opposition

Trey Ellis: Why Obama Should Recess Appoint Elizabeth Warren

by on May 25, 2011

Huffington Post…

These days individual news stories supplant one another like cards dealt from a deck. You draw an ace today but tomorrow a four. Sure Obama nabbed the world’s most wanted terrorist three weeks ago, but what has he done for us lately? What is more important than individual events is their syntax. The events are nouns and how they are handled verbs, but unless they are strung together coherently, consciously, the reader/voter doesn’t understand what story you’re trying to tell them. Targeting Osama was much easier for the president because he defined his enemy as the enemy. Since apart from when he is actually campaigning he is unwilling to regard the opposition as antagonists, combating them has proven not only difficult but largely unsuccessful. Since the opposition are unabashed cheerleaders for the top 2% untouched by this Great Recession, by not providing an equally forceful counter argument to the rest of us, it is difficult for us not to despair. The president has done a lot of good in this first term, most notably saving the nation and the world from another full-blown Depression, but his failure to hold those same banking interests accountable for the mire of unemployment and destroyed savings we currently suffer through has clouded his entire first term and threatens to damn his legacy. When the banks and brokers were all teetering on the brink Obama was offered a perhaps once-a-century opportunity to restore fairness to our unsustainable economic system. His saving them without fixing them — much more than race hatred — ignited the Tea Party, which co-opted the GOP, which currently dominates domestic policy making. A robust Consumer Financial Protection Bureau won’t make up for the president’s tragic missed opportunity to rein in the banks, but it could send a message that he has awakened to the problems of a middle class decimated by this recession. The poor have always struggled, but now, not only middle class, but upper-middle class Americans are making do with less and understand in more visceral ways than ever that the government is by, of and for the people in name only. This profound cynicism in the wake of Obama’s promise of hope is the president’s most devastating adversary. A first step to combat this crisis of confidence in his handling of our economy would be first to mercilessly chide Republicans for their being complicit in the continued fleecing of consumers, and then defiantly appointing Ms. Warren during the recess. It’s not class warfare for the government to protect all of its citizens from financial exploitation. It is what we assumed our government was there for in the first place. The very fact that such a simple logical step is seen as at all controversial only bitterly reinforces our despair. Going to bat for Ms. Warren is an easy show of political force and a great way to kickoff a sustained narrative of a man willing to go to bat for the vast rest of us. From now until election day the president needs to convince the middle class and seniors that he’s the only thing that stands between them and the bread line.

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Trey Ellis: Why Obama Should Recess Appoint Elizabeth Warren

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Georges Ugeux: Is Europe About to Collapse? Not if It Restructures Sovereign Debt

by Georges Ugeux on May 9, 2011

Huffington Post…

Recent news from the European side of the Atlantic is not good. With €270 ($400) billion in bailout plans for three relatively small European countries (Greece, Ireland and Portugal), more than half the resources of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), the easy task is done. The rescue of Portugal was announced last week and included severe measures that will put the country in recession for most of the next three years. As a precondition for this action, the IMF and the European Union required an approval by both the majority and the opposition. The Parliament approved it. The Greek situation remains the most worrying . With 2-year yields at 25%, Greek sovereign bonds are worse than junk. Standard & Poor’s just downgraded Greece from BB to B, making the situation even worse. Two main challenges lie ahead. The first one is the relative fragility of Spain. The restructuring of the banking sector is aiming at the second-tier institutions, mostly the Cajas de Ahorros (local savings banks). It should be manageable since Spain did not enter the financial crisis with an excessive sovereign debt level. A meaningful bailout of Spain, if it were to happen, would exhaust the EFSF’s intervention capability and require a substantial increase to its publicly announced €750 ($1,150) billion. While Italy has some fragility within its banking sector (mostly the Cassa Popolare di Milano) it might avoid such a treatment. A bailout of Italy would have to be six times as big as Greece’s. It would purely and simply create a collapse of the European financial system. The second one is the social element: so far, despite demonstrations on the street, the austerity measures have started to be put in place. Surprisingly, the trade unions, after violently expressing their opposition to the austerity measures that were aiming at the workers and pensioners, eventually surrendered to the obvious. That support, however, is fragile. There is a non-insignificant risk of European social unrest that could rise to the level of some of the Middle Eastern unrest. Those two fronts are therefore as essential as they are delicate to handle. The freedom of maneuver is limited. There is, however, something that is not quite right in the European bailout. It is the refusal by the European Governments, the European Central Bank and the countries concerned to even envisage a restructuring of their sovereign debt. Ever since the IMF started helping countries in difficulty to face similar situations, restructuring of the sovereign debt was on top of the agenda. Why would Europe not go through the same exercise? The answer lies in the immense power of European banks on their national Governments. Some of them have balance sheets representing a multiple of their country’s GDP while the largest U.S. bank only reach a fraction. Most financing in Europe goes through the bank balance sheets. Since banks are important holders of European sovereign debt, including those of the countries in crisis, a restructuring of the debt would require them to take a write-off on their core holdings of these bonds. So far, they hold those securities at… their nominal value. This will be accepted by Europe for its “banking stress tests” and therefore, they will be meaningless. Restructuring is also a way to share the pain with the public at large. This is where the social fear, the limits of the EFSF and the structural banking fragility meet. Without an immediate restructuring of sovereign debt of the ailing countries, the European bailouts will only be the burden of their citizens and crush consumers and growth. Without a serious debt restructuring, all Europe is doing is buying time and worsening the problem. It is now at the mercy of any confidence crisis that could erupt in the markets as it did last Friday when the absurd notion of Greece leaving the Euro erupted. Europe is on a tightrope. It can explode at any moment. European Governments and authorities know it. They are consciously running the risk of their own collapse, and a world crisis as a consequence.

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Georges Ugeux: Is Europe About to Collapse? Not if It Restructures Sovereign Debt

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Libyan Opposition Strikes Oil Deal

April 1, 2011

BENGHAZI, Libya — A plan to sell rebel-held oil to buy weapons and other supplies has been reached with Qatar, a rebel official said Friday, in another sign of deepening aid for Libya’s opposition by the wealthy Gulf state after sending warplanes to help confront Moammar Gadhafi’s forces. It was not immediately clear when the possible oil sales could begin or how the arms would reach the rebel factions, but any potential revenue stream would be a significant lifeline for the militias and military defectors battling Gadhafi’s superior forces. Rebel units were pushed back about 100 miles (160 kilometers) this week along the Mediterranean coast, but still held parts of oil-rich eastern Libya and the key city of Benghazi. In recent clashes, rebels displayed more firepower including mortars and rockets, but remain significantly outgunned. Ali Tarhouni, who handles finances for the opposition’s National Transitional Council, said that Qatar has agreed to market oil currently in storage in parts of southeastern Libya. He said one sticking point is how to truck the oil out of the country. Tarhouni said money from oil sales will be put into an escrow account the opposition will use to pay for weapons, food, medicine, fuel and other needs. He said the rebels had asked visiting U.N. and French envoys to have sanctions lifted on the parts of Libya controlled by the rebels. He said that if transport issues are solved, the rebels could immediately start exporting 1 million barrels per week. When asked, he said the rebels would certainly use oil revenues to buy arms. “People are dying,” he said. He said the council was exploring “buying arms, any kind of arms that we can get to. We have a list of the arms we need and we’re trying some different fronts to buy them. There was no immediate comment from officials in Qatar, one of the few Arab states taking part in the international military contingent enforcing a no-fly zone in Libya. Qatar is also assisting a rebel satellite TV operation that began broadcasts this week from Qatar’s capital Doha and has agreed to host a meeting of Libyan opposition groups. A spokesman for Qatar Petroleum, the state company responsible for selling the Gulf nation’s oil, declined to comment. In London earlier this week, Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, said Qatar had offered to “facilitate” oil sales that are consistent with international law. Hague did not provide details about who would be supported, how the facilitation process would work, or how Qatar’s offer has been received by diplomats. It has been unclear how exactly such an arrangement would work. The effort to get oil out is hampered by several factors, including the rebels’ ability to hold eastern oil production and export facilities, the departure of skilled foreign oil-field workers and international sanctions that technically apply to the country as a whole. OPEC member Libya produced about output of 1.6 million barrels per day of oil before the conflict, just under 2 percent of world production. Qatar – host of the U.S. Army’s Middle East command hub – has significantly boosted its international profile in recent years with diplomatic initiatives and top-level sporting events, including being picked to host the 2022 World Cup. The 22-member Arab League was critical in winning U.N. Security Council support for the no-fly zone. But only Arab League members Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have contributed aircraft to the mission. Qatar also has agreed to host the first meeting of an international contact group aimed at coordinating political action and opening channels with Libya’s opposition. No date for the meeting has been set. A Qatari aid plane carrying 30 tons of relief supplies including medicine, medical equipment and blankets landed in the Libyan city of Tobruk on Wednesday, according to the official Qatar News Agency. Last month, Qatar sent ground troops to join a Saudi-led force aiding the rulers in Bahrain, which has been wracked by anti-government protests and violence for more than six weeks. In the Arab world, however, Qatar may be best known as the headquarters for the powerful Al-Jazeera broadcasting network, which was founded by the country’s rulers in 1996. A Libyan rebel spokesman, Mahmoud Shamam, said a satellite channel, Libya TV, began broadcasts from Doha earlier this week with financial and logistical support from Qatar. A top rebel official, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, offered a cease-fire Friday if Gadhafi pulls his military forces out of cities and allows peaceful protests against his regime. ___ Associated Press writers Adam Schreck and Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

