by the fact that the model generating the effects of stimulus is wrong. The GIGO argument. Either argument can be made and supported by facts and figures, ultimately we have elections that decide who is right and who is wrong.

We heard the mantra that these stimulus funds would go to "shovel-ready" projects that would have a near immediate effect on jobs and the economy. That has proven to be false at worst or understated at best.

The problem IMO was that the anticipated stimulus multiplier effect was muted or strangled by the harsh anti-business rhetoric and punitive regulatory euphoria that has created a climate where in effect CAPITAL IS ON STRIKE.

Why would a businessman hire, invest and strive for climate in an environment where the costs to hire are increasing, the incentive to invest is disappearing and the profits, if any, generated from investing and hiring are going to be demonized as ill-gotten gains or confiscated by an angry, greedy business partner by the name of Uncle Sam, who is motivated to "level the playing field" and will take your profits to aid those of your less competent competitor. (See GM, Chrysler, Ford)

Put that in your model and smoke it, Zandi!!

It is interesting to see that the political contributions of businessmen and women appear to be heading in a different pocket lately. And Team Obama has taken notice. Also, interesting now that the Obama team, which benefited greatly from contributions from these same businesses to get elected, now criticizes these same businesses for appearing to have buyers remorse. Isn't that their right, sir? To change their mind?

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MORE GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT THAT EMENATES FROM THOSE ENTRUSTED WITH YOUR TAX DOLLARS:

CBO Admits It Ignored the Economy’s Actual Performance
Published on March 23, 2010 by Brian Riedl


http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/03/Stimulus-Jobs-Count-CBO-Admits-It-Ignored-the-Economys-Actual-Performance

1) RESULTS PRE-DETERMINED? THAT'S NOT TOO FRAUDULENT OR SELF-SERVING - NICE PR JOB

CBO Confirms Its Methodology

In a recent speech to the National Association of Business Economics, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf confirmed this by stating:

[W]e don't think one can learn much from watching the evolution of particular components of GDP [gross domestic product] over the last few quarters about the effects of the stimulus … so we fall back on repeating the sort of analysis we did before. And we tried to be very explicit about it that it is essentially repeating the same exercise we did rather than an independent check on it.[1]

When asked if this means that any actual underperformance of the stimulus would fail to show up in the CBO's stimulus jobs count, Elmendorf replied "That's right." This means the 1.5 million jobs saved estimate was pre-determined.


Of course, the stimulus was originally promised to create (not just save) more than 3 million jobs.[2] Instead, the economy has since lost more than 3 million additional net jobs. The abject failure of the stimulus policies recommended by Keynesian economic models should induce some fundamental re-analysis of these models' assumptions. Instead, the CBO is re-releasing the same jobs analysis--with the same economic assumptions--that they had used a year ago.

2. GIGO - GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT - WHAT IF THE UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS ARE WRONG?

The "Begging the Question" Fallacy

The CBO's conclusion that the stimulus created jobs is based on an economic model that began with the premise that all stimulus bills create jobs. In other words, the conclusion is already assumed as a premise. Logicians call this the fallacy of begging the question. Mathematicians call it assuming what you are trying to prove.

More specifically, the CBO's model started by automatically assuming that government spending increases GDP by pre-set multipliers, such as:

Every $1 of government spending that directly purchases goods and services ultimately raises the
GDP by $1.75;

Every $1 of government spending sent to state and local governments for infrastructure ultimately raises GDP by $1.75;

Every $1 of government spending sent to state and local governments for non-infrastructure spending ultimately raises GDP by $1.25; and

Every $1 of government spending sent to an individual as a transfer payment ultimately raises GDP by $1.45.[3]

(Note that all CBO figures in this paper represent the midpoint between their high and low estimates.)

Then the CBO plugged the stimulus provisions into the multipliers above, came up with a total increase in GDP of 2.6 percent, and then converted that additional GDP into 1.5 million jobs.

The problem here is obvious. Once the CBO decided to assume that every dollar of government spending increased GDP by the multipliers above, its conclusion that the stimulus saved jobs was pre-ordained.

The economy could have lost 30 million jobs, and the model would have said that the economy would otherwise have lost 31.5 million jobs without the stimulus. An asteroid could have hit the United States, wiping out everyone outside of Washington, D.C., and (as long as Washington still spent the stimulus money) the CBO's economic model would have produced the same stimulus jobs data. There is no adjustment made to reflect what actually happened in the economy after the stimulus was enacted.

