700,000 Cars in One Month

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picture-125.thumbnail.pngCash for Clunkers will, on Monday at 8 PM, have silica liquid injected in its engine and stopped. Or rather, the program will offer rebates for no more new deals after that time.

The U.S. government will shut down its cash-for-clunkers program at 8 p.m. Monday, in a bid to avoid car dealers and shoppers from claiming more than the $3 billion set aside for the program.

The decision means that the program originally expected to generate 250,000 vehicle sales over three months will have likely triggered more than 700,000 in less than one month. While it accomplished its goal of destroying gas guzzlers and spurring the U.S. auto industry to boost production, it’s larger effects on the economy and environment will be debated for years to come.

I’ve been measuring the effects of the program more anecdotally. We know that GM brought back workers in Orion Township, MI, and Lordstown, OH, to make more Malibus and Cobalts for the program–and most other manufacturers had already brought back workers. We know the program cleaned out inventory that had been stuck at the dealers. And I saw a bunch of brand new (!) small cars on the way home from Pittsburgh–particularly a bunch of Saturn Auras (which, with the Malibu, is the biggest car that qualifies across the board for the full benefit). Oh, and I saw a pretty cool Saturn Aura ad last night, too–I think the C4C program allowed manufacturers to free up some money for advertising that has gotten people in dealers.

Who knows whether all this excitement will tail off after Monday. Who knows whether seeing the interest in efficient, smaller cars, will shift the emphasis on these cars going forward? But for now, it has given one of our key industries–and small businesses all over the country–a quick shot in the arm.

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Red Alert! Bush Was Going to Lose!

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Tom Ridge will apparently confirm everything we suspected: he was ordered (by whom?!) to raise the terror alert going into the 2004 election so Bush could fear-monger his way to a second term. But it’s the (yet more) evidence of Bush’s sheer incompetence sounds more interesting.

Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was "blindsided" by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush’s re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

In particular, I look forward to knowing precisely what kind of warning Ridge gave against hiring Heckova Job Brownie. And I’m sure those in New Orleans are sort of curious, too.

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Chris Christie, Former US Attorney, Claims He’s Still “Got” Federal Prosecutors, Talked with Them about State Jobs

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Chris Christie’s ongoing ties with his old friends at the US Attorney’s office just got much worse.

First we learned that Chris Christie gave a highly inappropriate loan to one of his Assistant US Attorneys, Michele Brown, when he was her boss. Given his seeming magical coordination of campaign events with high profile busts by his former office, that "ongoing financial relationship" is highly suspect. Then we learned that DOJ’s Office of Public Responsibility is already investigating whether acting US Attorney Ralph Marra made inappropriate politicized comments when he announced the politicos, rabbis, and kidney busts last month.

In other words, there’s already growing evidence that Chris Christie is mobilizing ongoing relationships with friends at the US Attorney’s office to help his campaign against Governor Corzine.

But that was before we learned that Christie was filmed on February 28 at the Breakfast Bagels with Baroni event in West Windsor, promising to give his former AUSAs jobs throughout state government, speaking of them as if they were still "his" AUSAs, and admitting that he had already had a conversation about this with them about those jobs.

You know, we’re going to ferret out waste and fraud and abuse in the government. I think you know I’ll do that better than anybody. I’ve got a group of assistant U.S. attorneys sitting down in Newark still doing their job. But let me tell you, they are watching the newspapers. And after we win this election, I’m going to take a whole group of them to Trenton with me and put them in every one of the departments because they saw a lot of waste and abuse being investigated while we were in the U.S. Attorney’s office that didn’t rise to the level of a crime. So I told them, the good news is, when we get to Trenton we don’t have to worry about beyond a reasonable doubt anymore.

So here’s a poll. Which of the following Christie statements do you find the most damning?

  1. I’ve got AUSAs in Newark
  2. I’m going to take a whole group of them to Trenton
  3. I told them I was going to take them to Trenton
  4. We’ve agreed to do away with “beyond a reasonable doubt” when we get there 

Enter your pick for most damning in the comments.