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Video: Rome Fights to Stop Parmalat Falling Into French Hands

April 1, 2011

April 1 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Olivia Sterns reports on the opposition to Italy’s biggest dairy company falling into foreign hands.

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Albany Passes Historic On-Time Budget Amid Protests

March 31, 2011

MANHATTAN — The state legislature voted to pass an on-time budget in the early morning hours Thursday, overshadowing the opposition of hundreds of protesters whose voices could be heard ringing through the State Capitol’s halls. The State Assembly cast its final vote just after 1 a.m. on the $132.5 billion budget plan, which slashes state spending across the board. “Tonight the Legislature not only passed an on-time budget, but a historic and transformational budget for the people of the state of New York,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement just after the vote. The budget, which Cuomo has hailed as representing a new era in Albany, reduces spending by more than two percent , including a $1.3 billion cut to local school aid. Negotiations over recent weeks had restored about $250 million in cuts from the governor’s original executive budget . But it wasn’t until late Wednesday night that lawmakers finally came to an agreement about how to divide restorations between district schools. New York City will now receive $51 million, while upstate schools will get $134 million, the AP reported . Legislators scrambled — but failed — to pass the budget by midnight Wednesday to earn the title of having passed the first early budget since 1983. But proponents didn’t complain. “I think we should all be very proud,” said Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, before the body’s session ended at 11:50 p.m. “This budget has chartered a new course,” he said. The Assembly finally adjourned at 1:08 a.m. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who made significant compromises, including giving up the so-called “Millionaires’ Tax” on high-income earners, described the budget as “a sobering one.” He said he hoped the restorations would at least help soften the blow on working families, students, seniors and other vulnerable groups. And he credited Cuomo’s leadership with ushering in the budget on time. Meanwhile, hundreds of activists flocked to the Capitol to voice their opposition, particularly to cuts to education and social services spending. Their chants were so loud that they could be heard echoing through the Assembly and Senate chambers as members debated and cast their votes. “New Yorkers from every part of the state are outraged that the budget will sacrifice our kids’ education in order to give another tax cut to millionaires,” Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action of New York, said in a statement. Ron Deutsch, the executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, also favored extending the tax. “His fiscal agenda is more in line with Fox News than with a progressive state like New York,” Deutsch said of the governor, accusing him of “pushed his agenda through the legislature like a loCuomotive, knocking down any opposition in his way.” Following the vote, some of the protesters tried to camp out overnight, curling up in hallways next to colorful placards, photos posted online showed . Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson said he wished that Albany could have done more to protect the state’s most vulnerable citizens and restore more in education aid. “The only reason I voted this,” he said, was “because I trust and have faith in the governor that these choices that we’re making today will put us on the road to fiscal prosperity,” he said. READ MORE AT DNAINFO

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Video: Canadian Opposition Topples Harper, Triggers Election

March 25, 2011

March 25 (Bloomberg) — Opposition lawmakers toppled Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, triggering an election that may result in an alliance to reverse his corporate tax cuts and overturn plans for more military spending. Theophilos Argitis reports on Bloomberg Television’s “Bottom Line With Mark Crumpton.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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Eric Alterman: Think Again: When Money Talks, Who Listens (Besides Politicians)?

November 18, 2010

Everybody knows money talks in politics, but people–and particularly the press–rarely pay attention to exactly how. It can define potential alternatives, invent arguments, inundate with propaganda, and threaten with merely hypothetical opposition. Politicians do not need to “switch” their votes to meet its demands. They can bury bills, rewrite the language of bills that are presented, convince certain congressmen to schedule a golf tournament back home on a day of a key committee vote, confuse debate, and bankroll primary opposition. The manner and means through which money can operate is almost as infinite as its uses in any bordello, casino, or Wall Street brokerage. Just about the only thing money can’t buy in politics is love. But that’s OK because, as Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) or ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer can tell you, politics provides plenty of substitutes. Frank Baumgartner, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-author of the book, Lobbying and Policy Change: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why , explains that the real outcome of most lobbying–in fact, its greatest success–is the achievement of nothing, the maintenance of the status quo: “Sixty percent of the time, nothing happens… What we see is gridlock and successful stalemating of proposals, with occasional breakthroughs.” And that’s just the way the corporate lobbies want it. Health insurers, including United Health Group Inc. and Cigna, last year gave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce $86.2 million that was used to oppose the health care overhaul law, according to a November 17, 2010 report by Bloomberg News. The report notes that this amount “exceeded the insurer group’s entire budget from a year earlier and accounted for 40 percent of the Chamber’s $214.6 million in 2009 spending.” It might have been nice to know this during the fight over the bill–when so many members of the mainstream media were pretending that all the opposition to it was based on genuine voter outrage, but it only became public when annual tax records required under U.S. law were finally made public. The insurers’ funneling of money through the chamber is an example of some of the new business opportunities that recent Supreme Court rulings have opened up for all wealthy and corporate funders who wish to remain anonymous. To keep reading, please go here

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Video: Gaskins Says No `Rational Reason’ to Own GM Over Ford: Video

August 18, 2010

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) — Francis Gaskins, president of IPOdesktop.com, talks about his opposition to the General Motors Co. move to file for an initial share offering, which would mark the return of what was once the largest automaker to public markets after it was bailed out by the government. Gaskins talks with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television’s “Taking Stock”. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Kristie Arslan: Politics Trumps Progress: Main Street Likely to Be Left Out in the Cold Yet Again

July 29, 2010

Members of the Senate decided today to put politics over progress by blocking movement on the Small Business Jobs Act ( H.R. 5297 ) when it came up for a crucial procedural vote. Unless an agreement can be reached, the bill is likely to languish in the Senate. The debate on the Senate floor consisted of the usual acrimonious banter with lots of finger pointing about the unfairness of the majority and the obstructionism of the minority. What is truly unfair is that Main Street will likely be left out in the cold again to weather this economic storm, while Wall Street was bailed out by Congress with swiftness as soon as financial institutions showed signs of stress from the fiscal crisis they single-handedly created. To date, Wall Street has received close to $5 trillion dollars in aid. Yes, that’s right, $5 trillion! Yet, nothing has been done to provide assistance or relief to the largest sector of our economy — small business. The critical question in this debate should be what the Small Business Jobs Act could mean to a small business owner’s bottom line. The tax equity for the self-employed provision alone would result in tax savings of over 15 percent for the 23 million self-employed Americans. Sole-proprietors would receive a one-year, temporary business deduction for their health insurance costs providing them significant savings on their self-employment (payroll) taxes. This is a permanent deduction currently enjoyed by large businesses and corporations in the U.S. Did bailing out Wall Street help 23 million Americans? Did bailing out our auto industry save 23 million jobs? I don’t think so. The Small Business Jobs Act, with its’ $12 billion in targeted temporary tax relief, will provide a wide-sweeping benefit to our nation’s smallest businesses. While the bill is certainly not a panacea, it is a step in the right direction; a step that should have the support of both sides of the aisle. However, with August recess looming and campaign season in full swing, it seems the need to one-up the opposition is more important than improving the economy and helping American families. Is it any wonder why only 11 percent of Americans have confidence in Congress? Lawmakers need to get their act together and focus on the big picture. It’s the economy, stupid! A healthy Main Street means healthy families, health communities and a healthly economy. If legislators want to keep their jobs come November, it is time for them to start doing their job in Congress.