3. CONFIRMATION BIAS, ANCHORING - CALL IT WHAT YOU WILL - MOST PEOPLE FEEL LIKE IT'S JUST PLAIN OLD FASHIONED B.S.

Test the Multipliers

The debate over the efficacy of Keynesian stimulus is essentially a debate over the correct multipliers. Some believe the multipliers are high[4]; others believe they are as low as zero[5] (or even negative). Testing the stimulus requires testing the multipliers. Yet by simply assuming large multipliers, the CBO effectively pre-ordained its conclusion that the stimulus worked regardless of what actually happened in the economy.


Elmendorf has confirmed that the CBO's stimulus analysis consists of little more than re-releasing its pre-stimulus projections. Policymakers and analysts should not mistake this analysis for an actual examination of the stimulus's impact.

And this is why the people they call the Tea Party are gaining in numbers, not because they are racists, not because they do not want top see our President and therefore our country succeed. But because they see and feel these things that are going horribly wrong and they have had enough.

This hit my e-mail last week from James Quinn who publishes the blog The Burning Platform
http://theburningplatform.com/

The Burning Platform has posted a new item, 'NAACP - MOST RACIST ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA'

Again, I would like to reiterate that the NAACP, backed up by the hate spewing liberal media pundits on MSNBC and CNN, are just mouthpieces for the Obama agenda. Obama despises white people. Whenever his policies fail and the country is clearly headed downward, he will pull the race card. It is the liberal gameplan. They expect us white people to back down like we have for decades. No more. The Tea Party is about fiscal responsibility. The racists are in the NAACP and the Obama White House. Funny that black men like Thomas Sowell and Deroy Murdock aren’t invited on MSNBC to put Olbermann, Madow, and Matthews in their place. The liberal agenda is hate, racism and division.

Liberals fear the Tea Party. They should. We’re coming to get them.

He defends the Tea Party by noting that

"Consider the Tea Party’s Contract from America, a pledge to which it holds its endorsed candidates. (TheContract.org.)

Among 10 planks, it advocates a single-rate tax, a two-thirds-vote requirement for tax hikes,
ObamaCare’s repeal, and the defeat of cap-and-trade legislation.

Nothing is even remotely related to race, ethnicity or identity. Wouldn’t bigots devote at least one of 10 reforms to something racial?

The Tea Party movement avoids racial issues and instead advances lower taxes and spending and greater fiscal discipline. These issues are neither black nor white. They are green."

This is what I've been saying about the Tea Party all along.

If you really want to get a gander at a wholly racist organization, look no further than the Black Congressional Caucus, whose members basically started this "Tea Party is racist" nonsense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Black_Caucus

The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks,[1]

I have to agree with J.C. Watts here as well.

Watts said of his refusal to join the caucus, "...they said that I had sold out and Uncle Tom. And I said well, they deserve to have that view. But I have my thoughts. And I think they're race-hustling poverty pimps."

White members of Congress have never been welcomed into the caucus, although CBC by-laws specifically prohibit any discrimination.

And then there was the infamous Ralph Nader incident.
Sorry, in terms of level of overt racism compare and contrast the overly trumped up version of the congressman walking the gauntlet of Tea Partiers, up the Capitol steps to sign the Health Care bill with this incident.

Oh, you never heard about this incident, or the Sharpton / Brawley smear of NYPD officers. No surprise there.

Ralph Nader incident

In 2004, independent presidential candidate and consumer activist Ralph Nader attended a meeting with the Caucus which turned into a shouting exchange. The caucus urged Nader to give up his presidential run, fearing that it could hurt John Kerry, the Democratic Party's nominee. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) called the upcoming election "a life or death matter" for the Caucus members' constituents. Nader accused Congressman Mel Watt of twice uttering an "obscene racial epithet" towards Nader; he alleged that Watt said: "You're just another arrogant white man – telling us what we can do – it's all about your ego – another f—king arrogant white
man." Watt never offered an apology.[9]

Nader wrote to the Caucus afterwards:

"Instead, exclamations at the meeting... end[ed] with the obscene racist epithet repeated twice by Yale Law School alumnus Congressman Melvin Watt of North Carolina. One member of your Caucus called to apologize for the crudity of some of the members. I had expected an expression of regret or apology from Congressman Watt in the subsequent days after he had cooled down. After all there was absolutely no vocal or verbal provocation from me or from my associates, including Peter Miguel Camejo, to warrant such an outburst. In all my years of struggling for justice, especially for the deprived and downtrodden, has any legislator—white or black—used such language? I do not like double standards, especially since our premise for interactions must be equality of respect that has no room, as I responded to Mr. Watt, for playing the race card. Therefore, just as African-Americans demanded an apology from Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz and Senator Trent Lott—prior to their resignation and demotion respectively—for their racist remarks, I expect that you and others in the Caucus will exert your moral persuasion and request an apology from Congressman Watt. Please consider this also my request for such an expression—a copy of which is being forwarded directly to Mr. Watt's office."[10]

So all these factors contribute to the rise of the Tea Party movement. Not racism. Not black /white issues, green issues ($$$). These folks have sat back were not involved as much in politics as they maybe should have been. They allowed the discontented to drive the agenda. Well, good job losers, you've pushed the economic and political climate to the point where now successful and otherwise happy, contented people are pissed off. GOOD JOB, ASS-HATS.

