Gas Prices and Bernanke

As most Americans know, gas prices are unusually high for this time of year. Although some people blame it all on “greedy oil companies”—an explanation that begs the question of why oil companies got so greedy this Christmas—a better culprit is Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Since the fall of 2008, the Federal Reserve has added more than $1 trillion to the financial system. In conjunction with economic uncertainty, this flood of dollars has led many investors to flock to commodities, including crude oil. The rise in oil explains a large portion of the run-up in prices at the pump.

The Rising Price of Gasoline

As the following chart illustrates, motorists aren’t being whiners: gas prices really are unusually high:


The only other time we have had $3.00 gasoline in December was in 2007, and that of course was part of the record run leading into the summer of 2008.

The Rising Price of Oil

Although there are many factors affecting the retail price of gasoline—including refinery issues and taxes—obviously a major component is the price of crude oil. To understand the wild swings in gasoline prices, a large part of the explanation involves the wild swings in oil prices:

The Role of Monetary Policy

The world economy is incredibly complex, and it would be overly simplistic to blame a single factor for all of our economic turmoil. However, many economists believe that the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policies after the dot-com crash fueled the housing bubble. Once that bubble burst, Bernanke’s even looser policies have fueled a resurgence in asset and commodity markets:

In the chart above, the red line is an index of the S&P 500, and shows that the stock market began declining in late 2007, just when (after the fact) the National Bureau of Economic Research said that the recession officially began. In the late summer of 2008, commodity prices peaked and then began crashing as the global financial panic set in.

Both the stock market and commodity prices continued falling for months, but then experienced a dramatic turnaround in March 2009. This was precisely when Ben Bernanke’s Fed announced the first round of “quantitative easing,” i.e. its plan to buy more than a trillion dollars in U.S. Treasury debt and mortgage-backed securities.

The apparent “recovery” had petered out by mid-2010, but stocks and commodity prices began surging once again in late summer, when rumors of “QE2”—a second round of quantitative easing—picked up steam in the markets.

Conclusion

Since the fall of 2008, the Federal Reserve has added more than $1 trillion in “high-powered money” to the financial system. Many critics were alarmed at the inflationary consequences of such large infusions of new money, but thus far we have not seen unusual increases in the Consumer Price Index.
However, it would be premature to dismiss the inflationary warnings altogether. There is compelling evidence that the bursts of monetary inflation are fueling large price hikes, just not at the consumer level (yet). From their trough in December 2008, crude oil prices have tripled in the last two years.

In times of economic uncertainty, many investors flock to commodities as a hedge against future inflation. Although the Fed can create boatloads of new paper currency, it can’t print barrels of crude oil or ounces of gold. In a world of volatile fiat money and stock markets, many investors feel safer holding “real” assets.
We should not be surprised that Ben Bernanke’s continual pledges to create new dollars are going hand-in-hand with rising oil and gasoline prices.

Author: Robert Murphy

Aretha Franklin Says Health Problems Have 'Been Resolved'

Jemal Countess, Getty Images

Aretha Franklin is "feeling great" following a recent medical scare, and said of her reported health issues that "the problem has been resolved."

The Queen of Soul is reportedly undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, according to a series of reports. Most of those reports were unconfirmed, and Franklin has refused to confirm or deny any of them, although at least one Detroit television station attributed the news to one of Franklin's family members.

In an interview with Jet magazine, which Franklin has spoken exclusively to since her health rumors began, she revealed more about the ordeal she's been through. The trouble apparently started during a performance in Toronto last year when Franklin felt "a very hard pain in my side." She figured it was related to a recent colonoscopy and saw a series of doctors, all who told her nothing was wrong. Eventually she called her doctor back in Detroit, who urged her to return home immediately for testing. "Thank God he said that because that unfolded everything, what the problem was and everything," she told Jet.

She declined, however, to divulge details of her illness and treatment, and chastised the continuing search for news and gossip about her health. "There are a lot of people who will talk about anything, as long as there is somebody listening," she said. "But I am not one of those people. That's not Aretha."

In the interview, she also thanked her fans -- who held vigils in Detroit and several other cities last month -- for their support and prayers, and asked them to "continue to respect my privacy as I continue to recover."

In December, Franklin canceled all of her performances through May of this year. None have been rescheduled.

Posted on Jan 7th 2011 12:00PM by Brian Voerding

Dead Fish, Dead Birds, Dead Crabs: Biblical or Ecological Apocalypse?