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Chris “Nervous Wreck” Christie

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The reporter that broke the story of Chris Christie’s unusual loan to his subordinate, Michele Brown, raises some interesting questions in a blog post, mostly about why the US Attorney’s office is at the same time refusing to comment, but also claiming that "everyone" knew of this unusual loan. (h/t mb)

There is also this lingering question about who in the office knew what and when. Christie says Ralph Marra, the Acting US Attorney knew about it, as did the “whole front office.” Well didn’t someone question the wisdom of this? I mean aren’t these people supposed to be the cleanest and most ethical people in NJ???? We have now determined that Christie was thinking about a run for Governor as early as 2006 when he spoke to Karl Rove on the phone. Christie also says the question came up so many times during his tenure that he once needed to issue a press release denying that he was planning to run.

A spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office said they won’t have any further comment since they like to keep the office separate from the “political season.” Well, that seems like a wise idea…but then why does everyone in the front office know about this financial arrangement between the now Republican Gubernatorial Candidate and Michele Brown? If this loan was made purely as an act of friendship ( as Christie claims ) it shouldn’t be anyone else’s business. And if all these people in the office knew about it, why wasn’t it properly disclosed?

Finally, Christie promoted Brown twice…once before the loan and once afterwards. We have heard some grumbling complaints about favorable treatment toward Brown in the office, but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for anyone to go public.

Someone very close to Christie told me that last night that Christie was a “nervous wreck.” I wonder why. [my emphasis]

I will repeat a comment I’ve made in threads: Christie’s financial relationship with Michele Brown closely resembles the alleged relationship between Margaret Chiara (the US Attorney from Western Michigan) and her subordinate, Leslie Hagen. (The two were also accused of a lesbian relationship.) Chiara and Hagen both got fired (though Hagen has been rehired); Christie and Brown did not, and Brown has been promoted since and remains at the US Attorney’s office in spite of taking an inappropriate loan.

So what explains the disparate treatment?

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More on Christie’s “Ongoing Financial Relationship” with Michele Brown

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picture-123.thumbnail.pngThis will just be a hodgepodge of details to follow up on this story, the news that former NJ US Attorney and current GOP candidate for Governor, Chris Christie gave one of his top AUSAs a mortgage loan for $46,000.

Christie Has Made Other Loans

Check out the original NJN report (click on Christie Mortgage Loan) on this–around the 5:48 mark. When asked whether he has ever given a loan like this in the past, he admits (after making a crazy-stupid face) he has given out such loans, though never as a mortgage.

I’d be really curious who and what those loans were about. But looking through his disclosure forms, I don’t see any hint of them, unless they involved the Christie Family Charitable Foundation, which he had until he became US Attorney (but in which he said he had no management control).

Now he did say he and his wife had give money, so maybe that’s where this money came from. But don’t you think Mr. Transparency ought to tell us about all the funky loans he has given in the last little while?

Michele Brown Was in the Middle of the Zimmer DPA

Meanwhile, remember the ginormous sweetheart deal that Chris Christie got his former boss, John Ashcroft, into? Where Ashcroft and his buddies made up to $52 million monitoring a deferred prosecution agreement of a medical device firm? And remember how, contrary to Christie’s claim that no one ever complained about those exorbitant fees, Zimmer’s lawyers were going crazy when they discovered that not only was Ashcroft basically charging them unlimited amounts, but was also pressuring them on further legal issues that seemed rather overblown?

Well, the first person they addressed their "going crazy" emails to was Michele Brown (and all the subsequent emails were cc’ed to her).

Michele,

I believe you and Chris are in Warsaw already. I wanted to alert you to a potential issue with the Zimmer Monitor. On Friday evening, Zimmer received a proposed fee agreement from the Ashcroft Group. Zimmer was told the agreement needed to be in place by Tuesday morning.

I have to tell you I was shocked by the proposed fee agreement.