They have put up with the entitlement culture, the ever increasing social safety net and the social justice programs grow way out of control. When times were good they really didn't pay too much attention to what was going on. Politics is always about "greasing the squeaky wheel" and these are folks that didn't have much to complain about. Now they do.

These are people that when times are good are the epitome of good, decent, caring, charitable people. But their patience and kindness and generosity does have it's limits -- it's breaking point -- and we are rapidly reaching that point in this environment.

SEE YOU IN NOVEMBER!!!
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The other success that was touted this past week was the so-called Financial Regulatory Reform bill that was passed. Another gift form out leaders. I'll leave it to a well-respected bank analyst, Rochdale Securites Dick Bove, to give his take on the bill. It's right on the money.

How Wall Street Will Beat the New Financial Regulations - Yahoo! Finance

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-Wall-Street-Will-Beat-the-cnbc-2430801725.html?x=0

"What the law did was force the banks to rethink their business lines, their pricing strategies, their methodology for maintaining their balance sheet," banking analyst Dick Bove of Rochdale Securities said in an interview. "When they rethink it all, they will be able to offset all of the costs of this bill."

But crafty financial veterans already are finding loopholes in the law and banks likely will profit both in spite of and because of the reforms.

"If you had anyone who knew anything about the financial industry writing this law, that's one thing," said Bove, who has called the law one of the worst in US history. "But if you have a bunch of hysterics who were looking for political gain, you get something that was an abortion. All it did was increase the cost of banking in the United States relative to the cost of banking in other countries."

The banks' course of action likely will break down into four strategies:

1. Outfox the foxes

A harsh critic of the law, Bove is among the analysts who nevertheless believe banks will thrive. One big reason is because he thinks industry executives will show that they're smarter than the legislators who crafted financial reform, also known as FinReg.

Once again, thanks for nothing guys.

GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT.

Speaking of garbage, this is the prevailing opinion of the current administration, that the people of this country are too stupid to understand that all the data that confirms what people are feeling everyday is wrong and they are right. That is the problem, people are too stupid.



I really hope that we remember to add ALL incumbents to the unemployment lines this November. There isn't one of them that deserves to be re-elected.

They need to be defeated and I use that term in lieu of they need to be beaten, Mussolini-style.

The Italians didn't mess around when a politician preached false hope and fanciful dreams and then failed miserably to deliver (the trains did run on time, though). Maybe a little history repeating around here would do some of our congressmen and women, well. HAHAHAHHA.

FROM ANDREWCOSSACK.COM - MUSSOLINI'S FALL FROM GRACE:

http://www.andrewcusack.com/2007/11/18/mussolini-in-his-own-words/

After a summary execution, Mussolini’s corpse, along with those of his mistress and others, were dragged through the streets of Milan before being strung up at a gas station. Il Duce had previously expounded upon the idea:

“Every man dies the death which befits his character.”

KEEP THAT IN MIND, MY D.C. HOMIES AND REMEMBER WE'VE GOT OUR EYE ON YOU.

Grumpy Old Men....and the Seven Deadly Sins

It's pretty much understood, as well as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, that players from the present era will be dogged by the envy and jealousy of players from bygone eras. I call it "The Grumpy Old Men syndrome". It's like that in life as well. Parents and grandparents always question how young people are doing things and reminding them of how much better things were in their era. And the wheel in the sky keeps on turning, doesn't it?

In baseball, the phenomena has been taken to higher levels IMO ever since Marvin Miler and Curt Flood broke down the walls of the Reserve Clause and escalated salaries to levels never before dreamed of by players. Every prior-era player has been dogged by feelings of jealousy and envy ever since.

Then the memorabilia craze monetized autographs to insane levels. The value of having the coveted initials H.O.F. to put after your signature--on stuff that would have been garage sale material in prior eras--widened the divide even further.

Money and power corrupt. That may never change.

Combine all that with the growth of media into a huge monolith, more interested in protecting its position and place in the food chain than doing anything to elevate the game, and you have the toxic PR stew that we see continuously playing out in baseball today.

The media had the narrative WRONG in the past when they bashed the union and players about how Marvin Miller and Curt Flood challenging the Reserve Clause and bleated incessantly about how it would "Destroy the Game". WRONG!!! And what do we leave for posterity? Marvin Miller and Curt Flood are not in the Hall of Fame, and Bowie Kuhn--who is to Commissioning (is that even a word?) what Gilbert Arenas is to the Wizards basketball team, a non-entity--is in the Hall of Fame.
HOW ABOUT THAT!!!