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Rudd’s Election Gamble Backfires as Australia Resource Tax Aids Opposition

June 7, 2010

By Marion Rae and Gemma Daley June 8 (Bloomberg) — Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ’s proposal to collect more tax from mining companies is shaping up to be an election-winning strategy. Just not for him. Rudd’s Labor party trailed the opposition Liberal-National coalition for the first time in four years, according to a Nielsen opinion poll released yesterday. Faced with intense criticism from BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group , Rudd invoked powers normally reserved for national emergencies to buy advertising to defend the levy, which he says will help pay for wider tax cuts and improved health care. “To introduce a new tax, particularly one which becomes controversial, in an election year, is bad politics,” said Ian McAllister , a professor at Australian National University in Canberra. “An election fought on tax would favor the coalition because they’re generally seen as the better economic managers.” Industry groups say the tax would force companies to shift operations overseas, jeopardizing investment in a business that represents about 10 percent of the A$1.2 trillion ($980 billion) economy. The proposed levy “makes Australian mining a tougher prospect,” BHP said today in a full-page ad in the Australian Financial Review newspaper. Rudd, who must hold an election within 10 months, saw his public support start to slip in April when he scrapped a plan to implement carbon trading, a key part of a campaign pledge to fight global warming. His popularity dropped further after the mining tax was announced May 2, retreating to 41 percent from 60 percent two months ago, the Nielsen survey showed. ‘Patchwork Quilt’ The plan, which would take effect in 2012, aims to collect more tax from resources companies benefiting from surging demand in India and China. Instead of what Rudd has described as a “patchwork quilt” of state levies, the government would tax returns above six percent at a 40 percent rate. The overhaul is needed to boost spending on health care and secure retirement benefits as society ages, Rudd has said. It would provide tax breaks for 2.4 million small businesses and reduce the corporate rate to 28 percent from 30 percent by 2014 to stimulate growth. Rudd has acknowledged the government’s intent to address demographic changes has been lost in the backlash. One quarter of a projected population of 36 million will be aged 65 or over by 2050, according to government estimates. ‘Tough Debate’ “This will be a tough debate,” Rudd said today in comments broadcast on 2UE radio. The Nielsen poll found that 53 percent of voters preferred the opposition compared with 47 percent who backed Rudd’s party. The survey of 1,400 people contacted between June 3 and June 5 had a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points. The coalition now led by Tony Abbott had trailed in polls since Rudd became leader in 2006, before taking power in the November 2007 election. Abbott became opposition leader six months ago. The initial winner in the spat over the tax, which would take effect from 2012, has been the advertizing industry. Melbourne-based Shannon’s Way is handling the government’s A$38.5 million newspaper, radio and TV campaign. One television commercial shows a man in a classroom explaining that for Australians to have a secure retirement the tax system must be overhauled. Taxes must be simplified and cut for small businesses while ensuring that “all Australians share the wealth of our natural resources,” he says. Badjar Ogilvy, a unit of STW Communications Group Ltd. is handling the Minerals Council of Australia’s counter campaign. That effort began five days after the tax was announced with full-page newspaper ads, YouTube clips and television spots. ‘On Hold’ “Billions of dollars of investment are already on hold,” one council television advertisement reported. “Who will be hurt by this super tax? Everyone,” the ad says, warning of job losses and lower returns for pension funds. Funding for the commercials comes from companies, council spokesman Ben Mitchell said, declining to say how much is being spent. “But it is less than the government and it is not taxpayer money,” he said. In Western Australia, which accounts for 62 percent of the nation’s mineral production and 73 percent of natural gas output, the Liberal party has started a “fighting fund” to unseat federal lawmakers from the Labor party, state director Ben Morton said. ‘Comrade Kevin’ A separate campaign by a group of 220 West Australian-based miners released a radio ad in which a miner described as Russian thanks “Comrade Kevin” for imposing a tax that will encourage companies to invest in his country rather than Australia, according to the Australian Associated Press. The clash centers on the targeting of a “super” profit, or returns above the long-term Australian government bond rate of about 6 percent. The nation’s petroleum resource rent tax , also levied on profits at a rate of 40 percent and in place since July 1987, only takes effect when returns exceed 11 percent. Rio Tinto Managing Director for Australia David Peever said May 20 the company is reviewing all of its investment decisions because of the tax. BHP is reassessing its Yeelirrie uranium project in Western Australia, the project’s general manager, Andrew Shook, said last month. Xstrata Plc , based in Zug, Switzerland, said June 3 that A$586 million of work expanding the Ernest Henry copper mine and the A$6 billion Wandoan coal project in Queensland aren’t viable under the new tax. It was the first company to suspend major work because of Rudd’s planned levy. The new tax “doesn’t stop any current mine or proposed mine being profitable for its investors,” said Tony Maher , national president of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. “Of course the big multinationals are protesting.” To contact the reporters on this story: Marion Rae in Canberra at mrae3@bloomberg.net ; Gemma Daley at gdaley@bloomberg.net

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BHP, Rio Face Heaviest Burden as Australia Outlines Resources Company Tax

May 2, 2010

By Gemma Daley and Marion Rae May 3 (Bloomberg) — Australia plans to impose the world’s heaviest tax regime on mining companies, cutting billions of dollars in profits for BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group as part of the broadest tax overhaul since World War II. The 40 percent tax on resource profits will start from 2012 and raise A$12 billion ($11.1 billion) in its first two years. BHP, the world’s biggest resources company with 51 percent of its assets in Australia, said the tax rate on its Australian earnings will increase to 57 percent in 2013 from 43 percent now. “These proposals seriously threaten Australia’s competitiveness, jeopardize future investments and will adversely impact the future wealth and standard of living of all Australians,” BHP’s Chief Executive Officer Marius Marius Kloppers said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Taxing resources companies to help fund government spending is designed to give Australia’s 20 million population a greater share in a China-fueled boom for iron ore and coal. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd , preparing for an election within a year, said the changes will help the government pay for additional hospitals, retirement benefits and company tax reductions. Resources companies make up 9 percent of the economy and last week warned that a 40 percent levy and double taxation with payments to states would threaten $108 billion of planned investment. The government yesterday said it will compensate companies for the state royalties they have paid. Highest Taxed “Australia will have the highest taxed mining industry in the world,” Minerals Council of Australia Chief Executive Officer Mitch Hooke said in an e-mailed statement. “Australia’s hard-earned reputation as a stable investment environment will be dramatically undermined.” The government runs the risk of “taking away from Australia the strongest industry we have and the one that saved us from the global financial crisis,” said Keith De Lacy , chairman of Brisbane-based Macarthur Coal Ltd., the world’s largest producer of pulverized coal. “Always 50 percent of our net profits went into development and exploration and so much of that is going now so obviously we’ll grow slower.” The introduction of the resource tax would cut Australia’s competitiveness, Citigroup Inc. said on April 28 before the release of the review. Mining Stocks Resources stocks may decline in trading today after the tax plan was announced. “The knee-jerk reaction is they’ll get hit,” Citigroup Mining Analyst Craig Sainsbury said yesterday from Sydney. Mining companies will be taxed about 58 cents for every dollar of earnings, compared with 35 cents before the new regime, he said. Chinese and Indian demand for resources from Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of coal, iron ore and alumina, helped the A$1.2 trillion economy skirt recession during the global financial crisis. Rudd’s Labor government, which has led the opposition Liberal-National coalition in opinion polls, commissioned a tax review two years ago to create a simpler and fairer system to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population. One quarter of a projected population of 36 million will be aged 65 and over by 2050, increasing pressure to build roads, rail, ports, and hospitals. Revenue ‘Quicksand’ “It is like standing on quicksand, relying on a resources rent tax,” Opposition Treasurer Joe Hockey said in Canberra yesterday. “This is a cowardly response to a very substantial report.” The government will use the resource tax revenue to create a A$5.6 billion infrastructure fund, cut company taxes to 28 percent from the current 30 percent and boost retirement funds, now worth A$1.3 trillion. It will also give a tax concession for resource exploration, including geothermal power, affecting 4,300 companies, Treasurer Wayne Swan said. The corporate tax rate, reduced to 30 percent from 36 percent by the previous Liberal-National government, will be cut by mid-2014, with 720,000 small businesses getting a one-year head-start. The government may decrease the rate further. The government will also increase the amount companies have to pay into people’s retirement funds to 12 percent from 9 percent of their gross salary in mid-2019. Australia will make it more attractive for some 8.4 million workers to increase their own contributions to the pool, and the changes will add A$85 billion to the A$1.34 trillion funds, Swan said. In total, the government said its tax policy changes will add 0.7 percent a year to the economy. To contact the reporters on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at gdaley@bloomberg.net ; Marion Rae in Canberra at mrae3@bloomberg.net

