The Bush Coup - Part II
Romney to McCain: I would be 'honored' to be your running mate
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/12/2008 01:16:08 PM MDT
Posted: 9:12 AM- WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney says he would be "honored" to be chosen as a running mate to the Republican presidential nominee.
Romney dropped out of the presidential race in February after falling behind in the delegate count in Super Tuesday contests to John McCain. McCain has now clinched enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee.
Romney's comments came on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes."
He has recently been suggested as a promising option for a McCain ticket by former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove and other political commentators.
Others say he would not help McCain attract evangelical voters or voters from the South _ segments where both men more often lost to former candidate Mike Huckabee.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8545354
Is there one, just one international venue where Condi Rice was actually successful? Nope ! "...The name of the report was "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Within the USA..."
Rice doubts any solution soon in Nagorno-Karabakh
Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:21pm EDT
By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed doubt on Wednesday that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh can be solved soon, saying there are problems on both sides.
Rice spoke at a Capitol Hill hearing after two lawmakers expressed concern about the possibility of another war in the Caucasus region and asked why the Bush administration was seeking more military aid for Azerbaijan than Armenia.
Nagorno-Karabakh was seized by pro-Armenian forces from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s in which 35,000 people died.
Sixteen soldiers from both sides died in clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh this month, one of the worst breaches of the 1994 cease-fire there. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza visited the region afterwards and expressed concerns to both Armenian and Azeri officials that the clashes not recur.
"In the immediate future I don't know that Nagorno-Karabakh can get solved," Rice said at the House appropriations subcommittee hearing on the State Department's budget.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1242026020080312
Bush's Federal Judges 'Hostile' to Civil Rights, Liberals Say
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
March 13, 2008
(CNSNews.com) - Noting that the next president will have the opportunity to appoint several federal judges, liberal legal experts said the Bush administration's "legacy will harm American's rights."
President George W. Bush has appointed 277 judges to lifelong terms - almost one-third of the federal judiciary - including two Supreme Court justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito.
"While he's only served eight years, [he] will leave a legacy that will harm and do great damage to all of the rights and protections that we Americans cherish so much," Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice, told Cybercast News Service.
"We're going to see increasing numbers of decisions coming down, not just from the Supreme Court, but the courts of appeal from around the country, hostile to the environment, consumer protections, civil and women's rights and hostile to civil liberties," she said.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200803/POL20080313a.html
The Roe v. Wade of Gun Rights
By Ken Blackwell
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Editor's Note: This column is part II of a two-part series co-written by Ken Blackwell and Sandy Froman. Part I can be found here.
The two red-hot issues fused by the District of Columbia v. Heller case -- guns and judges -- are two of the most divisive in American politics.
D.C. v. Heller could become one of the most important cases in American history, with profound political and policy implications.
The case will directly affect 90 million American gun owners. Whether they have a constitutional right to own guns immediately makes their ownership either a protected right or merely a privilege that the government can restrict at will. Either way everyone else in our society is indirectly affected.
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/03/13/the_roe_v_wade_of_gun_rights
Goldman Sachs finds the rough in Japan
By Lindsay Whipp
Published: March 12 2008 20:06 Last updated: March 12 2008 20:06
Competition at the prestigious Narita Golf Club is usually confined to its manicured greens, where many of Japan’s business elite would entertain clients during the indulgent years of the country’s bubble economy.
Fast forward past Japan’s lost decade to 2008 and any aggression has shifted from the tee to the courthouse as the passion that some Japanese have for golf has spurred a group of disgruntled members to take on the mighty Goldman Sachs. If they succeed this would be the US investment bank’s third failed golf course investment in Japan, so the stakes are high for both sides when members’ votes on Goldman’s rehabilitation plan for the club are counted on March 19.
The Japanese arm of Goldman Sachs, which bought the club in 2006, put it into bankruptcy protection in October after a number of members demanded the return of their deposits. The club has debts of Y43.7bn ($428m), of which Y29.4bn is membership deposits and Y14.3bn is a loan to the club Goldman bought back from the lender. The club could not afford to repay the deposits and continue to operate, and so filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/860e5662-f03e-11dc-ba7c-0000779fd2ac.html
March 12, 2008, 3:08PM
Sector Glance: Coal Producers Slide
NEW YORK — Shares of coal producers pulled back Wednesday, after a Goldman Sachs analyst suggested that ramped-up production will drag down spot prices and stock values sooner than many on Wall Street currently believe.
Analyst Michael Molnar said that historically high spot prices will lead companies to increase production, which will offset current bullish demand.
"The incentive of huge profits possible at current spot pricing will likely trump many of the barriers in getting production to market," he said in a client note.
Spot prices have been driven by demand from emerging markets, especially China and India. Most recently, supply concerns caused by flooding and power outages in coal powerhouses such as Australia and South Africa have driven U.S. coal prices even higher.
Here's how some major U.S. coal producers performed Wednesday:
Peabody Energy Corp., down $2.68, or 5 percent, to $50.68.
Massey Energy Co., down $1.16, or 3.2 percent, to $35.
Arch Coal Inc., down $2.74, or 5.7 percent, to $45.23.
Foundation Coal Holdings Inc., down $1.94, or 3.6 percent, to $51.53.
Consol Energy Inc., down $1.73, or 2.5 percent, to $68.86.
Alpha Natural Resources Inc. down 74 cents to $39.02.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5613908.html
Goldman Sachs reported as likely to buy a 20% stake in Shriram Credit
By Bangalore Bureau
Last update: 7:04 a.m. EDT March 12, 2008
165.59, +2.58, +1.6%) is close to buying a 20% stake in privately-owned Shriram Credit Co. for INR3 billion in a bid to enter India's equity and commodity brokerage business, the Economic Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
The U.S.-based financial services major, which will buy the stake through a preferential share issue, can also raise its holding by another 5% at a later stage, the report said.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/goldman-sachs-reported-likely-buy/story.aspx?guid=%7BA3C304A9-E229-45F6-8D11-CC924F771281%7D
BB+ Brazil vs. AA- Goldman Sachs: Who's Got the Better Credit Rating?
posted on: March 12, 2008 about stocks: GS
It wasn’t that long ago that Brazil was a fiscal basketcase. But these days, the global credit markets are telling us that it’s a better credit than Goldman Sachs (GS).
As of Monday morning, Goldman’s 2037 6.75% bonds were trading at 85.441, implying a yield of 7.9%. Brazil’s 2037 7.125% 2037 bonds have rallied to 107.19 - generating a yield of 6.647%.
When these two bonds were issued, Goldman’s commanded a rate that was 37.5bps lower than the nation of Brazil. In less than a year, Goldman’s 30-year bonds have backed up 130bps, and are now paying a 340bps premium vs. the 30-year U.S. government bond.
With Goldman sporting a market cap of $61 billion (down 40% from last year’s high), and shareholders equity of $42.8 billion (as of 11/07), those AA minus-rated 7.9% yielding bonds seem to have plenty of cushion under them.
Brazil has performed incredibly well since 2005, when it owed the world $400 billion. Today, it is a net creditor, and expecting to be upgraded to “investment grade” later this year, according to Merrill Lynch (MER).
AA minus bonds are yielding higher than BB+.
Is there a disconnect here? It appears that markets have become so distrusting of the rating agencies that investors will even doubt the credit rating of Goldman itself.
Disclosure: I own GS.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/68206-bb-brazil-vs-aa-goldman-sachs-who-s-got-the-better-credit-rating
WHAT IS THIS?
AOL and Goldman Sachs?
Really ?
Online Video Service NextNew Receives $15 Million Funding; Goldman, Velocity, Pittman Invest
By Rafat Ali - Wed 12 Mar 2008 08:45 AM PST
Online video production and distribution service NextNew Networks has received $15 million in a new second round of funding...the round was co-led by Goldman Sachs and Velocity Interactive Group (Jon Miller is already on the board from before). Previous investors Spark Capital has invested again as has Saban Media Group and Bob Pittman.
NextNew, co-founded by former MTVN (NYSE: VIA) exec Herb Scannell, former Sundance COO Jed Simmonds, former Hanna-Barbera president Fred Seibert, raised a $8 million round in 2006. I have been skeptical of video production studios like NextNew and since the company started, many other competitors have entered the field. It is a hits-driven business in a medium where a definition of hit is still being defined.
Meanwhile, NextNew has also announced a deal with AOL (NYSE: TWX) to provide AOL Video with about 2,000 episodes from some of the short-form videos it has produced since its debut last March. AOL will create a separate video channel for NextNew shows within its portal.
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-online-video-service-nextnew-receives-15-million-funding-goldman-veloci/
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