The media, en masse, were late to the steroid story. And WRONG!!! At virtually every stage of the story as it developed, CONSISTENTLY WRONG!! Especially the beat writers who were closest to the situation. Imbedded daily in the team's locker rooms!!

And they will be late, missing or wrong to cover the next big controversy. Can you say steroid use in the Dominican Republic?

So the track record of the media has been this--they were WRONG in the past, for the most part WRONG today, and they will be WRONG in the future. I say that because they will act in the future as they have always acted in the past. They do not have a track record that can be relied upon. Zero credibility on the issue.

And when you understand that the media is the mouthpiece of the owners, you can understand why perhaps the narrative is framed as it is.

Why does this cycle continue? Who knows? Self preservation is my guess. Protection of turf. Some CYA. Finger-pointing. The Blame Game. All of it really, which also includes the shifting of blame and the rewriting of history by some. We see the same thing on a larger level being played out as a result of the economic/financial mess we are in as a country. A lot of eerie parallels.

So, as we see time and time again,--from A-Rod to the McGwire admission tour and coming soon to a theater (of the absurd) near you, the Rocket's red glare and the Bonds "face the media/face the music" fiascoes--the same tired band of media vigilantes who want to drag these guys through the streets of the village electronically--as Italy did to Mussolini--to be figuratively pilloried, spat upon and kicked. They turn loose an angry lych mob to extract its pound of flesh.

That's bad enough and getting more and more tiresome each time it occurs. One of the more absurd things we get from these news cycle events is the comments of "The Grumpy Old Men of Baseball".

Whether it's Goose Gossage or Ferguson Jenkins (embarrasing) hard-line comments or the newest thoughts from Carlton Fisk and Jack Clark, along with healthy doses of WRATH, we find many of its companions in the team picture of the Seven Deadly Sins, ENVY, PRIDE, GREED AND GLUTTONY. Not so much LUST and SLOTH, and trust me I was looking for lust, just didn't find it. But folks, it dawns on me as I hear these comments, that we certainly have at minimum 4-5 of the seven deadly sins in there. That's not good. Not something you want to hang your hat on.

from Wikipedia - The Seven Deadly Sins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins

So maybe, for the good of the game and all, it's time to give it a rest.

For all these grumpy old men and all the Johnny-come-lately moralists with their holier than thou attitudes, my main question is this:

If you replace the word "cheaters" with the word "sinners" in any of the debate about sins against the "hallowed Hall of Fame" or "sanctified records", then who in your mind is worthy enough to gain entry?

Answer: Only one, And to my knowledge He never played in The Game. And as I understand it, His take on this might be something along the lines of,

"All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment" - Isaiah 64:6

"for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God" - Romans 3:23

Maybe guys like McGwire should have been more in tune to what "the Man Upstairs" expected and not simply taken advantage of the "gift of hitting" that he was given. And perhaps some of the baseball moralists should be getting their morality and Truth from something other than the back of a bubble gum card.

In the future the narrative may be changed to include some real truths, not what we perceive as truth. The maybe we can make some progress. I kind of doubt we will, there is too much money, power and glory to be had in the making and breaking of false idols.

Perhaps I'll change my mind when I see the fans and current players (like Holliday and Pujols) join the vigilante crowd. The Cardinals owners are still supporting McGwire or he wouldn't be on staff. That's telling.

But by and large, the fans continue to give McGwire an ovation. That's telling. They know and accept that he has done wrong, they are just forgiving. That is where the dichotomy exists between fans and the media on this issue. Fans also seem to understand that we can't have a culture where "it's OK if my guy is doing it, but woe to guys on the other team".

That's not right and it is part of the reason we are where we are in the first place. "The Cone of Silence" and all. Yes, I invoked the "Cone of Silence". It didn't work in the "Get Smart" episodes and it hasn't worked too well in this fiasco.

The Cone of Silence from Wikipedia - So if you don't know, now you know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_of_Silence


CONE OF SILENCE - from YouTube - CLASSIC!!

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This is at the heart of how baseball got so far off the tracks. This Cone of Silence. I just think the media should step up and accept some blame as well. They took to the road of denial even as late as to protect "the product" from contamination by Jose Canseco when his first book was published.