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U.K. Economic Growth Forecast for 2011 Raised to 2.7%, Item Club Will Say

April 17, 2010

By Jennifer Ryan April 18 (Bloomberg) — Ernst & Young LLP’s Item Club will say tomorrow it raised its forecast for U.K. economic growth next year, predicting that the weakness of the pound will fuel exports. Gross domestic product will rise 2.7 percent next year, up from an estimate in January for 2.5 percent, the researchers, who use the same model as the U.K. Treasury, will say according to an e-mailed statement. The economy “will struggle” to expand 1 percent this year, the same amount predicted earlier, the group will say. The pound has dropped about 25 percent on a trade-weighted basis since the start of 2007, and U.K. businesses should take advantage of that, the group will say. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is trying to narrow the opposition Conservatives’ lead in voter opinion polls ahead of the May 6 election by claiming his decisions will prevent a return to recession. “The immediate prospects for the economy remain dismal,” Peter Spencer , chief economic adviser to the ITEM Club and a former U.K. Treasury official, will say in a statement. “Exports provide an opportunity to steer our way out of this situation, but ultimately business must put its shoulder to the wheel.” The economy probably extended its recovery from the recession in the first quarter. Gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent, the same pace as in the final three months of 2009, according to the median forecast of 31 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The Office for National Statistics will release those data on April 23 at 9:30 a.m. in London. To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Ryan in London at jryan13@bloomberg.net

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U.K. Economy Probably Extended Recovery in First Quarter From Record Slump

April 17, 2010

By Jennifer Ryan April 17 (Bloomberg) — The U.K. economy probably extended its recovery from the deepest recession on record in the first quarter, aiding Prime Minister Gordon Brown as he wages an election campaign on pledges to ensure growth. Gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent from the fourth quarter, according to the median forecast of 31 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The increase matches the gain in the last three months of the year, when the six-quarter slump ended. Brown said in the April 15 televised leaders’ debate the “wrong choices” by the next government could lead to a double- dip recession. The ruling Labour Party is trying to close the the opposition Conservatives’ lead in voter opinion polls before the May 6 election as surveys show Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg won the debate. “The most important for the prime minister is that there’s a plus sign in front of the number, because at least then he’ll be able to say the recovery is continuing,” Philip Shaw , an economist at Investec Securities in London, said in a telephone interview. “It will give the electorate something else to focus on and may be one of a cocktail of factors that begins to draw attention away from the leaders’ debates.” The economy probably contracted 0.1 percent from a year earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey of 28 economists. The Office for National Statistics will publish the data at 9:30 a.m. in London on April 23. Support for the Liberal Democrat party rose 3 points to 24 percent after the televised leaders’ debate, according to a ComRes Ltd. survey for ITV. The poll showed support for Labour fell 1 point to 28 percent, and backing for the Conservatives was unchanged at 35 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Ryan in London at jryan13@bloomberg.net

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U.K. Probably Extended Recovery From Recession Last Quarter, Survey Shows

April 17, 2010

By Jennifer Ryan April 17 (Bloomberg) — The U.K. economy probably extended its recovery from the deepest recession on record in the first quarter, aiding Prime Minister Gordon Brown as he wages an election campaign on pledges to ensure growth. Gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent from the fourth quarter, according to the median forecast of 31 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The increase matches the gain in the last three months of the year, when the six-quarter slump ended. Brown said in the April 15 televised leaders’ debate the “wrong choices” by the next government could lead to a double- dip recession. The ruling Labour Party is trying to close the the opposition Conservatives’ lead in voter opinion polls before the May 6 election as surveys show Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg won the debate. “The most important for the prime minister is that there’s a plus sign in front of the number, because at least then he’ll be able to say the recovery is continuing,” Philip Shaw , an economist at Investec Securities in London, said in a telephone interview. “It will give the electorate something else to focus on and may be one of a cocktail of factors that begins to draw attention away from the leaders’ debates.” The economy probably contracted 0.1 percent from a year earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey of 28 economists. The Office for National Statistics will publish the data at 9:30 a.m. in London on April 23. Support for the Liberal Democrat party rose 3 points to 24 percent after the televised leaders’ debate, according to a ComRes Ltd. survey for ITV. The poll showed support for Labour fell 1 point to 28 percent, and backing for the Conservatives was unchanged at 35 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Ryan in London at jryan13@bloomberg.net

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Obama: I’ll Veto Financial Reform Without Derivatives Regulation

April 16, 2010

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama vowed Friday to veto a financial overhaul bill that doesn’t regulate the eclectic derivatives market, even as Senate Republicans lined up en masse against it. Legislation pending in Congress would for the first time regulate derivatives, complex financial instruments like the mortgage-backed securities that contributed to a near economic meltdown in 2008 when their value plummeted during the housing crisis. Obama said he wants derivatives to be strongly regulated, and he added that he’s ready to veto any financial reform bill that comes to his desk without it. But there’s some dispute among Democrats about how far such regulation should go. Further complicating matters Friday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell obtained signatures from 40 fellow GOP senators voicing opposition to the Senate bill and demanding further negotiations. McConnell, R-Ky., won the support of one last holdout _Sen. Susan Collins of Maine – increasing his leverage as Democrats prepare to bring the legislation to the floor for debate. The unified GOP stance came as a setback for majority Democrats who were hunting for individual Republicans to peel away from their party caucus to help the Democrats get the necessary 60 votes to overcome a likely procedural roadblock. “We are united in our opposition to the partisan legislation reported by the Senate Banking Committee,” the Republicans said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

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Double-Dip U.K. Recession Possible If Conservatives Win Ballot, Brown Says

April 4, 2010

By Kitty Donaldson April 5 (Bloomberg) — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown , sliding in opinion polls as he prepares to call a general election, said a victory by the opposition Conservatives would risk tipping the economy back into recession. Brown said the U.K. economic recovery is too fragile for spending cuts proposed by the opposition. David Cameron ’s Conservatives widened their lead in polls published yesterday after offering a mix of tax and budget reductions, countering Labour plans to raise payroll levies to maintain spending. Britain’s record budget deficit, about 12 percent of gross domestic product, has become a flashpoint of the campaign. The election itself may fail to yield a majority for either main party in Parliament. Brown may visit Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as soon as tomorrow to ask the head of state to formally dissolve Parliament for a vote likely to be May 6. “With the economy, we’re not back to full fitness, we need to maintain support,” Brown said in a podcast released today, invoking injured English soccer star Wayne Rooney . “If you withdraw support too early, we’ll risk doing more damage. If we try and jump off the treatment table as if nothing had happened, we’ll do more damage to the economy — and frankly that means we risk a double-dip recession.” The Conservatives pressed a line of attack that has fueled an increase in their lead. The opposition last week said they’d partially reverse a proposed rise in payroll taxes, known as National Insurance. It would be funded by an immediate 6 billion-pound ($9 billion) reduction in spending. ‘Stealth Tax’ Conservative Treasury spokesman George Osborne , publishing research which he said shows the average national insurance contribution per family has risen more than 12 times average income-tax receipts per family over the last decade, calls it a “stealth tax.” Brown “thinks he can fool the public but he has been found out,” Osborne said in a statement. “People know that it is a tax on the income of working people and a tax on jobs — it is what threatens to kill the recovery.” Yesterday, the Conservative Party extended its lead over Labour in two opinion polls. A YouGov Plc poll for the Sunday Times put the main opposition at 39 percent of the vote, Labour at 29 percent and the Liberal Democrats at 20 percent. Another survey for the Sunday Express newspaper by Canadian pollsters Angus Reid put the Conservatives at 38 percent, 11 points ahead of Labour’s 27 percent, with the Liberal Democrats at 20 percent. YouGov polled 1,503 voters online on April 1-2. Angus Reid surveyed 1,991 voters, and the Sunday Express didn’t say how or when the poll was conducted. No margin of error was given for either poll. To contact the reporter on this story: Kitty Donaldson in London at kdonaldson1@bloomberg.net