Snooki writes a novel, thousands of birds rain down on the small town of Beebe Arkansas, 100,000 fish found dead in the Arkansas River, Sarah Palin is considered a legitimate presidential candidate, a highway in Louisiana littered with dead birds, Obama refuses to release his birth certificate, two million dead fish appear in Chesapeake Bay, dead crabs wash ashore by the thousands on England beaches, cougars reign supreme on reality TV...

There is something rotten not just in Denmark, but the entire planet seems to be diseased and dying. Are we living in the End Times? To answer that question we turn not to Pope Benedict or Billy Graham, but to born-again Christian actor Kirk Cameron. The star of the "Left Behind" series about a post-Rapture Earth, told CNN`s Anderson Cooper that people shouldn`t look to theologians for an explanation for the dead birds, but to veterinarians. 

Kirk Cameron has spoken and that settles it, we aren`t living in the Biblical end times. The Almighty, like the rest of us, is too busy keeping up with the Kardashians, He simply doesn`t have time to exercise his prerogative to rain dead birds on the heathen. 

These might not be the Biblical end times, but the Earth may be in its death throes due to ecological disasters. Are pollutants and man-made poisons the cause of the mass-deaths of fish and birds? Is the military testing poisons on the birds of the air and fowl of the waters? Is the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP)  funded by the US Air Force and the US Navy to blame? Are extraterrestrials causing havoc for God knows what unearthly reasons?

People are afraid to log on to their computers, and to read their newspapers; every day there`s news of another mass-death of fish or fowl. Is it only a matter of time before people start dropping dead by the thousands?

I don`t know about you, but like the Almighty I`m going to keep up with the Kardashians instead of keeping up with the news! Kim Kardashian is a much more lovely sight than a photograph of thousands of dead birds. 

 

By Robert Paul Reyes

Why are thousands of dead birds suddenly falling from the sky?

This week, 5,000 blackbirds fell from the skies over Arkansas, followed by 500 more in Louisiana. And now it's happening in Sweden too. You've got to wonder what the hell is going on. We'll explain.

Let's quickly review the facts. Just before midnight on New Year's Eve, anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 red-winged blackbirds and starlings fell from the sky within a one-mile area over the town of Beebe, Arkansas. The last few days have also seen a mass fish kill, in which an estimated 100,000 drum fish washed up on a twenty-mile stretch near the town of Ozark, Arkansas, which is about 125 miles away from Beebe.
And then, around 500 red-winged blackbirds, starlings, and grackles fell to their deaths over a quarter-mile stretch of highway near Labarre, Louisiana, which is 360 miles from Beebe and 450 from Ozark. And then last night, hundreds of what were most likely jackdaws fell to the ground all over Falköping, Sweden.
So, now that we've got all the facts, what on earth is causing all these animals to die?

Some of the more fanciful interpretations have put these forward as signs of the Apocalypse, undoubtedly as the first act of some macabre play of bizarre death and destruction that will end in December 2012. But there are perfectly rational explanations for all of this. Still, I'll warn you now - the explanations might be scientific, but they're not exactly likely, and they sure as hell aren't elegant or logically pleasing.
The first thing to understand is that there isn't one single cause for all this because this isn't one connected event. These are completely separate events that are, according to all experts and investigators, entirely unrelated. Indeed, there's no great mystery behind the 100,000 dead fish. The fact that only drum fish died means the cause of death was localized in a specific species, which rules out pollutants or toxins. Some as yet unidentified disease killed the fish, which is something that happens from time to time. This particular fish kill is more severe than most, to be sure, but it's still not unprecedented.

The birds are a little more complicated. We're still waiting on analyses of the dead birds that will solve the mystery, but there are already several theories to account for the deaths. So far all we know for sure is that the Arkansas birds showed signs of blunt-force trauma, although it's possible that was just caused by slamming into the ground.

Weather could be the culprit. High-altitude hail or lightning might have hit the birds, which caused them to fall from the sky. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe says a severe weather system did move through Arkansas on New Year's Eve, so it's not impossible. The only problem is the birds don't seem to have any of the telltale bruises or injuries that a weather-related explanation would cause.

Thankfully, we can probably rule out disease and toxins. Arkansas experts say a disease would take down a lot more than just one isolated flock - and no, the second group of dead birds in Louisiana isn't enough to make disease seem like a viable possibility. The same thinking goes for poisoning - if that were the case, birds would be falling all over Arkansas, and that just isn't the case. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality tested the area for any air toxins, but the skies are officially clean.