My synopsis of the failing of the media can best be summed up by the mournful wailing of Bruce Springsteen at the end of his epic song "Jungleland" when he sings:

Outside the streets on fire in a real death waltz
Between what's flesh and what's fantasy
And the poets down here don't write nothing at all,
They just stand back and let it all be

WOW!!! A "Get Smart" and a Springsteen reference in one post. Now that's AWESOME.
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TIME NOW FOR A CONVERSATION WITH CARLTON FISK (AND THE SLAV aka CS)

CARLTON FISK INTERVIEW WITH THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE'S Fred Mitchell with my comments (CS) added.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-spt-0120-mitchell-fisk-mcgwire--20100119,0,1301492.story

"I didn't just find this out, I worked hard in the gym to look like I did and feel like I felt. (Catching) took a toll on me, too. A lot of people knew. Nobody wanted to really address the issue.

"But when you have some of these obscene numbers being put up by people who shouldn't even be there. … I mean, you know what's going on. … The people it should have been most obvious to are the people who covered it up by not addressing it."

CS - That is so right!!, Here we agree. Too many, who stood idly by and could have done something early, but didn't. They didn't because they were ALL profiteering as a result of it. To leave this out of the equation and scapegoat others is a bit repugnant. And now the silent majority are struggling with their own feeling of GUILT. "Why didn't I come forward?" GREED would be my guess. GLUTTONY perhaps. Times were good, everyone was getting fat and happy. Don't worry Carlton, you're absolved. What's that quote about 'all it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to remain silent'. We saw similar feelings of guilt rise in Germany after the Holocaust.

The jails are filled with guys who acquiesced, remained silent, profited from or were complicit in crimes that were committed and did little or nothing to stop them when they could have. They call them accomplices.

"You don't blame people for not ratting them out; you blame the people who abused the pharmaceutical world," Fisk said. "It's not like you are taking a couple of aspirin and you don't know what's going on. (Non-prescription steroid use has been) a federal offense for a long time, regardless of whether baseball was recognizing it and putting rules into place. The people who did it … they were breaking the law to start with. It doesn't have to be a baseball law. They knew what they were doing and the reason they were doing it. Now they are sorry because they are getting called out."

CS - So exonerate your own and other players "complicity by silence" by using the pejorative term "ratting them out" instead of "doing the right thing". All the while you ALL were cashing the checks. Exonerate MLB for "doing nothing" instead of "doing the right thing" ALL the while they were giddy that the turnstiles were humming and the cash registers were ringing. GREAT!!!

That probably will not play well in Peoria. Or with anyone having an IQ above room temperature.

"(McGwire) says, 'Well, it doesn't help eye-and-hand coordination.' Well, of course it does. It allows you more acuity physically and mentally and optically. You are going to be stronger and you are going to be better," said Fisk, who starred for the Red Sox and White Sox.

CS - Jury is still out on this one in the scientific community. Bigger, stronger, faster does not always equate to better in baseball. If it were that easy, guys would have been in the weight room a lot sooner, with or without PED's. And they would still be there today.

We only see the guys who PED's allegedly helped. The tip of the iceberg. There is not much attention paid to those who tried PED's and and failed miserably. I don't know why I just thought of seeing Lenny Dykstra in the 1986 World Series on ESPN Classic last night, but I just did. Was his career aided or set back? Hard to say because you cannot prove (or disprove) the counter-factual. Everyone is relying on their gut instincts in this regard, which implies a high level of emotion thrown into the mix, which is gasoline on the fire of reasoned thinking.

"Some of these numbers that are out there are really warped. Should they be considered? You saw how McGwire was viewed in the Hall of Fame voting. If you take the length of time that (steroid abusers) use that stuff and subtract 15 or 20 home runs a year for those guys, where are their numbers then?"

CS - This is what it is really all about for these guys, glorify me but nobody else. What these guys have done does not diminish what happened in the past, if anything it enhances it. Again, most fans with IQ's above room temperature can consider all the facts and all the numbers and make their conclusions accordingly. Let it go, dude. The numbers are not the be all and end all to the discussions. Probably never have been or Phil Rizzuto would not be in the Hall of Fame.

"That's a crock," Fisk said. "There's a reason they call it performance-enhancing drugs. That's what it does — performance enhancement. You can be good, but it's going to make you better. You can be average, but it is going to make you good. If you are below average, it is going to make you average. Some guys who went that route got their five-year, $35 million contracts and now are off into the sunset somewhere. Because once they can't use (steroids) anymore, they can't play anymore.

"And steroids, during that time, probably did as much to escalate players' salaries as did free agency, as did arbitration, and all of that stuff. It did more than just put home runs up on the board or money in the guys' pocket."

CS - A rising tide lifts all boats, my man. Which means you benefited as well. If average salaries went up, and they clearly did, and you were a players during that period, which you were, then you benefited as well. You and your ilk had your chance to come clean and nip this thing in the bud as well and you did not. I do not have to think long and hard to come up with a reason for the collective silence. The checks cleared, right?