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Japan Ex-Finance Chief Yosano Quits LDP, May Form Party Before Elections

April 3, 2010

By Keiko Ujikane April 4 (Bloomberg) — Former Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano will form a new political group within a week, a blow to the opposition Liberal Democratic Party as it struggles to hold together ahead of upper house elections in July. Yosano, 71, will start the party with lawmakers including Hiroyuki Sonoda , a former acting secretary general with the LDP, he said on the Fuji television network today. The party will field candidates in the House of Councillors contest, Yosano said, the first polls since the LDP lost lower-house elections in August. Yosano’s break from the LDP marks the biggest defection since that defeat, one that ended 50 years of almost unbroken rule. Since then, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan has moved to boost spending on social programs, which opposition lawmakers say is irresponsible as Japan struggles to contain the world’s largest public debt . “We’ll try to build a critical and healthy force in the upper house,” Yosano said today. “Japan will sink diplomatically, economically and socially” under DPJ policies. The LDP has suffered from an eroding support base and resignations by lawmakers since last year. One-time Internal Affairs Minister Kunio Hatoyama said last month he will leave the LDP to form a new party. Yoichi Masuzoe , who served as welfare minister, also said in March he might leave the party. The Japan Medical Association, one of the party’s most powerful supporters, elected a DPJ member as its president on April 1 in a sign alliances are shifting. Yosano said his resignation will take effect April 7, in remarks televised on national broadcaster NHK yesterday. “He’s been with the party for a long time, so it is very regretful,” LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki said in a televised briefing yesterday. “This just means we have to be more exhaustive in our opposition.” To contact the reporter on this story: Keiko Ujikane in Tokyo at kujikane@bloomberg.net

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Iran Opposition Lacks Resolve to Oust Regime, Ex-President Bani-Sadr Says

March 31, 2010

By Ladane Nasseri March 31 (Bloomberg) — Iran’s opposition movement lacks the resolve and mass support needed to overthrow the country’s clerical regime, said Abolhassan Bani-Sadr , the Islamic republic’s first president. In 1979, when Bani-Sadr helped lead the revolution that overthrew the Shah, “the young generation was determined to get rid of the monarchy,” the former president said in an interview at his home in Versailles, France. “Today’s opposition supporters are hesitant and confused as to what they are fighting for,” he said. “They are caught between what they desire and what they think is attainable.” Iran’s Islamic regime has faced its biggest challenge over the past year as hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest the June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , who has the final say on policy, backed Ahmadinejad and rejected opposition charges that the vote was rigged. Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and ex-parliament Speaker Mehdi Karrubi , who were Bani-Sadr’s allies in the fight against the Shah, head the opposition forces known as the green movement. They’ve continued to challenge Khamenei, labelling his rule dictatorial and defying his crackdown on protests. At least 5,000 opposition supporters, including former ministers and members of parliament, have been arrested since June, and official figures show 44 were killed in clashes with security forces. Amnesty international says the toll is at least twice as high, and also points to an increase in executions this year which it says is aimed at discouraging dissent. Grassroots, Organic The movement resembles the victorious rebels of 1979 in that “it is grassroots, organic and not controlled by any organization,” said Bani-Sadr, 77, who helped draft Iran’s constitution after the revolution and held the presidency from 1980 to 1981, when he fled the country after losing a power struggle with revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini . A key difference, though, is that it “hasn’t taken over all the cities and within cities some of the social classes have not joined,” Bani-Sadr said, citing the limited participation of the working class as an example. Demonstrations since the election have mostly taken place in the capital, Tehran, and other major cities, while large parts of the country stayed calm. Another problem for the opposition is that the demands of its supporters have come to exceed what the movement’s leaders are capable of delivering, Bani-Sadr said. Incapable of Reform Karrubi and Mousavi have stopped short of calling for the end of clerical rule. Bani-Sadr said the current system is incapable of democratic change, and religion should be separated from politics. “If the regime was capable of being reformed, I would not be in exile, former President Mohammad Khatami would have succeeded during his time in office of bringing about a more open society, and this electoral fraud would not have taken place,” he said. Further international sanctions aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program may backfire, especially if they hurt the economy, Bani-Sadr said. The U.S. has led calls for a fourth round of sanctions this year after Iran said it started enriching uranium to the level required to The regime “benefits from a state of crisis,” and any sanctions should instead target the funds of officials abroad, and the sale of military equipment and technology that can be used to repress the opposition, Bani-Sadr said. To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Paris at lnasseri@bloomberg.net .

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U.K. Conservatives Would Fall Short of Parliamentary Majority, Poll Shows

March 7, 2010

By Svenja O’Donnell March 7 (Bloomberg) — The U.K. opposition Conservatives widened their poll lead over Prime Minister Gordon Brown ’s Labour Party, while still falling short of a majority. David Cameron ’s Conservatives gained one percentage point from a week ago, garnering 38 percent support, with Labour losing two percentage points to 33 percent, a YouGov Plc poll for the Sunday Times newspaper showed today. An ICM poll for the News of the World showed the Conservative lead widening to nine percentage points, giving them 40 percent, with 31 percent backing Labour. That’s still six seats short of a majority, the newspaper said. With elections only weeks away, the gap between both parties has narrowed, suggesting Britain may have its first so- called hung parliament since 1974. That means Labour or the Conservatives may seek an alliance with the Liberal Democrats to form a government. A hung parliament “is a possible outcome,” Vince Cable , the Treasury spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democrats, told the British Broadcasting Corp.’s Andrew Marr Show today. “There are all kinds of combinations that could arise. We’re not ruling things out. Parties would need to work together in different ways.” Brown can choose when to call the election, which must be held by June. YouGov surveyed 1,558 voters online between March 4 and March 5. ICM polled 1,005 people by telephone between March 3 and March 4. To contact the reporter on this story: Svenja O’Donnell in London at sodonnell@bloomberg.net

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Utilities May Be Willing to Go First on `Cap-and-Trade,’ NRG’s Crane Says

March 4, 2010

By Lorraine Woellert March 4 (Bloomberg) — Compromise legislation to curb carbon emissions is gaining support in the U.S. Congress because a stalled “cap-and-trade” bill can’t win passage, according to NRG Energy Inc. chief David Crane . “Cap-and-trade by definition is dead,” NRG’s chief executive officer said in an interview yesterday. Scrapping proposals to trade carbon credits for all polluters, senators are working on a plan for the electric-power industry to “go first,” Crane said. Oil refiners might pay fees that would go to highways and bridges instead of participating in trading emissions allowances, he said. The compromise measure, still being drafted by Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry , Connecticut independent Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham , a South Carolina Republican, would also have provisions to promote nuclear power. The approach is drawing broader support than the cap-and- trade bill that passed the House last year and then stalled in the Senate, according to Crane. The chief of Princeton, New Jersey-based NRG was among executives from the group We Can Lead interviewed yesterday in Bloomberg’s Washington bureau. The group consists of clean-energy and technology companies, such as Google Inc. and Vestas North America. “I was really encouraged at the number of people who are listening now,” Crane said after meeting with lawmakers in Washington. “The range of Republican senators who are listening now goes beyond the normal three or four suspects.” He predicted the new bill, which senators expect to introduce in the coming weeks, won’t draw the “virulent opposition” that business lobbyists such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce raised against the House cap-and-trade proposal. “You’re going to see a much more reasoned debate by all parties,” Crane said. “That’s because the stuff that really drove the opposition crazy has been taken out of the bill.” NRG, the second-largest power producer in Texas, fell 17 cents to $22.50 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading and has declined 4.7 percent this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Lorraine Woellert in Washington at lwoellert@bloomberg.net .