One thing to remember is what day and time the incident occurred: near midnight on New Year's Eve. Plenty of people mark the beginning of the new year with fireworks, and it's possible these celebrations caused this nasty accident. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens says the commission currently favors this theory, as fireworks that were shot off in just the right area near the birds when they were roosting could have scared them, creating a traumatic stress event.

Obviously, birds don't usually fall from the sky when fireworks are shot off, so what would have happened here? We do know that birds tend to be more highly concentrated in rural areas, meaning one big fireworks blast in just the wrong area would have terrified thousands of birds all at once.

This would have happened at night, when birds are roosting on the ground - and if this did indeed happen when the birds were asleep, experts say the trauma would have been enough to kill them, as the terrified birds frantically flew into each other in the heavy night fog. Witnesses have since come forward to say they saw a person setting off industrial-grade fireworks near the roosting area, which would seem to back up that theory.

For what it's worth, a lot of Beebe residents don't buy that theory, saying they've shot up plenty of fireworks before and nothing like this has ever happened. That might well be true, but the thing is that whatever caused this was staggeringly unlikely, and that all of the theories require a very unlikely confluence of factors. That's the problem with vastly improbable events - their explanations don't tend to be terribly logical.

So then, the fish were done in by disease, and the Arkansas birds were probably killed either by a freak weather event or some fireworks. That leaves the birds in Louisiana and Sweden. This is where those who like their explanations to be neat and tidy are probably going to be less than thrilled...because these things almost certainly had nothing to do with either of the other two events.

Officials with the Louisiana Department of Fisheries and Wildlife have stated that many of the 500 birds found near Labarre had broken beaks and wings, along with other signs of violent injury that probably weren't simply caused by hitting the ground. In all likelihood, the birds hit some power lines while flying at night, which can occasionally happen because blackbirds and starlings don't have particularly good night vision.

So that's that then...or it would be, if yet another bird death event hadn't happened last night in Sweden. Again, it is unusual for this to occur, particularly so soon after two other similar incidents. Still, once again the causes themselves don't seem to be all that hard to work out - the birds were likely traumatized by an unusual event, much like the Arkansas blackbirds and the fireworks. It's strictly the timing of all this that is weird.

Indeed, this whole thing is odd. It is sort of hard to accept that three freak events occurred in a 500-mile area within five days of each other...and it really was just a weird coincidence. Fish do sometimes die off, and 100,000 dead isn't all that unusual if a particularly virulent disease hits. Blackbirds and starlings sometimes hit power lines when they're flying at night, which can then cause mass chaos in their flock that can leave hundreds of birds dead. And, though it's slightly less common than either of those two events, birds can every so often be so terrified by loud fireworks that the entire flock suffers a catastrophic stress event.
Is any of this likely? Absolutely not. But that's the fun thing about living on this planet (well, unless you're a blackbird or drum fish) - if you wait around long enough, deeply improbable things will eventually happen. And this is all very definitely deeply improbable.

CNN reports new information in Biggie’s unsolved murder has “reinvigorated” case

I can’t say I saw this coming but CNN is reporting that new information in the unsolved murder of Biggie Smalls has reopened the 13 year old case. CNN says sources close to law enforcement has informed them that a new task force made up local and federal law enforcement agencies is actively pursuing leads.

According to one law enforcement source, the investigation into the 13-year-old unsolved case was “reinvigorated” months ago as a result of new information, but the source would not elaborate further because of the ongoing investigation that includes the Los Angeles Police Department, L.A. County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI.

Posted by Mikey Fresh

State Department uses media to issue caution/threat over Wikileaks

 

This is a curious story in the New York Times. Low on details and high on insinuation, it’s difficult to truly know the reality behind the article so here it is:

The State Department is warning hundreds of human rights activists, foreign government officials and businesspeople identified in leaked diplomatic cables of potential threats to their safety and has moved a handful of them to safer locations, administration officials said Thursday.

The operation, which involves a team of 30 in Washington and embassies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, reflects the administration’s fear that the disclosure of cables obtained by the organization WikiLeaks has damaged American interests by exposing foreigners who supply valuable information to the United States.

Administration officials said they were not aware of anyone who has been attacked or imprisoned as a direct result of information in the 2,700 cables that have been made public to date by WikiLeaks, The New York Times and several other publications, many with some names removed. But they caution that many dissidents are under constant harassment from their governments, so it is difficult to be certain of the cause of actions against them.

The officials declined to discuss details about people contacted by the State Department in recent weeks, saying only that a few were relocated within their home countries and that a few others were moved abroad.