Be the first one to suggest that players give back a portion of their salaries that were paid to them and that owners give back some of the profits to be paid into a fund to reimburse fans who purchased tickets during the era. That would be an interesting meeting to attend. Trying to figure out the respective payouts. As a fan, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a refund.

"Try having your knees operated on and catching for 30 years," Fisk said. "Do you think you feel good when you go out there? (McGwire) had to stand around and play first base. So excuuuuuse me.

CS - Come on, give me a bucket, Carlton

"The reason he (Clemens) got let go from the Red Sox was because he was starting to break down," Fisk said. "His last couple of years in Boston just weren't very productive, a la 'The Rocket.' Then all of a sudden he goes to Toronto and he wants to show somebody something. Then he gets two consecutive Cy Young Awards (in '97 and '98). Come on, give me a bucket.

"It's obvious to players. You notice that stuff. You know how hard it is to play the game. You know how hard it is to be productive at any age, but especially at an older age. You see guys who are as productive later on as they were early (in their careers). It offends guys that stayed clean. But (the abusers) set their great, great, great grandchildren up for the rest of their lives.

CS - If it was so obvious to players at that time, and you were so aggrieved by the OBVIOUS behavior, then you should have been more confrontational at the time. Speak to your union rep if you didn't want to confront guys individually.

Given how you confronted Deion Sanders in the batters box one time about his "behavior"--I believe he was drawing a $ sign in the box or some other such nonsense that went against the unwritten baseball "code"--one would think that you would be bold enough to be confrontational about this issue of such greater importance.

No shit about Clemens, Sherlock. I was down with that when all the clown-asses were holding up Bonds as the only criminal in baseball. You can look that one up, as Casey Stengel would say. It's about time everyone took the blinders off.

Don't worry, we know ex-Red Sox players were all clean. The Mitchell Report told us so.

"Guys are bigger, guys are stronger, granted. Strength and conditioning and all of the knowledge that goes into being a bigger, better and stronger athlete is at everybody's disposal right now. Guys are bigger and stronger. Better? I don't know about that. But there is more stuff available to guys today.

CS- "Better? I don't know about that?" Do I detect a bit of envy/jealousy in your voice Carlton? Better is clearly in the eye of the beholder and it seems as if the fans voted with their dollars and their fannies and said "Yes, better". Baseball was catapulted to a position where it was beginning to reclaim it's rightful position from football as America's past time. And everybody was on board. EVERYBODY in that era benefited in some fashion. Users, yes. Higher numbers, higher salaries. Non-users, yes. You forget about the economic theory of a rising tide lifting all boats. EVERYBODY'S salary went up on average. The owners clearly did not discriminate between users and non-users when doling out salary. And I don't see ANYONE giving the money back. And I don't see many, if any, fans asking for their money back. Of lesser crimes have class-action lawsuits been made. Especially when fraudulent behavior is involved.

"I think back to when baseball was scuffling to recapture the passion of the American fan after the '94 season. I think baseball and everybody involved in the decision-making at every level just turned their head and said: 'This is good for baseball, look at the prosperity of the game. It's growing and growing and growing.'

"And now it's (in bad shape) because it wasn't addressed back when the rest of us knew. How did that guy (using steroids) outgrow his uniform?"

CS - You are correct sir. So we should weep for all of these Johnny-Come-Lately moralists who had the opportunity to, as you say "rat these guys out" and DID NOT? And now you are struggling with your own guilt feelings of "why didn't I stand up and say something?" and instead of owning up to why you DIDN'T stand up you guys want to lash out, scapegoat and point fingers.

Great way to move forward.

Come on, give me a bucket Carlton.
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A CONVERSATION WITH JACK CLARK AND ANDY VAN SLYKE (AND THE SLAV aka CS)

from espn.com

Ex-Cards slugger says ban McGwire

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4828816

Jack Clark's time in the spotlight fell mostly in the years before the so-called steroids era.

That didn't stop the former Cardinals and Giants All-Star slugger from revealing an extreme distaste for players who might have availed themselves of a performance-enhancing drug during their time in the big leagues.
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CS - Hey Jack, loved you when you were with the Giants. Sorry you came along before salaries really exploded to the level they have today. But it seems like when you played guys from the 60's and 70' thought you guys were overpaid jackasses too.

"All those guys are cheaters -- A-Rod [Alex Rodriguez]. Fake, phony. Rafael

Palmeiro. Fake, a phony," Clark told the newspaper. "[Roger] Clemens, [Barry] Bonds. [Sammy] Sosa. Fakes. Phonies. They don't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

CS - I wonder if the people you left holding the bag when you declared bankruptcy would feel the same about you, but I digress.