Brown responds on Tuesday morning (that is, when Ashcroft’s company was demanding a response) and says:

Rick–Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Read more →

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More on Christie’s Below-Market Loan Gift to a Prosecutor in His Office

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Update: Here’s the document the IRS would use to weigh whether this would count as a below-market loan. I’m trying to figure out precisely where Brown’s loan will fall, but given the short term of the loan (10 years) it appears it would not count as a below-market loan. (h/t Duncan) 

NYT has a version of the Chris Christie loan story with some details that seem to confirm prostratedragon’s suggestion earlier: that the loan Christie gave to the Executive Assistant AUSA (and now First AUSA) in his office, Michele Brown, would probably count as a below-market loan (and therefore a gift) for someone in her financial position.

Mr. Christie said he received a second mortgage on Ms. Brown’s home, which was in her name only, and had been receiving regular payments ever since. County records show the loan was dated Oct. 22, 2007, and carried a 5.5 percent yearly interest rate, with monthly payments of $499.22 over 10 years. [my emphasis]

As prostratedragon pointed out, given the reported financial circumstances of Brown and her husband, there’s little possibility she could have gotten that rate from a bank.

I get a farthing under 5.5% p.a. using a standard 17B II. From the story, the loan sounds like a second mortgage which under the AUSA’s family circumstances especially, would be priced more like a subprime loan —higher.

By 2007 sometime, both seconds and subprimes dried up abruptly and haven’t really recovered since, making the effective interest rate on one a very large number.

Which would make this a gift. A gift that keeps on giving, you might say, particularly since both are now in a position where their potential mutual interest in influencing one another would make this a big ethics no-no. And keeps on giving because Christie hasn’t been declaring this source of income on his disclosure forms.

Mr. Christie did not list the loan on his June 21, 2008, personal financial disclosure form as a member of the federal executive branch, which requires the detailing of any assets (like loans or receivables) worth more than $1,000, and any sources of income of more than $100 a year. Ms. Comella confirmed that Mr. Christie’s final disclosure as a prosecutor also omitted the loan.

Nor did he include the loan on his candidate’s disclosure with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in April 2009. One of its catchall categories of unearned income requires the detailing of “other income (including interest)” of more than $100 when the total in that category exceeds $1,000. Mr. Christie listed Pfizer and three government bonds as the sources of such income, but made no mention of the loan to Ms. Brown.

Golly. Read more →

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The $46,000 Question: What Are the Terms of Chris Christie’s Loan to NJ’s First AUSA?

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New Jersey’s PBS station, NJN, has just reported that Chris Christie, the former US Attorney with ties to Karl Rove, gave a loan of $46,000 to the First AUSA in the NJ office, Michele Brown, for a mortgage. She will continue to pay him $499 a month until 2017. When asked by NJN, Christie just explained that they were close friends and he helped her out of a financial pinch.

That’s mighty interesting, for two reasons. First, there have been a slew of questions over the way a huge bust of 44 politicians–and some rabbis selling kidneys–last month shortly preceded a bunch of Christie campaign events touting his anti-corruption plan. That remarkable coincidence would be a whole lot easier to pull off if you had a very close relationship with the number two person in the US Attorney’s office. 

In addition, there have already been questions asked about her attendance at events that included a bunch of top NJ Republicans. (h/t brendan)

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Brown was among the guests at a small social gathering held last Sunday at the Mendham home of Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie, but her attendance at the event – which was not political event though many of the attendees were Republican County Chairmen, legislators and campaign staffers – did not violate any federal law or regulation. 

Brown was the Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney and Christie’s counsel before Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, Jr. elevated her to his old job as the number two in command of the federal prosecutor’s office.  A career prosecutor, she is a close personal friend of Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, and has been the U.S. Attorney’s office for seventeen years.

Amid all the questions of whether or not Christie violated the Hatch Act with his discussions with Karl Rove about his race, it seems rather, um, curious that the woman he has given a significant loan to also has had questions about Hatch Act violations raised.

Update: A link with some more hard data.

As U.S. Attorney, Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie gave high ranking staffer Michele Brown a $46,000 mortgage loan that she continues to pay off, NJN reported in its news cast tonight.