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Republican Leads Race in Illinois for Obama’s U.S. Senate Seat, Poll Finds

February 4, 2010

By Jonathan D. Salant Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Republican Mark Kirk leads Democrat Alexi Giannoulias in the race for the Illinois U.S. Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama , a new poll finds. Kirk, a U.S. representative, led Giannoulias, the state treasurer by 46 percent to 42 percent in the Feb. 3 survey of 500 likely voters by Rasmussen Reports. The poll, taken one day after the Illinois primary in which both men won their parties’ nominations, had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points. A Public Policy Polling survey of 1,062 likely voters taken Jan. 22-25 gave Giannoulias an 8 point lead, 42 percent to 34 percent, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points. A Dec. 9 Rasmussen poll of 500 likely voters showed Giannoulias leading Kirk by 42 percent to 39 percent. Both parties wasted little time in attacking the opposition candidate yesterday. Republicans posted an online video called “Making Tony Soprano Proud,” which cites loans that the Giannoulias family’s bank made to a bookmaker as well as to convicted Illinois influence peddler Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Democrats called Kirk, who supported President George W. Bush’s tax cuts that contributed to record federal deficits, “a Washington insider who wants to return to the failed policies that created the economic mess we now face.” The incumbent, Roland Burris , appointed to succeed Obama, is not seeking re-election. The race is considered one of the most competitive U.S. Senate contests this year by the three Washington-based publications that rate congressional races: Congressional Quarterly, the Cook Political Report and the Rothenberg Political Report. To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net .

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Iran Government Loyalists Hold Anti-Opposition Rallies Following Protests

December 30, 2009

By Henry Meyer and Ali Sheikholeslami Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) — Crowds of government supporters massed in the Iranian capital Tehran, some calling for the death of Iran’s opposition leaders, as the police warned it will crush any further anti-regime protests. State television showed live footage of the pro-government street rallies today, three days after security forces violently dispersed the biggest opposition demonstrations in six months, in which eight people were killed. Iran has detained about 1,000 people since the Dec. 27 protests in Tehran and other cities, the New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said. The disputed June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sparked the worst unrest since the overthrow of the Shah in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran yesterday accused Western countries of inciting the latest demonstrations. The U.S. and European Union states have condemned the authorities’ use of violence, a factor that could harden Iran’s stance toward its nuclear dispute with the West, analysts said. General Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam , Iran’s police chief, said there will be “no mercy” for anyone who takes part in opposition rallies, the state-run Fars news agency reported. He said that what he called a period of leniency was over, Fars said. “Anyone attending such rallies will be crushed.” Protesters Arrested The police arrested 500 people on Dec. 27, Ahmadi-Moghaddam said, adding that 120 officers were injured during that day’s clashes. Other demonstrators have since been detained by intelligence services, he said. “The information available once again suggests excessive acts of violence by security forces,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement from Geneva today. “Those who have been arrested, for whatever reason, must be accorded due process.” In today’s counter-rallies, some people could be heard on state television shouting “Death to Mousavi” and “Death to Karrubi.” Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi , a former prime minister, was the main challenger in the June 12 election. Former parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi was another opposition candidate in the June poll, which he and Mousavi said was rigged. The crowds in Tehran held up photos of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the Islamic Revolution, and set fire to a British flag. ‘Nauseating Masquerade’ Ahmadinejad yesterday called the opposition protests a foreign-backed “nauseating masquerade” in comments cited by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency . Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the British ambassador after U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Iranian citizens were showing “great courage.” The renewed unrest comes as the U.S. and its allies step up pressure on Iran to prove it’s not seeking to build nuclear weapons. The U.S. government has threatened to impose more sanctions after a Dec. 31 deadline unless Iran responds to diplomatic efforts aimed at securing international controls over its nuclear work in return for better ties with the West. Kazakhstan today denied a report that it planned to supply Iran with a large consignment of uranium as “groundless insinuations” in a statement posted on the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s Web Site . The Iranian mission at the United Nations also issued a statement denying the report. The Associated Press said that Iran was close to agreeing on a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan. It cited an intelligence report. Uranium Enrichment Iran has refused UN demands to suspend enrichment of uranium, which can produce material for a bomb or to fuel power stations. The oil-rich Persian Gulf country says its nuclear activities are purely aimed at generating electricity. The U.S. is preparing limited sanctions against Iran that would target elements of the regime rather than broader economic sanctions that could alienate the Iranian people, the Washington Post said today, citing unidentified U.S. officials. “The U.S. should be very careful not to impose broad-based sanctions that hurt the people, not the regime,” said Trita Parsi, head of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council, the largest U.S.-Iranian association. The worst thing the Obama administration could do right now is to provide ammunition for efforts to “wipe out the opposition,” Parsi said in a phone interview from New York. Post-Election Unrest Opponents of Ahmadinejad have been protesting since the June election. The government said 36 people were killed in a crackdown in the aftermath of the vote, while the opposition said twice as many died. About 4,000 protesters were detained and more than 140 have been put on trial. Unrest flared again this month at the funeral of a leading clerical opponent of Khamenei, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said it feared that the 1,000 detainees, who include prominent opposition activists and journalists, would be tortured to produce false confessions that the protests were instigated by foreign governments. “We’re seeing a pattern of the government shooting itself in the foot with brutality,” Parsi said. “At the moment, the momentum seems to be with the opposition.” To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Dubai at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net ; Ali Sheikholeslami in London at alis2@bloomberg.net .

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Iran Detains 1,000 in Crackdown on Opposition Protests, Rights Group Says

December 30, 2009

By Henry Meyer and Ali Sheikholeslami Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) — Iran has detained about 1,000 people in a continuing crackdown after the biggest anti-government demonstrations in six months, a human rights group said. The Iranian police warned it will crush any further protests. The New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said it feared that the detainees, who include prominent opposition activists and journalists, would be tortured to produce false confessions that the protests were instigated by foreign governments. “It may be assumed that many detainees will be subjected to torture followed by ‘show trials’ and convicted of crimes that carry the death penalty in the Islamic Republic,” a spokesman for the group, Aaron Rhodes , said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. The figure for the number of arrests is based on the group’s monitoring of reports by rights activists and opposition Web sites inside Iran, Rhodes said in a telephone interview today. Iran yesterday accused Western countries of inciting the Dec. 27 clashes between opposition supporters and security forces in the capital Tehran and other cities, which killed at least eight people, according to state media reports. The U.S. and European Union states have condemned the crackdown, a factor that could harden Iran’s stance toward its nuclear dispute with the West, analysts said. Police Warning General Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, Iran’s police chief, said police will deal severely with anyone who takes part in opposition rallies, the state-run Fars news agency reported. He said that what he called a period of leniency was over, Fars said. The police arrested 500 people on Dec. 27, Ahmadi-Moghaddam said, adding that 120 officers were injured during that day’s clashes. Some more demonstrators have since been arrested by intelligence services, he said. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , whose disputed re-election in June sparked the unrest, called the latest protests a foreign-backed “nauseating masquerade” in comments cited by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency . Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad have repeatedly linked the demonstrations to Western efforts to undermine Iran, rejecting opposition allegations of vote fraud. The renewed unrest comes as the U.S. and its allies step up pressure on Iran to prove it’s not seeking to build nuclear weapons. Nuclear Tensions The U.S. government has threatened to impose more sanctions after a Dec. 31 deadline unless Iran responds to diplomatic efforts aimed at securing international controls over its nuclear work in return for better ties with the West. Kazakhstan today denied a report that it planned to supply Iran with a large consignment of uranium, Russian state news service RIA Novosti reported, citing a spokesman for the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. The Iranian mission at the United Nations also issued a statement denying the report. The Associated Press said that Iran was close to agreeing on a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan. It cited an intelligence report. The transfer of any uranium yellowcake to Iran would constitute a clear violation of UN Security Council sanctions, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly wrote in an e-mail yesterday. “The transfer of uranium to Iran is prohibited,” Kelly said. Uranium Enrichment Iran has refused UN demands to suspend enrichment of uranium, which can produce material for a bomb or to fuel power stations. The oil-rich Persian Gulf country says its nuclear activities are purely aimed at generating electricity. The U.S. is preparing limited sanctions against Iran that would target elements of the regime rather than broad-based economic sanctions that could alienate the Iranian people, the Washington Post said today, citing unidentified U.S. officials. “The U.S. should be very careful not to impose broad-based sanctions that hurt the people, not the regime,” said Trita Parsi, head of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council, the largest U.S.-Iranian association. The worst thing the Obama administration could do right now is to provide ammunition for efforts to “wipe out the opposition,” Parsi said in a phone interview from New York. Opponents of Ahmadinejad have been protesting since the June election, which sparked the largest anti-government demonstrations since the overthrow of the Shah in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The protests were violently suppressed. The government said 36 people were killed in the aftermath of the vote, while the opposition said twice as many died. About 4,000 protesters were detained and more than 140 have been put on trial. Unrest flared again this month at the funeral of a leading clerical opponent of Khamenei, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. “We’re seeing a pattern of the government shooting itself in the foot with brutality,” Parsi said. “At the moment, the momentum seems to be with the opposition.” To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Dubai at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net ; Ali Sheikholeslami in London at alis2@bloomberg.net .