"Steroid abusers and suspected users "are all lucky they didn't end up in jail. It's all comical to a certain point. It's a three-ring circus. It really is. From [commissioner] Bud Selig to Tony [La Russa] to A-Rod to Manny Ramirez to Palmeiro ... What a joke."

CS - Now, now Jack. You know that law enforcement rarely if ever falls hard on users, only dealers. Agreed on what a joke it is and how it extends to the highest levels in baseball. Still waiting for my apology from there. I won't hold my breath waiting because they must be afraid that they may have to give money back to fans due to perpetuating a fraud.

"[McGwire's] own manager never knew that [Jose] Canseco and McGwire and anybody else ever had taken steroids? Trust me, from [a former player], I have a lot of insight into who did what and when but I'm not even going to talk about it. It really doesn't matter."

CS - Now, now Jack. You know player silence (your own included) was part of the problem. Agree with you again on how it also infected managers, strength coaches, trainers, GM's and owners. All the way up the line. Seems like just like at Abu Gharib however, the folks on the lowest level of the food chain take the blame. The higher ups give speeches on the issue and make more money and power and fame, the lower level grunts go to jail.

"This thing stretches a long way back and it's really ugly and just really shocking."

CS - Somebody should have spoken up.

"These guys are playing the game for their own benefits and it's really disgusting. ... They go up there and shed a tear and they think all is forgotten. Well, it's not forgotten and it never will be."

"He should not be in baseball. He should be banned from baseball more than ever.

CS - Because we are such a forgiving country and junk, right Jack? Are you sure some of this anger doesn't revolve around the fact that McGwire is the current Cardinals hitting coach and you are the ex-. Sucks to be the ex- anything I suppose, but I know ex's aren't supposed to like current's. I just have to ask the wives. Thanks for your time, Jack.
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from the same espn.com story, Andy Val Slyke's comments on McGwire

"There's a lot of finger-pointing by Mark McGwire," Van Slyke continued. "He blames it on not being tested and he blames it on the era. Why would you blame baseball for taking steroids?

CS - There's also a measure of accountability, something that has been lacking from "baseball" meaning the MLB and ownership.

"That's like me saying the reason I was drunk-driving was because I knew that on this particular highway, they didn't have anything for me to blow into."

CS - Just like a ballplayer to mess up an analogy. Actually it's interesting that you bring up the DUI analogy because there are analogies to the DUI problem in this country and how it was handled and how it changed. But it doesn't fit the narrative the media wants to portray. They have , for the most part, summarily dismissed the "cultural argument" because it forces them to accept "some" accountability. They would rather accept none.

Back to the DUI analogy. At one time drinking and driving was considered somewhat socially acceptable. Like smoking at your desk at the office, that has gone the way of the dinosaur. If it were not for the persistence of vocal "outsider" group like MADD (Mothers against drunk Driving) its doubtful if those in power would have addressed the problem.

What I liken it more to is when a STOP sign is taken down at an intersection, people will unknowingly violate the law. As we see, even when there is STOP signs posted, and this is the key--LITTLE OR NO ENFORCEMENT--people will violate the law. Look at the enactment of seat-belt laws for a parallel.

Pointing to a Fay Vincent memo in 1991 that had no enforcement or penalties attached is rather meaningless, with all due respect to the former Commissioner. I'm not saying it's right. It is however, a matter of human behavior and as long as the rosters are filled by humans.....well you know where I'm going with this conclusion.

Anyway, I am happy as always to have been of service. Thanks for your time, Andy.

THE SLAVIK PLAN FOR THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS

Note to Pelosi: The Slavik Plan is not a bill, It's a plan. I don't introduce legislation anymore than Paulson does. And this mess is every bit as much your baby as it is Bush and Paulson's. You take the credit, you and yours better damn well be ready to take the blame. Bunch of stupid cowards. We need leaders and they send us cowards.

In the post election euphoria, we seem to have forgotten that the same knuckleheads responsible for the financial crisis are still at it. Incompetently spinning their wheels and swerving the economy all over the road.

Now Paulson crawls out and tells everyone "Never mind" regarding the use if the TARP funds. All that debate, and all that angst and they still don't know WTF they are doing with the money? A real well thought out plan fellas.

It's incredible. The value of peoples homes are vaporizing into thin air. BECAUSE OF THESE NUMB-SKULLS.

The value of their 401K's is vaporizing also, only faster. With no clear solutions in sight from our leaders. Most of who are responsible for putting us here in the first place. BECAUSE IF THESE NUMB-SKULLS.

I would dare to say that these clowns have done more emotional and psychological damage to more citizens then was done in the aftermath of 9/11. They have successfully blow this nations economy right back to the pre-WWII era. AMAZING.

I'm amazed there isn't more anger.

The Dow was at 10,750 when these morons voted on the "Bailout to Nowhere" in the beginning of October.

At that point the market had fallen approx. 23% from it's high. We were technically in a bear market at that point already and entering a recession according to anybodies measure.

By Oct 31st we were down to 9,337 after the "experts" went to work and put their heads together.

On election day we closed at 9,625.28. Once the market knew for sure the results we continued the slide, ending today at 8,283. We're down an additional 15% measure just from Election Day. So much for the Obama bounce. So down 13% after the Dems in Congress took Paulson's three page bill and "improved" it into a 100 page plus boondoggle.

The market is very forward looking so this is really not something that can be laid at the doorstep of Bush. The market is beginning to factor in an Obama presidency and puking it up in the same way it did after it had time to digest the "answer" our leaders brought to the table in response to the credit crisis.

WE'RE ONLY ANOTHER 15-20 DAYS LIKE TODAY AWAY FROM A DOW OF 0 - THAT'S ZERO!!!

I don't know what it's going to take, but if we had an informed electorate, I believe we might very well see some of the leaders meet with same fate of Il Duce illustrated below.

All these steps that are destroying our national wealth step by step is a massive CYA project on the part of these clowns. Would they really be doing this if it was the result of a few rogue Wall Street CEO's? Come on.

BUSH should have told Obama he would resign and take an early retirement back to the ranch in Texas. to help accelerate the healing process and bring an end to our long national nightmare. Wait a minute, that's from the Nixon-Ford pardon era. Once again, more damage here than was accomplished as a result of that crime. And don't kid yourself, this does rise to the level of criminal activity on many levels of government but we all know where the buck stops, right?

PAULSON should be forced to testify in front of Congress again and explain to Henry Waxman why HE earned his $500 million in salary to run Goldamn Sachs out of their long, storied primary business. They want to "claw-back" salary and bonuses from incompetent, greedy Wall Street CEO's they can start here with Paulson. Otherwise, don't go through your other charades designed to deflect blame. He should have to return the money or get the Duce treatment. Those are the only two punishments that fit his crime.

BERNANKE should be fired and forced to live out his remaining years in a nursing home with Alan Greenspan. A high security nursing home, where nobody can get in and nobody can get out. Like the one in One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest is what I have in mind. And return all government salaries earned and paid out.



ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
AN EXAMPLE OF THE FUTURE HOME FOR THE STARS OF THE OUTGOING ADMINISTRATION?

Volcker should be the new Fed head. Nobody even remotely associated with the last ten or twenty years of Federal government bureaucracy should be allowed near the Treasury. Especially not NY Fed head Geitner, rumor has it his fingerprints are all over letting Lehman slide into the abyss, which has caused a lot of the trauma to the system that we are seeing today. I'll bet Ron Paul is available.
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FROM FEDUPUSA.ORG - A HISTORY OF THE FAILURE
http://www.fedupusa.org/

This site documents the history of failures, missteps, mistakes and lies that the principals involved made that got us to where we are today. Too many times these guys were asked whether the housing crisis was going to be limited or contained and too many times they were either wrong or lied about what was going on. This behavior continues today to the point where confidence in the system is at risk.

FedUpUSA is your online source for up-to-the-minute events surrounding the
Global Economic Crisis.

# Desperate Actions

A timeline of the actions which have led us to this point. The economic crisis seems to have come out of nowhere. Is there little wonder the American people were back on their heels when one week our President and the Federal Reserve were telling us the economy was 'sound' but two weeks later, we were in crisis and needed to pledge $700 Billion to fix what was wrong? FedUpUSA sheds some light on what the American people have been kept in the dark about.

# Bernanke's lies

A chronological documentation of the lies Ben Bernanke has told the American People and Congress.

# Paulson's Lies

A chronological documentation of the lies Hank Paulson has told the American People and Congress. Mr. Paulson's lies are particularly egregious in that he also has the biggest conflict of interest of anyone involved in this economic crisis. Do you really trust the man who was CEO of Goldman Sachs when they created CDS and CDOs? Mr. Paulson was not only at the helm when Goldman Sachs realized these little 'financial weapons of mass destruction' were failing, but was still there when they decided to take short positions betting AGAINST their own creations in order to protect themselves. Is this the man who should be trusted with the entire United States Treasury? Why do you think he really wants all this tax payer money? Read documented proof of what he has said, much of it under oath in front of Congress and draw your own conclusions.
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FROM ANDREWCOSSACK.COM - MUSSOLINI'S FALL FROM GRACE:
http://www.andrewcusack.com/2007/11/18/mussolini-in-his-own-words/



After a summary execution, Mussolini’s corpse, along with those of his mistress and others, were dragged through the streets of Milan before being strung up at a gas station. Il Duce had previously expounded upon the idea:

“Every man dies the death which befits his character.”