TOP BANGKOK

Traders on the Foreign Exchange market, Forex market for short, can potentially make thousands of dollars based on the volatility and fluctuations of a country’s currency. To better themselves and have a leading advantage over other traders, some Forex traders and investors participate in a practice known as news trading. The risks are very high, but the potential gains can be worth thousands of dollars and many traders and investors use this technique.

The technique of news trading is quite simple. It is the trading of foreign currency immediately before or after an important economic news announcement. After such announcements, there is a high possibility that market prices will fluctuate, either for the better or worse, depending on the announcement. For example, if the U. S. Federal Reserve announces another increase of the interest rate, many traders might invest in the U.S. dollar as it is expected that its value will appreciate. The main advantage of news trading is the potential for a country’s currency to make huge gains or losses in very little time. Within minutes of an economic announcement, a country’s currency can gain or lose one hundred points almost instantly. The potential of huge profits attracts Foreign Exchange traders and investors, however there are various risks associated with news trading.

Like any investment, there is always a risk, and news trading on the Forex market is no different. Though the potential profits are huge, the losses are also equally as large. The dangers of news trading come from the fact that a trade must be made quickly or else you are going to lose. If you are caught on the bad side of a trade, your money will be gone quicker than you can blink your eye. You will lose money so fast that there won’t even be time for you to manually close your trades, leaving you with nothing. Stop-loss orders are also potentially dangerous as there is a high probability of slippage because of the sudden price fluctuation.

Though some investors and traders might get lucky trading news, there is only a small probability that you will make a profit. Even if you are an expert news trader, you should still be very, very cautious when participating in this practice. Successful news trading depends solely on how you get your news. The most successful news traders are the ones with the fastest news feeds and those that are able to quickly place their trades immediately after an announcement has been made. Even using other forms of news trading, such as placing orders above or below the market price is still a guessing game, and those traders in the market who base their trades on guesses, won’t have much money after a short time.

For many Forex traders and investors, their trades are dictated by technical indicators and price indexes. Hours are spent researching every indicator, taking every risk into account and then making a decision based on everything they have studied. However, for a Forex news trader, none of this matter, and the only thing they take into account is economical news announcements.

News trading is possible because the Forex market is always open, unlike many financial markets. In a financial market, securities trades of certain stocks are suspended when an important company announcement is being made. These announcements are usually made after the market has closed for the day. However, because the Foreign Exchange market is open 24 hours, any economic announcement will have direct affects on the currency of that country, and maybe others as well. In the Forex market, there are eight major currencies that are traded, as well as over seventeen derivatives to be traded as well. This means that on any given day, there will always be economic announcements from any of the major traded currencies. The major trader currencies are as follows:

   1. U.S. Dollar (USD)
   2. Great British Pound (GBP)
   3. Euro (EUR)
   4. Japanese Yen (JPY)
   5. Australian Dollar (AUD)
   6. Swiss Franc (CHF)
   7. Canadian Dollar (CAD)
   8. New Zealand Dollar (NZD)

Because of the availability of each currency, currency pairs, and its derivatives, such as USD/JPY, EUR/USD, AUD/USD, as well as several others, each currency can be traded at any given time because these currencies are globally traded.

Any Forex news trader or news investor will have to have the latest most up to the moment news announcements. Even if the news announcements are only a couple of minutes old, this can have devastating effects for any trader who has risked any sum of money. Most news traders like to keep an eagle eye on any news regarding economical activity, but most importantly news dealing with interest rates changes, FOMC rate decisions, retail sales figures, inflation indicators such as the consumer price index (CPI), producer price index (PPI), unemployment figures, industrial production announcements, boost in business and consumer confidence, as well as business sentiment surveys. Manufacturing sector surveys, trade balance release details, and foreign purchases of U.S. Treasuries may also prove useful for a news trader to better make decisions regarding when or when not to trade.

However, it should be remembered that these news announcements can have ranging impacts on a country’s currency, and after an announcement, the volatility of a currency may greatly fluctuate. It is important to take advantage of news that creates movements in volatility that will last for a few minutes or even hours. Trading on the Forex market based solely on news is a difficult and sometimes dangerous practice. However, there are some indicators that can make a news trader’s job easier, such as breakout indicators (Bollinger bands, breakout of a candlestick bar, or a price bar). Research has proved that news announcements can impact a currency’s value quite severely, in some cases it can gain or lose anywhere from 33 pips to 124 pips, opening up the ideal trading opportunity looked for by news traders. If a news trader is able to act quickly enough, even the smallest news release can be turned into a potential profit of thousands of dollars. However, it is important to remember the volatility of such announcements, and although the profits seem endless, the losses can happen too.

Swiss francThe Swiss franc climbed today against the US dollar, extending its rally for the third day, after the non-farm payrolls showed that US employers weren’t adding jobs last month.

US non-farm payroll employment showed no change in August, while the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent. Analysts predicted an increase of payrolls by 74,000. July value was revised down from 117,000 to 85,000. It’ll be interesting to see how the Federal Reserve will react to such disastrous economic data and what steps it’ll take.

USD/CHF plunged from 037954 to 0.7811 as of 13:45 GMT today. Earlier, the currency pair reached 0.7711, the lowest level since August 12.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Swiss Franc, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the Swiss Franc:

    * Franc Rallies as SNB Doesn't Intervene (2011-09-01)
    * Franc Falls as Bernanke Improves Sentiment on Markets (2011-08-26)
    * Franc Gains as Markets Return to Risk Aversion (2011-08-24)
    * Franc Falls for Second Day on Risk Sentiment (2011-08-24)
    * Franc's Rally Fails on Euro-Peg Speculation (2011-08-23)

South Korean wonThe South Korean won gained today as the comments of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke last Friday increased risk appetite among Forex market participants, bolstering appeal of higher-yielding currencies.

Bernanke made comments on August 26 about ability of the US to support growth of its economy in the long run. Markets reacted positively and traders began search for higher-yield. South Korean trade balance surplus widened to $4.94 billion in July from $2.03 billion in June.

USD/KRW fell from 1,080.10 to 1,073.50 today as of 13:46 GMT.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the South Korean Won, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the South Korean Won:

    * Korean Won Falls on Anticipation of Crisis (2011-08-19)
    * Korea's Won Retreats After Rally (2011-08-12)
    * South Korea Holds Interest Rates, Won Goes Lower (2011-08-11)
    * South Korean Won Suffers from Europe's Troubles (2011-07-12)
    * Higher South Korea's Inflation Leads to Gains for Won (2011-07-01)

Great Britain poundThe Great Britain pound dropped after macroeconomic data provided today some unpleasant surprises, including the unexpected growth of trade balance deficit and decline of manufacturing.

The UK trade balance deficit widened to £8.9 billion in June from £8.5 billion in May. Traders hoped for decrease of the deficit to £8.2 billion. Manufacturing production declined with the annual rate of 0.4 percent in June. The contraction followed the advance by 1.8 percent in the month before. Market analysts predicted an increase by 0.3 percent.

Riots in London and other cities of Britain lead to massive damage to property and left one person dead. Several hundred was arrested. Police is busy with containing the riots and rumors state that army may be employed.

GBP/USD was little changed at 1.6302 as of 23:58 GMT after opening at 1.6315, rising as high as 1.6409 and falling as low as 1.6175. EUR/GBP jumped from 0.8688 to 0.8804 and GBP/JPY slipped from 126.82 to 124.49 before trading at 125.74.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Great Britain Pound, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the Great Britain Pound:

    Pound Weakens on Worsening Consumer Sentiment (2011-07-21)
    GBP/USD Erases Losses After BOE Minutes (2011-07-20)
    UK House Prices Fall for First Time in 2011, Sterling Weaker (2011-07-18)
    Pound Falls vs. Euro on Jobless Claims (2011-07-13)
    Pound Recovers from Slump on Bad Fundamentals (2011-07-12)


This entry was posted on TopForexNews on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 at 11:59 pm and is filed under Great Britain Pound. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Swiss francThe Swiss franc retreated today from the yesterday’s records against the dollar and the euro as the Swiss National Bank expanded measures aimed to tame the excessive appreciation of the currency.

The SNB repeated that a strong currency is a ”threat” to the nation’s economy. As a result, the bank decided to increase pressure on the franc:

    In the light of these developments, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is taking additional measures against the strength of the Swiss franc. It will again significantly increase the supply of liquidity to the Swiss franc money market.

To increase liquidity, the SNB “will additionally conduct foreign exchange swap transactions”.

USD/CHF climbed from 0.7205 to 0.7257 as of 10:11 GMT and reached the intraday high of 0.7331. EUR/CHF advanced from 1.0365 to 1.0426 after it dropped yesterday to the record low of 1.0089.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Swiss Franc, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the Swiss Franc:

    Fed Plans Keep Zero Rates till 2013, Dollar Hurt (2011-08-09)
    CHF at New Record vs. USD, Gains vs. Other Currencies (2011-08-08)
    Intervention: Way to Weaker Franc or Bluff of SNB? (2011-08-08)
    Swiss Franc Prevails Despite Intervention (2011-08-04)
    Siwss Franc Retreats From Maximums (2011-08-03)


This entry was posted on TopForexNews on Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 at 10:11 am and is filed under Swiss Franc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Great Britain poundThe Great Britain pound dropped after macroeconomic data provided today some unpleasant surprises, including the unexpected growth of trade balance deficit and decline of manufacturing.

The UK trade balance deficit widened to £8.9 billion in June from £8.5 billion in May. Traders hoped for decrease of the deficit to £8.2 billion. Manufacturing production declined with the annual rate of 0.4 percent in June. The contraction followed the advance by 1.8 percent in the month before. Market analysts predicted an increase by 0.3 percent.

Riots in London and other cities of Britain lead to massive damage to property and left one person dead. Several hundred was arrested. Police is busy with containing the riots and rumors state that army may be employed.

GBP/USD was little changed at 1.6302 as of 23:58 GMT after opening at 1.6315, rising as high as 1.6409 and falling as low as 1.6175. EUR/GBP jumped from 0.8688 to 0.8804 and GBP/JPY slipped from 126.82 to 124.49 before trading at 125.74.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Great Britain Pound, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the Great Britain Pound:

    Pound Weakens on Worsening Consumer Sentiment (2011-07-21)
    GBP/USD Erases Losses After BOE Minutes (2011-07-20)
    UK House Prices Fall for First Time in 2011, Sterling Weaker (2011-07-18)
    Pound Falls vs. Euro on Jobless Claims (2011-07-13)
    Pound Recovers from Slump on Bad Fundamentals (2011-07-12)


This entry was posted on TopForexNews on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 at 11:59 pm and is filed under Great Britain Pound. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

US DollarThe US dollar slumped against some other currencies, including the euro, the yen and the franc, after the Federal Reserve kept its key Federal Fund rate near zero and signaled that it may keep interest rates exceptionally low till mid-2013.