The State Department is mainly concerned about the cables that have yet to be published or posted on Web sites — nearly 99 percent of the archive of 251,287 cables obtained by WikiLeaks. With cables continuing to trickle out, they said, protecting those identified will be a complex, delicate and long-term undertaking. The State Department said it had combed through a majority of the quarter-million cables and distributed many to embassies for review by diplomats there.

“We feel responsible for doing everything possible to protect these people,” said Michael H. Posner, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, who is overseeing the effort. “We’re taking it extremely seriously.”

Contrary to the administration’s initial fears, the fallout from the cables on the diplomatic corps itself has been manageable. The most visible casualty so far could be Gene A. Cretz, the ambassador to Libya, who was recalled from his post last month after his name appeared on a cable describing peculiar personal habits of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. While no decision has been made on Mr. Cretz’s future, officials said he was unlikely to return to Tripoli. In addition, one midlevel diplomat has been moved from his post in an undisclosed country.

By Antony Loewenstein

Russian Business Man Receives Six More Years In Prison

Vladimir V. Putin proved his power and control over Russia and its judicial system yet again. Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky was sentenced by Judge Viktor Danilkin to six years in prison. He had almost completed an eight year sentence to end in 2011.

Supporters of the Russian Business Tycoon protested this decision claiming Khodorkovsky was being punished for standing up to Putin. They argue that the court is being manipulated by the Kremlin. The current President Dmitri A. Medvedev has also been criticized for not bringing about fair play in the judicial system during his presidency.

But Khodorkovsky was labeled a violent criminal by Vladimir Putin. He felt that Khodorkovsky should be behind bars for much longer. There’s talk that the current Prime Minister might run again in 2012 for the Presidency. It’s been claimed that he doesn’t want Khodorkovsky out of prison before the next Presidential election.

“Damn you and your descendants!” Khodorkovsky’s mother shouted at the judge according to a New York Times article by Clifford J. Levy. His family and supporters are very unhappy with the verdict and sentence.

Khodorkovsky could only watch from behind a glass enclosure as he was sentenced. His new sentence adding six more years to his prison term that was to end in 2011. 2017 is now his new release date.

The latest case prosecutors claimed he used accounting schemes to steal $27 billion and that it was missed by auditors. The judge agreed and also gave the prosecutors their recommendation of the maximum sentence allowed. The judge said Khodorkovsky needed “isolation from society” to reform.  Khodorkovsky’s attorneys called the charges politically motivated. The convicted tycoon might go back to the Siberian Penal Colony where he’s served a large portion of his original sentence.

The case has been heavily criticized by the West which included the American Government. Where the case has been viewed as having been blatantly manipulated. But the Russian Foreign Ministry has bluntly stated that other countries should mind their own business. The ministry said Khodorkovsky was punished fairly because his crimes would’ve been serious in any country.

Food riots in Algeria; unrest spreads to Tunisia

Rising food prices led to an outbreak of riots in Algeria Jan. 5, with unrest continuing today in several cities. Authorities have rushed police reinforcements to towns where hundreds of youths are taking to the streets and blocking highways. There has been a simultaneous outbreak of youth riots in neighboring Tunisia, which saw a wave of angry demonstrations over unemployment last month.

Last month’s Tunisia protests began in Sidi Bouzid, southwest of Tunis, when an un­employed graduate set himself on fire after police prevented him from selling fruit and vegetables on Dec. 17. Protests were renewed at his massive funeral Jan. 5, after he finally expired from his self-inflicted wounds.

Israel Says Iran Can't Produce Nuke Till 2015

EXPERTS SAY STUXNET CAUSED MAJOR SETBACK

Israel believes that Iran will not be able to produce a nuclear bomb before 2015. That is the assessment of the outgoing head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, Meir Dagan, in a briefing published on Friday. Previous Israeli estimates suggested that Iran could have the bomb in a year or two.

Dagan based his revised assessment on several factors, including domestic unrest in Iran, the bite of international sanctions and technical difficulties.

Israeli analyst Gerald Steinberg says one technical problem is foreign sabotage, such as the Stuxnet computer virus, which invaded Iran's nuclear facilities.

It is widely believed that the virus was planted by Israel.

"There's a lot that's happened. We've seen this worm, this virus that's attacked the computers that run the Iranian uranium enrichment process,” Steinberg says. “We've seen some scientists who have been killed and injured, people who are working on the nuclear enrichment program in Iran, and we've seen sanctions. When you put those pieces together, it makes sense to see a slowdown in the process."

Steinberg believes that in light of the new assessment, an Israeli attack is now on the back burner.

"A military operation has always been the last resort, the least desirable option,” Steinberg says. “So that if now the assessment is that Iran is not up close to the finish line and will take some time to recover and the world’s got another four or five years to stop Iran; then I think that the military option is still going to be on the table, but it's going to be way in the back."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Iran's Islamonazi regime does not intend to wait five years for a Hitlerian final solution to the "problem" of Israel's existence in the heart of the Muslim Middle East. Click here to read about the plot to destroy Israel.

# posted by Confidential Reporter

Pentagon Aiming to Slash Military Spending

Flickr.com / mindfrieze

The Obama administration is working on cutting back defense spending to levels the U.S. hasn’t seen since before Sept. 11, 2001, but the proposed changes have more to do with economic reasons than any big strategic change from within military ranks, as The New York Times explained Thursday.

The New York Times:

The White House has ordered the Pentagon to squeeze almost all growth from its spending over the next five years, which will require eventually shrinking the Army and Marine Corps and seeking controversial increases in the fees paid by retired, working-age veterans for their health insurance, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday.

The reductions of up to 47,000 troops from the Army and Marine Corps forces — roughly 6 percent shrinkage — would be the first since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, reversing the trend ever since. They will be made easier by the withdrawal under way from Iraq, and will only begin in 2015 — just as Afghan forces are to take over the security mission there according to agreements with NATO.

But Mr. Gates said the cuts in Pentagon spending were hardly a peace dividend, and were forced by a global economic recession and domestic pressures to find ways to throttle back federal spending.

Read more

A Gene Sperling Primer

I’m really excited Gene Sperling is going to head up the National Economic Council. I’m a Sperling enthusiast first and foremost because I think he’s one of the best writers and thinkers on constructive economic policy that we have on the progressive side. A lot of the work that’s been done by “our side” over the past ten years is much better at lamenting the sorry state of things than it is at developing concrete ideas for improvement. I know that not everyone agrees with me, but I think Sperling excels at the latter and that the latter is important.

But like him or hate him, I just wish the past week’s worth of commentary on him hadn’t relied so heavily on “six degrees of Robert Rubin” versus “here’s a thinly sourced anecdote from the 1990s.” Sperlings views on economic policy are not a state secret. He published a good book in 2005 or if you want a briefer precis of his views, you can read his 2007 article for Democracy.

He’s also published a lot of shorter stuff for CAP. You can read him on why the tax code is unfair to low-income Americans and should be made more progressive. Or about his proposal for a universal 401(k) program featuring “[g]enerous $2-to-$1 government matching contributions for initial savings of low-income families and $1-to-$1 matches for middle-income families . . . financed in a fiscally responsible manner” by avoiding estate tax repeal. Or here he is in the Washington Monthly talking about the need to go beyond Unemployment Insurance and offer a comprehensive wage insurance program. Here’s some stuff he did for the Huffington Post.

There’s a lot of economic injustice in the world, and there’s a place for high dudgeon in calling it out. That’s not really his strong suit. But there’s also a case for outlying conceptually sound proposals to improve things in a clear and concise manner. That sounds a lot like the National Economic Council chief’s job, I think he was good at it in the late Clinton administration, and I think he’ll be good at it today.

The Wonk Room

Ellen Weiss Quits NPR Over Juan Williams Firing

NPR’s Senior Vice-President Ellen Weiss, who was responsible for the firing of Juan Williams, has just quit her post. The media organization’s VP was most famous for this firing, which caused a national uproar in 2010 between free-speech proponents and censorship advocates. Get the full story, plus pictures and video below!

On October 18, 2010, Juan Williams made an appearance with this man on Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor and basically said that seeing Muslims on an airplane made him feel nervous. The comment caused him to lose his job two days later.

While no one objects to the principle of firing a contributor after such a comment, NPR showed a substantial double standard with their treatment of Juan Williams. In 1995, contributor Nina Totenberg said the following about a Senator Jesse Helms, who was then bitterly opposed to research into the treatment of AIDS and HIV:

“I think he ought to be worried about what’s going on in the good Lord’s mind, because if there’s retributive justice, he’ll get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it.”

Totenberg was not disciplined for her statements, for which she later apologized. So the message sent by NPR was: implying that innocent children should get AIDS is acceptable, but saying you’re afraid of Muslims on an airplane is not? It’s no wonder Ellen Weiss quit.
There is, however, a simpler explanation. Williams pointed out after his firing that it wasn’t what he said that got him fired, it’s where he said it. Long known as a liberal-biased news source, National Public Radio may have just been displeased about their contributor regularly appearing on the conservative Fox Networks. Of course, after he was fired, their contributor went right back to Fox to take a shot at his recently resigned former employer.

“She essentially called me a bigot for saying that I feared and felt when I am in airports and about to get on a plane and see people dressed in Muslim garb a moment of anxiety about that presence. That statement she said was evidence of bigotry, that she felt there was no longer any place for me because I crossed the line of her journalistic standards. What I think I crossed was her politically correct line in the sand.”

At the same time Ellen Weiss quit NPR over the Juan Williams firing, the news radio’s board also announced that they were canceling CEO Vivian Schiller’s bonus this year, presumably over her handling of this sticky situation. Is this basically a public admission of guilt from the news organization? Get more on the story with the pictures and video below, and then let me know your thoughts in the comment section!

By Stacy

Elizabeth Edwards Cuts John Edwards Out of her Will

The late Elizabeth Edward’s will was read this week in North Carolina. The mother of 4 who passed away after a long battle with breast cancer did in fact not mention her estranged husband, John, in the will. The couple, who were married for 33 years have been separated for sometime after John’s extramarital affair with Reille Hunter, was made public. John also fathered a child from the affair.

“All of my furniture, furnishings, household goods, jewelry, china, silverware and personal effects and any automobiles owned by me at the time of my death I give and bequeath to my children,” the will says.

Edwards’ eldest daughter Cate, a lawyer, was named as the executor of the will. Edwards, who was 61, signed the document on Dec. 1 – six days before she passed at her home in Chapel Hill home.

John was by her side when she died and ever present at her funeral. Their youngest children, Emma Claire and Jack old will be living with their father but per Elizabeth’s wishes, big sister Cate will oversee the inheritance to her younger siblings.

John & Elizabeth’s oldest son, Wade, was killed in a 1996 car accident. He was just 16 years old.

U.S. Chamber, Obama Make Strange Bedfellows

What a difference a “shellacking” makes.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was a major thorn in the side of Democrats and President Barack Obama during the recent election season. It got to the point at which Obama accused the Chamber of funneling foreign funds into the coffers of GOP candidates.

Obama and Daley in a White House photo.

The Chamber dismissed the president, telling him to either provide proof to back up those charges or buzz off. The now humbled president has the Chamber atop his schmooze list.

Obama will trek across Lafayette Park on Feb. 7 to the “belly of the beast,” better known as the COC’s D.C. headquarters. He plans to seek support for plans to gin up the economy.

Of next month’s visit, Tom Collamore, COC’s senior VP-communications, graciously told the Wall Street Journal:

“We look forward to hosting the President next month to discuss jobs and the economy. This remains the top priority of the Chamber and the business community, and we’re committed to working together to put Americans back to work.”

Let bygones be bygones.

But there is even more good news on the peace offering front in the image of Bill Daley, who is Obama’s new chief of staff. The former Dept. of Commerce Secretary and current JPMorgan Chase executive has drawn rave reviews from none other than COC chief Tom Donohue, who today issued this statement:

This is a strong appointment. Bill Daley is a man of stature and extraordinary experience in government, business, trade negotiations, and global affairs. He’s an accomplished manager and strong leader. We look forward to working with him to accelerate our recovery, grow the economy, create jobs, and tackle America’s global challenges.”

Daley's new White House job does not have members of Obama’s former progressive base doing cartwheels.

Paul Blumenthal, president of the Sunlight Foundation, blogged that Daley is nothing but a sop to banks and will be Wall Street’s plant into one of the most important jobs in Washington, gatekeeper of the information that flows and people who get face-time with the President. “The country doesn’t need someone so close to the very industry that brought us all to the brink involved in the day-to-day decision-making and deal-making that chief of staff position entails,” wrote Blumenthal.

Daley, however, is just the grown-up pragmatist that Obama and Democrats need to rebound from the shellacking. And if I remember correctly, the country did pretty well economically when Daley headed Commerce during the golden years of the Clinton presidency. Daley is the anti-Rahm Emanuel who knows how to get things done. There are plenty of things that Team Obama needs to fix if it expects to win another term in office.

And perhaps the COC is warming up to the President. There’s word today that the Chamber is ready to join forces with the AFL-CIO to fight Republican plans to cut infrastructure spending.

That’s one odd partnership that could do a lot of good for the president.

Posted by Kevin McCauley