The report by correspondent Zachary Fink, which is not yet available online, said that Brown has been paying Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, back in monthly increments of $499.22 since taking the loan in Read more →

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The Cost Of Obama’s Beer Fest Failure Is More Tasered Moms

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I wrote a series of posts about the incident surrounding Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates. First, it was an illegal and unconstitutional arrest because of the abuse of police power and discretion. Second, irrespective of whether it was a racially motivated moment, it was one from which serious discussion could, and should, ensue. Third, that it was a teaching moment being given short shrift by the clumsy way Barack Obama inserted himself into it and then tried to extricate himself through the bogus "beer summit".

The thing that got me up in arms, from the start, is the undeniable fact that Gates’ arrest was illegal and an abuse of police power. As I described, take Gates’ conduct at its worst as described by the Cambridge police report, and the conduct simply does not meet the elements of disorderly conduct as arrested and charged on under the Massachusetts statute. There was no probable cause or legal basis for the arrest; it was simply a case of contempt of cop, and Sergeant Crowley decided to use the time honored police way of dealing with citizens in such situations, he abused his authority and badge by arresting the citizen.

The only thing unique about the Gates case is that it ended without serious harm to the citizen and it pierced the national conscience. The same base conduct plays out every minute of every day somewhere in the US. But the Gates/Crowley moment appears to have been lost without any intelligent discussion of the rampant abuse of police power and authority. Save for the opinions of Jonathan Turley and Jeff Toobin, which were minimized by MSNBC and CNN television coverage, there was precious little recognition by major media outlets of the root point of police power abuse.

Well, the scene in the video attached hereto is what happens in a society that refuses to address overreaching authoritarianism and unrestrained police projection. Moms with kids in minivans get Tasered and roughed up. In front of their children. Why? Because the cops can with relative impunity. The "Blue Line" circles the wagons around their fellow officers, prosecutors need their cooperation for prosecution and trials in actual major cases, and politicians are too cravenly worried about their next election to care. As Digby says:

If this is what they do when they have a video camera rolling Read more →

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McCaskill: Crazier than Corker on Cash for Clunkers

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Let’s get one thing straight: Tennessee is a car state. And so is Missouri. In fact, unlike Missouri, Tennessee does not have a car on the top 10 new vehicle purchased under Cash for Clunkers. Nevertheless, Tennessee’s two Republican Senators voted for the program. But Claire McCaskill did not.

Here are the votes that deviated from party line (final vote was 60-37):

Republicans Voting Yes:

Brownback (KS)

Collins (ME)

Snowe (ME)

Bond (MO)

Voinovich (OH)

Alexander (TN)

Corker (TN)

Democrats Voting No:

McCaskill (MO)

Nelson (NE)

Leahy (VT)

Warner (VA)

Democrats Not Present:

Mikulski (MD)

Kennedy (MA)

Byrd (WV)

I look forward to McCaskill’s Tweeted explanation for why she was almost alone of car-state Senators voting against an effective stimulus program. Unfortunately for McCaskill, even the normally press-friendly but regressive Bob Corker won’t be able to give her reasons, since he voted in favor.

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Is Robert “Gold Bars” Luskin Hoping for Real Estate in Antigua?

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So, Dick DeGuerin just ditched his former client, Allen Stanford because Stanford couldn’t guarantee DeGuerin would get paid.

 Allen Stanford has refused to authorize undersigned counsel to seek assurances of future legal fees and expenses. . . . Dick DeGuerin and his associated lawyers are unwilling to go forward without the assurance of being paid for work in the future.

Gosh, if you’re an accused white collar criminal with some goods stashed away but with the bulk of your known wealth frozen by regulators, who are you going to call?

Sure enough, Robert "Gold Bars" Luskin has come to Stanford’s rescue. WSJ’s Law Blog is wondering openly how Luskin imagines he’ll get paid.

In any event, we’re not sure how, or whether, this issue got resolved with Luskin and Patton Boggs well enough to allow him to take over.

Me, I’m just wondering if it’s going to be something more outrageous than the 45 gold bars Luskin accepted once from a money launderer. Maybe Stanford’s promised some real estate he managed to hold onto in Antigua or some other tax haven?

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