The Federal Open Market Committee said in its statement that “economic growth so far this year has been considerably slower than the Committee had expected”. The FOMC outlined the current problems of the US economy, such as ”a deterioration in overall labor market conditions in recent months”, growing unemployment and depressed housing sector. As a result the Committee announced:

    To promote the ongoing economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent. The Committee currently anticipates that economic conditions–including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run–are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through mid-2013.

The euro reacted favorably to the statement at first, but erased gains later. The drop was short-lived, though, and currently EUR/USD shows a strong rally. The Swiss franc reached yet another record against the greenback before retreating. The franc currently moves down against the dollar, but it’s likely just a temporary correction after a strong rally.

EUR/USD surged from 1.4176 to 1.4339 as of 20:21 GMT today. USD/JPY dropped from 77.74 to 77.03. USD/CHF slumped from 0.7545 to 0.7197 and reached earlier its new all-time low of 0.7083.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Swiss Franc, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the Swiss Franc:

    CHF at New Record vs. USD, Gains vs. Other Currencies (2011-08-08)
    Intervention: Way to Weaker Franc or Bluff of SNB? (2011-08-08)
    Swiss Franc Prevails Despite Intervention (2011-08-04)
    Siwss Franc Retreats From Maximums (2011-08-03)
    Swiss Franc on Record Against Everything (2011-08-01)


This entry was posted on TopForexNews on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 at 8:21 pm and is filed under Swiss Franc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Australian dollarThe Australian dollar attempted to pare its losses today after Asian stocks rebounded, but this attempt wasn’t successful, meaning that the currency heads for a ninth straight session of losses.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index posted a decline of 1.7 percent, rebounding from the drop by 5.5 percent. The Australian currency also rebounded from its intraday decline by 2.5 percent against the US dollar, but currently resumed movement to the downside. The present economic conditions simply aren’t good for the currencies that are related to growth and commodities.

AUD/USD traded at 1.0160 today as of 9:38 GMT after falling earlier from 1.0186 to 0.9926.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Australian Dollar, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the Australian Dollar:

    Eighth Session of Suffering for Aussie (2011-08-08)
    AUD Down on Economic Outlook Revision (2011-08-05)
    Australian Dollar Continues Its Correction on Weak Retail Sales (2011-08-03)
    AUD Surges Against Everything on Higher Inflation Numbers (2011-07-27)
    Aussie Rises on Rate Expectations, US Problems (2011-07-25)


This entry was posted on TopForexNews on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 at 9:39 am and is filed under Australian Dollar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

posted at 12:45 pm on August 11, 2011 by Tina Korbe

printer-friendly

So far, the Hot Air Express’ schedule in Ames looks like this: One campaign event down, several more to go, plus the big draws of the debate and straw poll. But, all of a sudden, no event looks to be more exciting than the Iowa State Fair Friday — and not just because a certain spotlight-coveting, fun-loving Alaskan will be there.

According to the fair’s motto, “nothing compares.” Butter sculptures! Big-name entertainment! Fair food! It’s really not that hard to figure out why Sarah Palin would want to be there. Sure, she wants to stoke speculation that she might still run for the presidency (even though my suspicion is that she won’t), but she suggests she also just wants to stick it to a president who admonished the American people to “eat their peas”:

In an email to supporters, Palin said she was “excited to try some of that famous fried butter-on-a-stick, fried cheesecake-on-a-stick, fried twinkies, etc.”

“I’ll enjoy them in honor of those who’d rather make us just ‘eat our peas’!” she said, in a dig at President Obama.

Can you really blame her for wanting to eat a fried Twinkie? (Michelle Obama could and would, of course — before she’d go back to drinking her milkshake — but that’s neither here nor there.)

Of course, Palin won’t be the only prominent politician to appear at the fair. Mitt Romney will speak at the opening ceremonies today and Michele Bachmann will speak Friday, just before the crucial straw poll. But Palin does have the distinction of being the only prominent Republican non-candidate to put in an appearance.

Fair food and speculation-stoking aside, why, really, does Palin plan to attend? From the sound of the ad she released alongside her bus tour relaunch, it might be for the purely patriotic reason of expressing pride in small-town America. It could be for self-aggrandizement, for the pleasure of standing in the spotlight just because she can. It could be for a wholly unexpected reason — an endorsement, for example (although that seems highly unlikely). Maybe Palin decided to appear as a favor to the openly campaigning candidates in Iowa who will be somewhat overshadowed by Rick Perry’s announcement Saturday. After all, her considerable weight guarantees media coverage to the state that was supposed to be the uncontested center of attention this weekend before Perry’s people leaked his plans.

But regardless of why Palin planned this particular trip to Iowa, thinking about her in relation to this appearance makes me realize she is, herself, a little like the Iowa State Fair in that she is entirely in a class of her own. Like it, she boasts excellencies — a large and apparently happy family, signature accomplishments in her home state of Alaska, books, TV appearances, a clearly-and-compellingly-articulated conservative message, beauty, charisma, energy, etc., etc., etc. Like it, she boasts eccentricities — that memorable accent, her reality TV show, the start-and-stop nature of both her governorship and this bus tour, etc., etc., etc. She draws a big crowd, nobody feels indifferently toward her and, sometimes, she palls on even her biggest fans. That, perhaps, is the most important comparison: Just as it is distinctly possible to stay too long at the fair, such that funnel cake tastes sickeningly sweet in your mouth, it is possible to promote, to debate, to discuss Sarah Palin too much (and I know I’m guilty of this, too!), such that she becomes a caricature of herself instead of a real person and even people who like her find the discussion cloying. But she owes it to herself and we owe it to her, too, to remember and acknowledge the reality of Sarah Palin just as often as we remember the myth. Like the rest of us, she’s illuminated by talents, but also marred by flaws. No one compares — and yet everyone does.

Swiss francThe Swiss franc retreated today from the yesterday’s records against the dollar and the euro as the Swiss National Bank expanded measures aimed to tame the excessive appreciation of the currency.

The SNB repeated that a strong currency is a ”threat” to the nation’s economy. As a result, the bank decided to increase pressure on the franc:

    In the light of these developments, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is taking additional measures against the strength of the Swiss franc. It will again significantly increase the supply of liquidity to the Swiss franc money market.

To increase liquidity, the SNB “will additionally conduct foreign exchange swap transactions”.

USD/CHF climbed from 0.7205 to 0.7257 as of 10:11 GMT and reached the intraday high of 0.7331. EUR/CHF advanced from 1.0365 to 1.0426 after it dropped yesterday to the record low of 1.0089.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Swiss Franc, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Earlier News About the Swiss Franc:

    Fed Plans Keep Zero Rates till 2013, Dollar Hurt (2011-08-09)

    CHF at New Record vs. USD, Gains vs. Other Currencies (2011-08-08)

    Intervention: Way to Weaker Franc or Bluff of SNB? (2011-08-08)

    Swiss Franc Prevails Despite Intervention (2011-08-04)

    Siwss Franc Retreats From Maximums (2011-08-03)

This entry was posted on TopForexNews on Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 at 10:11 am and is filed under Swiss Franc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowe

posted at 6:05 pm on August 9, 2011 by Allahpundit
printer-friendly

That’s precisely what we need to reach a grand bargain. Hard-left dial tone Patty Murray and a guy who spent the past Sunday muttering in front of TV cameras about a “tea-party downgrade.” Bonus fun fact about Murray via Amanda Carpenter: She’s the head of the DSCC this election cycle, which means there ain’t no way no how no chance she’s signing off on any deal that involves even minor Medicare reform.

Not sure what to make of Baucus, though.

    Murray is expected to co-chair the committee, officially named the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, along with a still unnamed House Republican. A spokesman for Reid did not respond to a request for comment.

    Reid’s decision to tap Murray will likely be met with scrutiny, as she is also chairing the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2012 election cycle. But she is also a member of leadership, a senior member of the Budget Committee, and a woman on what is likely to be a male-dominated committee.

    Baucus is chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee with jurisdiction over many areas, including entitlement programs, that the committee is expected to examine. Kerry, meanwhile, was selected for his stature and Senate tenure.

None of the three were members of the Gang of Six, but Baucus was part of the Biden deficit group that Cantor walked away from over taxes. Could he potentially be the seventh vote for a deal on the Super Committee? He comes from a red state, he’s an institution in the Senate, and he’s not up for reelection until 2014. He’s as insulated from a tough vote as one can be. He’s also, as noted in the quote, chairman of the Finance Committee, so if he blessed a deal, that would give it added credibility in the Senate. And he’s been reasonably good on taxes, so he might side with Republicans on tax reform. The bad news? He duly wet himself over Paul Ryan’s budget and he’s earned some fans at AARP for supporting “doctor fix,” which contributes mightily to Medicare continuously running over budget. He’s probably not signing off on any serious entitlement reform, in other words, although if the GOP can come up with some revenues via tax reform, that might encourage him to join them in a modest first step. He floated that idea himself, in fact, after Biden’s group melted down, proposing new Medicare cuts in return for new revenues. Then again, Baucus was on Obama’s Deficit Commission and ended up voting no on the final plan. Of course, so did Paul Ryan.

I’ll leave you with this thought, in case you’re under the mistaken impression that anything will be accomplished by this process:

    Congress may undermine the deal that raised the U.S. debt ceiling by failing to agree on a plan to curb the deficit and then softening the impact of automatic spending cuts that would kick in to achieve the budget targets.

    That’s the view of five former directors of the Congressional Budget Office…

    While the cuts are supposed to be automatic, Congress can delay or override them if they prove too painful — defense spending would be reduced by 9.1 percent over a decade while non-defense programs would be cut 7.9 percent. That’s what lawmakers did with the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act, the template for the trigger.

Update: Weigel sees a new “the Democrats caved again!” narrative brewing on the left over Baucus. “So the Democrats will have one of their compromisers on the committee. Unless the GOP puts up one of its compromisers — a neo-Gang of Sixer, or someone like Bob Corker — the Baucus move alone means a committee that leans right.”

posted at 4:45 pm on August 9, 2011 by Allahpundit
printer-friendly

Two clips to usher in night four of Droogfest 2011. The common thread is that in both cases you’re watching rampaging cretins behave in a quasi-civilized manner. In the first, two giggly girls chat calmly with the BBC about the “mad fun” they’re having; in the second, rioters handle a wounded boy gingerly … before proceeding to rob him. Maybe we can let the lot of them off easy with a modified version of the Ludovico technique.

If you missed it in Headlines this morning, read Brendan O’Neill’s essay on the riots as a byproduct of welfare-state decay. At the Corner, Iain Murray elaborates:

    Another left-wing friend of mine in the UK has another interesting theory — that the particular targeting of electronics and clothes shops represents an explosion of consumerism. Stay with me, because I think he has a point and I’d like to explain why. Much of the British underclass has had easy access to credit over the past decade or so — and why not, when they are on a secure income stream of state benefits — and they have spent this for the most part on TVs, video games, and “chav” fashion. That easy credit — which I should emphasize was encouraged by the loose monetary policy of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair — has now dried up, so they are looking to take for free what they previously got for nominal sums. There is more evidence for that conclusion in this BBC recording of two girls saying that the riots were about taking what they wanted, for free…

    I think what we are seeing in Britain is a conflation of two liberal dreams — that of the 1960s, in which parenting and tradition went out the window, and that of the 2000s, in which self-help was replaced by easy credit, benefits, and an all-mighty “health and safety” bureaucracy — together with the unfinished nature of the Thatcher revolution. Mrs. T enabled economic Thatcherism but was unable to finish the project of what I termed social Thatcherism, whereby a free society recognized the importance of what once were called manners.

    The result is a feral underclass without any understanding of tradition from right or left.

O’Neill ends by laying into British cops for their paralysis, a ubiquitous critique in stories about the riots after three days of window-smashing. There are a lot of reasons for that. The police have in fact held back, only now considering water cannons and plastic bullets after millions in damage. The prime minister and the mayor of London were both on vacation when the riots began and Scotland Yard’s leadership recently resigned over the phone-hacking scandal, so for several days there’s been no one in charge. The Home Secretary, who was also on vacation, is prone to saying moronic things like, “The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon, the way we police in Britain is through consent of communities,” even as young degenerates ransack local communities without their consent. And of course it’s comforting in a moment of chaos to focus on the failings of the police, who are, unlike the rioters (oops, I mean “protesters”), accountable to the public. Build a better force and in theory you ensure this can’t happen again. In theory:

    Business owners accused police of adopting a softly-softly approach which left their shops and businesses vulnerable to attack by baying mobs.

    While police were criticised in some quarters for being far too slow to get to riot scenes, officers were accused by shopkeepers in Hackney of standing just yards away from looters as windows were smashed and armfuls of goods were scooped up…

    Firearms units trained to use the rubber bullets are braced in case they are needed. It would be the first time ever the baton rounds have been used in British disturbances.

    Mr Kavanagh said Scotland Yard was ‘not going to throw 180 years of policing with the community away’ as the prospect of using the ammunition for the first time at a British disturbance was raised.

Imagine how bad things could get if they did that. There might be riots.

There are many ways to measure the awfulness of what’s happening but chew on these two while you watch. According to residents in Birmingham, looters are literally stealing the clothes off of people’s backs, stopping them and forcing them to strip. The Daily Mail has a too-bad-to-check photo via Twitter. Beyond that, in the Middle East and elsewhere, there’s gloating going on both by authoritarian governments, who are mocking the Brits for not liquidating all of their troublemakers on the spot, and by the victims of those authoritarian governments, who are mocking the rioters for turning their “protests” into a pretext to steal DVD players. All of which is to say, this is a complete fiasco by any yardstick.

Onto the videos. I’ve included a third (audio) clip below as a little bonus; yes, that is indeed Hulk Hogan’s voice you’re hearing. Click the image to watch.

posted at 10:05 am on August 9, 2011 by J.E. Dyer
printer-friendly

Few people in the public eye have said anything useful about the recent unpleasantness with the national debt and the national credit rating.  The president hasn’t.  The vice president hasn’t.  Surprisingly few of the declared Republican candidates have.  The MSM haven’t.  They’re busy trying to make the expression “Tea Party downgrade” go viral.

Indeed, at this hour of reckoning, with the Dow plunging and markets in turmoil around the world, the MSM have achieved another playground-taunt triumph with the silly Newsweek cover featuring an unflattering photo of Michelle Bachmann.  These people seem to have no sense of proportion, no judgment, no recognition that things have become serious and the time for sophomoric media jabs is past.

Who cares how they can make Bachmann look on a magazine cover?  The tabloids demonstrate several times a year that they can make the world’s most beautiful women look like something from the back of the refrigerator, if they photograph them in bad light with a telephoto lens.  The Bachmann cover is the equivalent of a slam-book entry, about as intelligent as holding your nose and chanting “You smell!” at a classmate.  Ridicule is the cheapest thing there is – and in politics, it’s usually deployed to shift the focus from a needed debate to specious topics and emotion.  I’d call it a reversion to high school, but it would be an insult even to middle-schoolers to pin it on their age group.

Meanwhile, Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan have had good, inspiring, on-target things to say about the US fiscal crisis.  Michelle Bachmann has had good things to say.  John Bolton had an important piece making the case that national security is inextricably linked with fiscal security, a much-needed point in the context of the recent debate.

But Sarah Palin came through today with a Facebook post that strikes the right tone and is at once simple, direct, and comprehensive.  It doesn’t rail at past mistakes, nor does it come across as a raised-voice, you’ve-got-to-get-this-people communication.  Palin takes it for granted – with refreshing common sense – that we are in a crisis, its features are obvious, and the task now is to deal with it, not continue to argue whether it’s really a crisis or how big it is or whose name we can pin on it.

She makes no bones about the significance of the problem we face.  I am particularly impressed with her point that if we don’t square ourselves away, the specter hangs over us of IMF staffers showing up on our doorstep with China and France and Germany arrayed behind them, ready to throw folders on a desk and start telling us how much we can spend on cable TV and incidentals each month.  Whether things would really play out for the US as they are playing out for Greece and Ireland is a valid question, but Palin is quite correct that the pitched confrontation is on the horizon now, as it was not six weeks ago – and she has the courage to face that possibility head-on.  It’s not pleasant to mention it, but it’s the right thing to do.

The last third of Palin’s post is devoted to laying out what we need to do.  Grow the economy by releasing the regulatory clamps on it, starting with the energy sector.  Cut spending and reform entitlements.  She doesn’t pretend the latter would be easy, but she faces head-on the fact that it is inescapably necessary.  I urge you to read her post for the discussion of particulars.  It is material and convincing without being in the weeds.

The piece is positive and encouraging for its forthrightness.  There is nothing “clever” to be done in this situation; it’s all straightforward.  The US federal government has to cut spending and let the economy grow, even if that means breaking the stranglehold of unions on the public trough and overruling advocacy groups and government bureaucrats who don’t want the economy to grow.  Pretending that the federal budget is too complex to be governed by the ordinary rules of accounting – or that the US is too special to be limited by the ordinary definition of fiscal solvency – is a dodge, not a sign of insight or expertise.

Palin focuses like any good executive on the big picture.  We have to cut spending and get government out of the economy’s way so it can start pumping out revenues again.  These things are increasingly obvious to everyone, and moreover, they constitute a plan.  Talking ourselves into corners about other, tangential things isn’t even interesting any more.  It feels so wrong that it’s hard to watch anyone’s news program at the moment: no one seems to be talking about what matters.

What is interesting is how few in our national political life have put the case together, as Palin has, without temporizing or bloviating.  I haven’t heard anyone else do what she does with this post.  She acknowledges the actual, enormous scope of the problem, envisions a solution, and outlines what to do to achieve it, with encouragement that it can be done.  It is sad and a little frightening that so many Americans have become unable to see this for what it is:  leadership.  Almost everyone else is focused more narrowly, on one aspect of the problem or another, and a good few commentators don’t seem to even have the vocabulary or the mental infrastructure to address the problem itself; they can only express opinions about the impossibility of the politics surrounding it.

It is the opposite of stupid to recognize the problem’s stark and simple outlines when all around you are swinging blindfolded at piñatas.  We spend too much, and we suppress economic growth and revenues with regulation.  Palin articulates that clearly.  Her ability to reach out directly through social media, and put her case in her terms, is a net positive for our current political climate.  She remains one of the best reasons to not let the MSM dictate our ideas and preferences to us.

J.E. Dyer’s articles have appeared at The Green Room, Commentary’s “contentions,” Patheos, The Weekly Standard online, and her own blog, The Optimistic Conservative.

This post was promoted from GreenRoom to HotAir.com.
To see the comments on the original post, look here.

posted at 1:00 pm on July 24, 2011 by Tina Korbe
printer-friendly

Tim Pawlenty’s campaign manager yesterday sent out an e-mail outlining Pawlenty’s accomplishments and assuring supporters that the former Minnesota governor’s fan club will continue to grow, while enthusiasm for other candidates — most implicitly, Michele Bachmann — will fade.

“In 2008, voters elected a member of Congress with no executive experience. We can’t afford the cost of inexperience any longer, and Iowans are getting that,” Ayers wrote. “[A]s more Republican primary voters start to tune in to the race, they are finding out that the governor’s record and message will stand the test [of] a brutal campaign. Other candidates’ records (or lack thereof), and plans for the future (or lack thereof) won’t.”

Even though Ayers never mentions Bachmann by name, it’s clear she’s the primary object of his statements.

Pawlenty’s persistent picking at Bachmann has drawn so much press attention that some even questioned whether the Pawlenty campaign planted the story of Bachmann’s supposedly “incapacitating” migraines. The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin explains how that insinuation — and the Pawlenty campaign’s failure to completely dispense with it — continues to plague Pawlenty’s prospects:

    In essence, the campaign’s defense is that they let the press run with a story without effectively rebutting it. If that is the case, and there is no definitive proof at this point to suggest otherwise, this will only multiply concerns that Pawlenty’s campaign is not firing on all cylinders. In any event, the issue has now created another worrisome distraction for Pawlenty, who has failed to make a dent in the polls and needs to finish near the top of the pack in Ames.

Meantime, Bachmann’s own handling of the headache issue has actually served her well. This weekend, she even slipped in a witty quip about her “condition” during an Iowa appearance:

    Michele Bachmann went beyond her prepared statement about her migraines during an Iowa appearance today, making a joke about the story that dominated the 2012 coverage for much of last week:

    “This week, they were talking about me and headaches. All I want you to know is I’ve been giving a lot more headaches in Washington than I’ve been getting,” she joked to laughter and raucous applause. … “And as president of the United States, I intend to give those big power brokers a lot more headaches, because we’re going to give the country back to you.”

Pawlenty’s persevering criticisms of a competitor continue to betray insecurity. Ed eloquently defended candidates’ rights to question their competitors’ records — and I initially conceded Bachmann’s migraines to be a legitimate cause for concern (at least until her doctor settled the issue definitively) and praised T-Paw’s common-sense quote about the requirements of the presidency — but, at this point, if I were Pawlenty, I would steer as far away from any mention of Bachmann — explicit or implicit — as I could manage. He doesn’t appear to be hurting Bachmann, but he is denting the best shield he has against attacks against him: His reputation as a stand-up guy who’s running on his own merits, not money or a popular image. He’s at his best when he talks policy, not petty quibbles.

posted at 12:00 pm on July 24, 2011 by Jazz Shaw

printer-friendly

President Obama is under attack these days from all manner of nasty conservatives who don’t care for his liberal, big spending ways. They seem to have found an unlikely ally, though, in the person of the only officially declared socialist in Congress… Bernie Sanders. (Emphasis in original.)

    SANDERS: Brian, believe me, I wish I had the answer to your question. Let me just suggest this. I think there are millions of Americans who are deeply disappointed in the president; who believe that, with regard to Social Security and a number of other issues, he said one thing as a candidate and is doing something very much else as a president; who cannot believe how weak he has been, for whatever reason, in negotiating with Republicans and there’s deep disappointment. So my suggestion is, I think one of the reasons the president has been able to move so far to the right is that there is no primary opposition to him and I think it would do this country a good deal of service if people started thinking about candidates out there to begin contrasting what is a progressive agenda as opposed to what Obama is doing. [...] So I would say to Ryan [sic] discouragement is not an option. I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition.

It’s hard to say how much impact this will have, because traditionally Sanders hasn’t enjoyed a tremendous amount of influence outside his own state. But it is a sign of growing discontent with the political arm of his party. For better or worse, Obama is offering up some spending cuts which will effectively take the legs out from under most of the advertisements congressional Democrats are planning on running next year.

It’s difficult to talk about “Republicans destroying Medicare and Social Security as we know it” during the campaign if the titular leader of your party has just forced a vote on you to cut it yourself. It’s even tougher to talk about the need to “tax the rich” so everyone can “pay their fair share” if your President cuts deals to enact even bigger tax cuts than his predecessor. (Cuts which he already signed on to extending.)

Sanders can’t very well run against Obama himself in a primary since he’s not a registered Democrat. (Though, in theory, he could sign up at any time this year and still do it.) I suppose he’s expecting an actual Democrat to step up to the plate and do it for the sake of stopping Obama from running to the middle in a Clinton like move to secure a second term. Even so, given the President’s currently tanking numbers, I don’t expect a long line of Democratic leaders to step up and attempt this.

posted at 3:10 pm on July 22, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
printer-friendly

CNN’s latest look at the Republican primary fight shows a big move being made by the man who hasn’t made his big move yet.  Mitt Romney remains in first place at 16%, but only within the margin of error, as a group of speculative candidates have crowded right behind him.  Texas Governor Rick Perry finishes second with 14%, and that’s not all:

    As Texas Gov. Rick Perry comes closer to jumping into the race for the White House, he’s also close to the top of a new national survey in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination.

    A CNN/ORC International Poll released Friday indicates that 14% of Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP pick Perry as their first choice for their party’s nomination, just two points behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who’s making his second bid for the White House.

    Romney’s two point margin over Perry is within the survey’s sampling error.

Right behind Perry come Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani, both at 13% and both within the MOE, too.  None of these close finishers have actually declared a candidacy, which means that 40% of survey respondents not only are dissatisfied with the current lineup, they’ve picked non-candidates in their stead.  That’s not good news for Romney, whose high profile from the 2007-8 campaign means that the problem isn’t a lack of familiarity with the electorate. Only 14% declare themselves “very satisfied” with the field, less than half of those who are either not very satisfied or not satisfied at all with the field (34%).

Bachmann finishes at 12%, the last candidate in double digits.  Tim Pawlenty only gets 3% of the survey respondents’ endorsement, falling behind Ron Paul, Herman Cain, and Newt Gingrich, which puts a lot of pressure on Pawlenty to score big in next month’s Ames straw poll.  Curiously, when Rick Perry gets removed from the list of choices, Bachmann scores best, picking up three points to finish tied for second with Palin at 15%.

Among independents, there are some surprising results.  Mitt Romney finishes third at 12%, where Giuliani and Perry tie for second at 14% — and Bachmann wins at 15%.  Bachmann comes in third among self-professed conservatives at 13%, with Romney beating her at 16%, but getting edged by Perry at 17%.  Among both groups, Palin comes in fourth place.   Not surprisingly, Perry wins the South handily, 21% to the 13% for Romney and, er, Giuliani? Romney and Giuliani also tie for first in the suburban demographic at 14%, with Perry close behind at 13%.

Clearly, Perry will be a force if and when he enters the race.  If he’s the last person in, he may find even wider support, because right now it appears that Republicans are still holding their breath.

posted at 7:20 pm on July 21, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
printer-friendly

Tina touched on this in the previous post, but it’s important enough to look into the numbers.  Harry Reid might consider the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act the worst piece of legislation in the history of, well, legislation, but he doesn’t get much company among American adults.  In the latest CNN poll, two-thirds of voters favor the idea of tying a raise in the debt ceiling to spending caps and a balanced budget amendment, and this isn’t a survey of conservative-leaning likely voters, either.  However, if you expect the CNN story about its own poll to highlight this result, then you obviously haven’t been reading CNN long (via Poor Richard’s News):

    Americans are hungry for a solution to the debt ceiling debate but there is a big partisan divide that isn’t going to make a solution easy to achieve, according to a new national survey.

    And a CNN/ORC International Poll also indicates that while Democrats and independent voters are open to a number of different approaches, Republicans draw the line at tax increases, and many of them oppose raising the nation’s debt ceiling under any circumstances.

    “That may create a problem for the Republican party, because most Americans think that GOP has been acting irresponsibly in the debt ceiling talks and they will blame congressional Republicans, not President Barack Obama, if no action is taken on the debt ceiling by August 2,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

One has to go thirteen paragraphs into the story to find CNN addressing this at all:

    Republicans like the “cut, cap, and balance” approach to the debt ceiling, as do Democrats and independents. Most Americans support a balanced budget amendment, and most, but not as many, think an amendment is necessary to get federal spending under control. A balanced budget amendment passed the House earlier this week, but a vote in the Senate is expected to fail.

Er, yeah.  In other words, a consensus exists across all political lines that the CCB/BBA approach would be a good idea.  When one scrolls down to the crosstab sections of the raw data, the consensus becomes very, very clear.  The CCB/BBA approach wins majorities in every single demographic — including self-described liberals.  Sixty-three percent of Democrats back the House bill.  The least supportive age demographic is 50-64YOs at 62/37; the least supportive regional demographic is the Midwest at 61/39.  Even those who express opposition to the Tea Party supports it 53/47.

In other words, it’s a clean sweep.  Simply put, there is no political demographic at all where the CCB/BBA doesn’t get majority support.  The BBA on its own does even better.  It gets 3-1 support (74/24), and except for those Tea Party opponents (56%) and self-professed liberals (61/37), doesn’t get below 70% support in any demographic.

Guess what doesn’t get much support?  The McConnell plan.  Respondents rejected the idea of letting Obama raise the debt ceiling on his own, 34/65.  Not one single demographic supports the idea, not even Democrats (40/60) or liberals (34/65).

To quote Barack Obama, the American people are sold — on the Republican plan passed in the House to deal with the debt-ceiling and spending crises.  Too bad CNN buried the lede.

posted at 7:40 pm on July 22, 2011 by Tina Korbe
printer-friendly

This morning, Politico reported in its mass “Huddle” e-mail that House Republican leadership kicked one freshman Congressman — Arizona Rep. David Schweikert — off the whip team for supposedly switching his vote on an unspecified piece of legislation. Actually, a source close to Schweikert’s office says, that’s not quite accurate.

This is what the Politico e-mail said:

    HUDDLE SCOOP: FROSH KICKED OFF WHIP TEAM – Rep. David Schweikert, a freshman from Arizona, was removed from the Republican whip team — the group of lawmakers who help round up votes for the leadership — for what sources say is a violation of the first rule of the whip club. The rule: Don’t promise to vote one way and then vote the other way. Sources declined to specify which vote cost Schweikert his seat at the table, but he did vote ‘no’ on the Energy and Water Appropriations bill last Friday. Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam pointed Huddle to Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy’s office when asked about the episode. ‘This is a whip team family issue,” McCarthy spokeswoman Erica Elliott said.

It’s true Schweikert — ranked one of the most conservative freshmen in the House — has disagreed with leadership on various issues. And he did feel unwelcome on the whip team, the source says, but the decision to leave was ultimately his.

“He’s been pretty clear and pretty adamant that nobody can buy his vote, so he was a little frustrated with the way leadership asked him to vote on certain occasions,” the source said. “So, he decided it would be best for him to step out and leave the whip team because he couldn’t align with them in certain areas. In no way, shape or form did leadership kick him out, but they made it a pretty inhospitable environment for him to actually vote his conscience and not buy his vote on the whip team. He still supports top leadership.”

Schweikert will also still remain an involved freshman. He’s the vice chairman of the Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee of Financial Services and he’s been “working night and day on reforming GNCs,” as well as on efforts to reform the Dodd-Frank financial regulation legislation (itself supposedly a reform bill!).

He’s also focused on ensuring the best possible outcome of the debt negotiations. Even after the Senate failed Cut, Cap and Balance, Schweikert supports it as the House plan.

“He is focused solely on Cut, Cap and Balance,” the source said. “He hopes he can still play a role in working with leadership and other freshmen that want to get the message out that the Democrats have misled the American people and the president has no plan for the country.”