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Bernanke’s Support for Second Term at Fed Runs 3-1 in Favor in U.S. Senate

December 22, 2009

By Scott Lanman Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) — U.S. senators are backing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke for a second term by a 3-to-1 margin, based on a count of 77 lawmakers by Bloomberg News. Bloomberg today interviewed 53 senators who aren’t on the Banking Committee, which voted 16-7 on Dec. 17 to recommend Bernanke’s nomination to the full Senate. Twenty-one lawmakers said they are inclined to vote for Bernanke, while four said they would oppose the central bank chief, giving Bernanke 37-12 support so far for a four-year term starting Feb. 1. Another 28 said they’re undecided or declined to comment. California Democrat Dianne Feinstein and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham were among senators saying they’ll support Bernanke, citing his response to the financial crisis. Senators from both major parties said they expect him to be confirmed, even with at least four lawmakers trying to block or delay the nomination. “We were on the verge of a Great Depression, and I think he and others came up with some monetary policies that prevented us from going into a depression,” said Graham, who also backs a broad audit of the central bank. “He is worthy of renomination.” Of the 77 senators who have voted, spoken with Bloomberg or publicly commented on their views, 43 are Democrats, 33 are Republicans and one is an independent. Democrats support Bernanke by a 26-1 margin, while Republicans are split 11-10 in the Fed chief’s favor. The chamber has 58 Democrats, 40 Republicans and two independents. Bernard Sanders , a Vermont independent who isn’t on the banking panel, previously announced his opposition to Bernanke, saying he would try to block the nomination. After Jan. 19 A vote will occur sometime after Jan. 19, Christopher Dodd , a Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said last week. During a Dec. 3 hearing by Dodd’s panel, Bernanke, 56, faced criticism of the Fed’s bank oversight while gaining support for a second term. Dodd credited Bernanke with preventing a financial meltdown, while saying the Fed’s oversight of banks before the crisis was an “abysmal failure.” Four Republicans — John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Roger Wicker of Mississippi — said they were inclined to oppose Bernanke. “He hasn’t been effective enough in pointing out the reckless spending and financial policies of our Congress and our government,” Sessions said. “I don’t have anything against him personally, but there needs to be some accountability around here.” Jeff Merkley of Oregon remains the only Democrat to announce his opposition to the Fed chief. Majority Vote While the nomination requires a majority vote for approval, the Senate would need 60 votes to break the procedural holds. The Senate has 100 members, two from each U.S. state. Orrin Hatch , a Republican from Utah, said Bernanke has “done as good a job as he could. And I would be a little bit concerned by who would replace him.” “He’s done an impressive job under extremely difficult circumstances,” said Jeff Bingaman , a Democrat from New Mexico. Extrapolating the current vote count for the entire Senate would yield about 25 “no” votes, a total that probably wouldn’t trigger declines in stock or bond markets or cause investors to question the Fed’s political support, said Michael Feroli , an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. “The market could deal with that,” said Feroli, a former Fed researcher. “If you got closer to 35 or 40, I think that’s worrisome.” Decide to Oppose Once a majority materializes for Bernanke, senators, especially those who are up for re-election next year, may decide to oppose the Fed chief, said Tom Gallagher , head of policy research at International Strategy and Investment Group Inc. in Washington. “It’s fair to say that the safe vote on Bernanke is to vote ‘no’ on the losing side,” said Gallagher, a former congressional aide. Bernanke was named “Person of the Year” last week by Time magazine after leading the biggest expansion of the central bank’s powers in its 96-year history to respond to the crisis. The Fed is phasing out many of its emergency programs by Feb. 1. Feinstein said Bernanke shouldn’t be blamed for the troubles in the economy. “This thing was a long time coming, and to put it all on Bernanke is a mistake,” she said. “It’s a combination of a lack of regulation over a substantial period of time.” To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.net .

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Bernanke Says Unemployment, Excess Factory Capacity to Keep Inflation Low

December 15, 2009

By Scott Lanman Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. unemployment rate and the level of unused manufacturing capacity signal “substantial” slack in the economy and will help keep inflation low. “The bulk of the evidence indicates that resource slack is now substantial,” Bernanke said yesterday in a written response to questions from Senator Jim Bunning , a Kentucky Republican. “I continue to expect slack resources, together with the stability of inflation expectations, to contribute to the maintenance of low inflation in the period ahead.” Bernanke and his colleagues on the Fed’s Open Market Committee began a two-day meeting on monetary policy today. Economists say the FOMC tomorrow is likely to repeat its pledge to keep interest rates near zero for an “extended period” because inflation is slowing and unemployment remains near a 26- year high. Bunning’s office today released Bernanke’s responses to 70 questions following up on the Fed chief’s Dec. 3 confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. Bernanke also rebuffed Bunning’s request to provide unreleased transcripts of Fed monetary-policy meetings and reiterated his opposition to identifying banks that borrowed from the Fed’s discount window. The Senate panel votes Dec. 17 on whether to recommend to the full Senate Bernanke’s nomination for a second four-year term. Bunning has already said he will oppose the Fed chairman. April Forecasts Fed officials, in their April projections, were “too pessimistic” about how much the economy would contract and “too optimistic” that the jobless rate would stay below 10 percent this year, Bernanke said. “We underestimated the extent to which employers were able to continue to reduce their work forces even after they began to increase production again,” he wrote. Responding to questions about asset prices, Bernanke said “there is not much evidence to suggest that the stock market is currently in a bubble.” The increases in prices of gold and other commodity over the past few months “appear to reflect the recovery of the global economy, and it is not clear they have been out of line with fundamentals,” Bernanke said. Bernanke said he backed the Fed’s decision to pay banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. the full value on credit- default swaps purchased in the rescue of American International Group Inc. The move was criticized last month by a Treasury watchdog and lawmakers. Bernanke said he wasn’t directly involved in the talks, which were handled “primarily” by New York Fed staffers. To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.net .

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Berlusconi May Spend Second Night in Hospital After Attack on Milan Street

December 14, 2009

By Steve Scherer and Lorenzo Totaro Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi may remain in a Milan hospital until tomorrow after suffering cuts to his face and a broken nose in an attack at a political rally. Berlusconi had a headache this morning and “and asked for today’s newspapers” after waking up, Paolo Klun, the head of communications at San Raffaele hospital in Milan, said in an interview. The attack yesterday required stitches to his lip, damaged his front teeth and partially fractured his nose, his spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti said. Police are holding a man identified as Massimo Tartaglia, 42, who has been undergoing psychiatric treatment for 10 years. Tartaglia allegedly threw a statuette of the Milan cathedral at Berlusconi as the premier shook hands with supporters near the church known as the Duomo, said Armando Spataro , the Milan prosecutor heading the investigation. Political tensions are running high in Italy. Thousands of protesters called for Berlusconi’s resignation at a Rome rally last week, and a Mafia turncoat recently accused Berlusconi of ties to organized crime. Sex scandals and corruption cases have helped push his popularity to its lowest level since April 2008. Berlusconi has denied any wrongdoing and said Italian judges are out to destroy him politically and topple his government. Psychological Problems Tartaglia has no criminal record and was not politically active. He suffered from psychological problems since he was 18, but had never been aggressive or violent, his father Alessandro Tartaglia told SKY TG24. He also said he called the San Raffaele hospital last night to apologize to Berlusconi. Television news programs showed images of a bloodied Berlusconi with cuts and gashes on his face. “For months there has been a campaign of hatred against Berlusconi,” said Defense Minister Ignazio la Russa, who was with the prime minister at the time of the attack. President Giorgio Napolitano and most opposition politicians condemned the attack. Napolitano renewed a call for politicians to tone down their rhetoric and said in a statement that debate should “remain within responsible limits of self- control and civil confrontation.” Climate of Violence Some in the opposition accused Berlusconi of creating a climate of violence that may have contributed to the attack. “Berlusconi cannot consider himself a victim,” Rosy Bindi , chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Party , told La Stampa in an interview today. “He is among the creators of this climate.” The attack was an “insane act that we need to condemn,” said Antonio Di Pietro , a former magistrate and leader of another opposition party, Italian Values . “But it’s another thing entirely discussing the faults of a government which contributes to a climate of hatred.” Italian police will meet today to review Berlusconi’s security detail and “examine minute by minute what happened yesterday,” Deputy Interior Minister Alfredo Mantovano said in an interview on television network Canale 5. The government had received information from intelligence services about possible threats to Berlusconi, Mantovano said. To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Scherer at sscherer@bloomberg.net

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Mousavi Protests as Iranian Authorities Clash With Student Demonstrators

December 7, 2009

By Ladane Nasseri Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi protested as Iranian authorities clashed with demonstrators who turned official Student Day gatherings into rallies against the disputed June 12 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . “You fight people on the streets, but you are constantly losing your dignity in people’s minds,” Mousavi, a former prime minister, said in a statement on his Kaleme.com Web site. “Even if you silence all the universities, what are you going to do with the society?” In Tehran, security forces fired at protesters in Palestine Square and arrested several students outside Shahid Beheshti University , al-Arabiya television reported. Riot police used tear gas in the vicinity of the city’s Vali-Asr Square, according to the opposition Web site Peykeiran. Members of the security forces used batons in clashes with protesters, some of whom fought back by throwing stones, it said. At least 10 people were arrested, Peykeiran said, citing witnesses. Every year, Tehran universities commemorate three students who were killed by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi’s security forces on Dec. 7, 1953, as they protested the ouster of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh . Opposition Web sites announced plans to hold demonstrations this year on Student Day to reinvigorate protests prompted by Ahmadinejad’s victory. Activists have used rallies organized by the state on public holidays as an opportunity to come onto the streets in defiance of a ban on demonstrations. Post-Election Deaths Iranian officials said 36 people were killed in the clashes that followed the election, while the opposition put the toll at 72 and said some of the deaths were the result of beatings during detention. The opposition, known as the Green Movement, grew out of protests over the declaration of an election victory for Ahmadinejad. Mousavi and the other main challenger, former parliament Speaker Mehdi Karrubi , say the vote was fraudulent, an allegation rejected by the president. Critics of the government have condemned the crackdown on protesters, which has resulted in dozens of deaths and the arrest and trial of hundreds of former officials, journalists, political analysts and activists. Iranian police and security forces surrounded Tehran University before the protests began, in an effort to curb the rallies, al-Arabiya reported. The channel showed hundreds of men and women gathering in front of the university’s gates, giving hand gestures of “V” for victory. Several thousand people walked south from Vali-Asr Square toward Tehran University today, chanting “death to the dictator” before being met by the police, Peykeiran said. Internet Slow Internet connections have been slow or disrupted, with e- mail and chat services mostly inaccessible in Tehran since yesterday, Peykeiran said. Mobile phones networks weren’t working in central Tehran neighborhoods, it said. Iran has accused the Western media of encouraging dissent and foreign journalists have been banned from covering events on the streets since the post-election protests began in June. “The issue is not who should or shouldn’t be the president,” Mousavi said in his statement. “The issue is that a great nation has been sold out.” To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Beirut at lnasseri@bloomberg.net .

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Darling Says Conservative Party’s Plans Risk `Crashing’ Britain’s Economy

October 4, 2009

By Gonzalo Vina Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) — Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said the Conservative Party plans to cut spending and welfare programs risked “crashing” the British economy, his strongest attack yet on the opposition as the election nears. Darling said Conservative leader David Cameron’s plan to phase out the “New Deal” welfare programs built up by the Labour government would hurt the nation’s poorest people and that cutting the budget deficit now would threaten the recovery. “Proposing to end support for the economy and scrap the New Deal is entirely wrong and downright daft,” Darling told reporters in Istanbul today after attending a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven. “Either he doesn’t understand what he is doing or he is not coming clean about what he is doing. Nobody else is advocating what he is proposing.” Ministers from Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party and the Conservatives are vying to convince voters they’re the best to manage the economy. Brown, trailing in polls for the last two years, must call an election by June 2010. Cameron and George Osborne , the Conservatives’ lawmaker in charge of finance, earlier today said that the biggest danger to the economy is the government’s budget deficit, which at 12 percent of gross domestic product next year will be the biggest in the Group of 20 nations. ‘Get Moving’ “We would get moving on dealing with this deficit quicker,” Osborne said on Sky News from the party’s annual conference in Manchester. “We think this deficit crisis is a clear and present danger to the recovery. Taxes will go up if we don’t deal with it. That would cost jobs. We’ve got 5 million people living on benefits because for a decade we failed to reform welfare.” Cameron pledged to spend 600 million pounds ($1 billion) implementing a new system of welfare payments that would wipe away Labour’s program known as the New Deal . Implemented since Labour took office in 1997, the program provides tax credits and payments from government to workers on low wages, ensuring a minimum income to people who return to work. Conservatives , without giving details of their plans, are urging steeper and faster cuts in public spending to reduce Britain’s budget deficit. Darling seized on the comments as evidence that the opposition wants to slash spending at a faster pace and more deeply than Labour . He reiterated his own pledges to control the deficit. ‘Crashing the Economy’ “As you get borrowing down, you have to do it in a way that is not damaging to the economy,” Darling said. “You have to be careful you don’t end up crashing the economy .” Darling said he will “soon” meet cabinet colleagues to agree on how they reduce spending, putting pressure on them to find ways of saving money without hurting services. “I will be very robust with our colleagues,” Darling said. “At a time like this we have to ensure we take robust measures to get borrowing down and all my colleagues are fully signed up to that. “Our position has always been to support the economy now and, once recovery is established, we have got to make sure we live within our means” Darling said. “To make these cuts at the present time would be utterly mad.” To contact the reporter on this story: Gonzalo Vina in Brighton at gvina@bloomberg.net

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Ahmadinejad Nominates Man on Interpol Wanted List as Iran’s Defense Chief

August 21, 2009

By Ali Sheikholeslami Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) — An Iranian official wanted by Interpol in connection with the bombing of an Argentine Jewish center has been nominated for promotion to defense minister in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ’s cabinet. Ahmad Vahidi, currently deputy defense minister, is accused by Argentina of a role in the 1994 bombing of the center in Buenos Aires, the worst attack on a Jewish target outside Israel since World War II. The blast left 85 people dead and injured more than 150. Argentina is seeking his extradition. Among the other suspects is Mohsen Rezai , a former Revolutionary Guards Corps chief who challenged Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election. “This is yet another of Ahmadinejad’s actions that prove he is a person you cannot deal with,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David said today in a telephone interview, referring to Vahidi’s Aug. 19 nomination. “The leadership of Iran is simply not willing to take the path of peace.” Vahidi has been subject to an Interpol “red notice” since November 2007. Such a notice is distributed to police agencies worldwide to request their assistance in detaining him, according to the Web site of Interpol , based in Lyon, France. Phone calls to the Iranian Embassy in London weren’t immediately answered, nor were calls to the Foreign Ministry in Iran, where Friday is observed as the Muslim prayer day. Vahidi has been a senior member of the Revolutionary Guards and has served as deputy to two defense ministers, the state-run Fars news agency reported. He is also a member of the Expediency Council, which has the final say in any disputes on legislation. A parliamentary vote on Vahidi and the other cabinet nominees is scheduled for Aug. 30. Signals ‘Defiance’ “Vahidi’s nomination represents not only the president’s choosing of a relatively narrow echelon of Iran’s security apparatus to top positions, but also signals his defiance and lack of care for the consequence of such key appointments on foreign policy,” Gala Riani , Middle East analyst for London- based business intelligence and forecasting company IHS Global Insight , said today in an e-mail. “The appointment may be a strong signal by the embattled president against international and domestic pressure, on the other hand it may simply represent a continuation of Ahmadinejad’s well-trod path of defiance. or a combination of both,” she said. The announcement that Ahmadinejad won a second term in the election triggered major street protests, after defeated candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi claimed the ballot was rigged. Ahmadinejad has denied the allegation. Crackdown on Protests The Iranian government deployed police officers and members of the volunteer Basij militia armed with batons and tear gas to quell the mass protests. The demonstrations were followed by thousands of arrests and trials of some 140 leading opposition figures and supporters. The crackdown on protesters prompted international condemnation. The government said 30 people died in the unrest, while the opposition put the number at 69. Ahmadinejad has been criticized by the opposition for stoking tension with the West over his rigid stance on Iran’s nuclear program and routinely questioning Israel’s right to exist and the extent of the Nazi Holocaust. