(corrected) Most important news story of the week (ending December 12, 2008)

[ColbertWatcher]

Poll question: (corrected) Most important news story of the week (ending December 12, 2008)

Most important news story of the week ending December 12, 2008


A: 1/5 of world's coral already dead (AFP)

B: Obama selects Erik Shinseki to run VA and Steven Chu as Energy Secretary

C: general strike and riots in Greece

D: workers of Republic Windows & Doors successfully receive compensation they were promised

E: House passes limited, conditional loan for Detroit, Senate GOPers block it, world markets react by taking a dive

F: Five Blackwater mercenaries formally charged with manslaughter

G: Los Angeles Times discovers talking points to be used by GOP talking heads promoting a Bush "legacy" that far exceeds reality

H: criminal complaint filed against Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich he is arrested and released on corruption charges

I: One of the last-minute "incidents" that are a part of the Friday document dump (please see which in my reply)

J: Other (please see my pick for most important new story in reply)

[Shiver]

1. Damn, I misread

I thought is said "Biggest", not "Most Important." I voted for the Blagojevich story, but I'm not sure if it was the "most important"...

[ColbertWatcher]

2. Thank you for voting. n/t

[FrenchieCat]

3. Most important is a tie between two.....

Fed Refuses to Disclose Recipients of $2 Trillion
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apx7XNLnZZlc


and this one....on a 50 Billion dollar Wall Street Heist!

Madoff Charged With Securities Fraud
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=3641508

[ColbertWatcher]

5. Good picks, I'm glad you posted them; I hadn't even heard. n/t

[FrenchieCat]

7. And I would say that another one was the fact that a real scientist

a nobel winner at that, was made Secretary of Energy!

That's big, cause it will make a real difference!

[ColbertWatcher]

17. Here's hoping he is surrounded by good managers.

But, it is great to see a knowledgeable person be picked as Secretary.

[anigbrowl]

11. Those are my top 2 of the week

Bagojevic was going down anyway and I am not emotionally caught up with the automakers - I don't think bankruptcy will be the disaster people imagine (and no, I'm not going to argue about this).

These two stories interest me because they point to the ongoing lack of transparency which is destroying our markets, as well as the total and utter failure of the SEC. Madoff losing so much money (but apparently getting away with it right up until his own family members turned him in) is a disaster on wheels.

It basically says the SEC is not just unable to monitor big banks etc., but has no clue about how to monitor anyone - which is going to reflect just as badly on honest traders as it does on crooked ones, because even if they have a spotless record, nobody will now believe that a clean bill of health from the SEC means a damn thing. This spells disaster for a lot of small funds and brokerages that are honest and prudent with their investors' money, as they are supposed to be. And those investors need not just be rich people, if you have a 401k or any kind of company pension some of it is parked on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, the glaring lack of transparency from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury on where the money is going is symptomatic of what got us into this, and only encourages more people to think it's time to burn the entire financial sector down. We already have the biggest drop in consumer confidence most of us have ever lived through, and there is no way that business or investors are going to want to take risks in a climate like this. Which means no new job creation or capital investment, at least until people feel they have a rough sense of what's going on.

[Truth2Tell]

4. Other: Obama extends nuclear umbrella to Israel.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3640829

Although the Feds continued secret lending is also very important.

[ColbertWatcher]

6. But, he's not changing American policy is he?

This is the same that every POTUS has done isn't it?

[Truth2Tell]

12. Such a policy has never been explicit, only implied.

But the real significance of the Obama proposal is that it implicitly lays the groundwork for accepting the existence of a nuclear armed Iran. It is the Obama alternative to an Iran war. It's a profound suggestion with many implications.

[ColbertWatcher]

15. Thank you.

I wonder has anyone on DU posted anything about this?

I feel like there is so much I don't know.

[Cha]

8. To me, the most important story

is Shinseki getting appointed secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Team Obama knows about the coral reef and is taking care of business on that end..but getting someone who cares about our Vets and our soldiers at a time like this in history is key.

[ColbertWatcher]

18. Obama knows what he's doing

First, Shinseki was correct and was ignored by the GOP.

But, my favorite part was that Shinseki's parents are Japanese-American and the announcement was made on Pearl Harbor Day.

[Cha]

24. Wow! I didn't

catch that, thanks, CW.

[Bucky]

9. Why isn't the Jennifer Aniston shoot on this poll? Dammit, you can almost see her chi-chis!

Sigh, guess I'll vote for the bail-out failure. But I won't really be voting with my heart.

[ColbertWatcher]

19. I'm sorry. I can only post 10. Maybe DU can change the polls? n/t

[Bucky]

10. If two of the Big 3 auto companies go belly up, it's choice E. If not, it's Greece

Blagojevich is a flash in the pan. The coral is not actually "this week's" story. Blackwater will be news when those fuckers start going to jail and start taking their bosses with them--otherwise it's just another Abu-Ghraib style big-fish-getting-away story.

[ColbertWatcher]

20. Very good analysis. Thank you. n/t

[Jennicut]

13. 1/5 of the world's coral is already dead, we are a ticking time bomb

with Climate Change. That is more important then any political or economic news. What good is a senate bill or a corrupt governor getting arrested if the world we live in is changing into something we might not recognize in 50 years?

[ColbertWatcher]

21. People tend to forget how important coral is.

If they knew at all.

Thank you for your comment.

[Doremus]

14. It's not only the incredible damage that will be done to the economy if the Big 3 go down

It's also the utter outrageousness of members of the US govt -- the people WE employ-- actively working to lower the wages of American workers.

The privileged oligarchs telling us WE make too much. They, who ride around in limousines and enjoy free lifetime health care, frequent raises of their already generous salaries and perks out the ass, standing there in their ivory towers saying WE PEONS MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY.

THAT is the most important news story of the week, hell, probably in my lifetime.

[ColbertWatcher]

22. "The privileged oligarchs telling us WE make too much." That should be on a t-shirt. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

16. J

[ColbertWatcher]

23. There's always one I forget! n/t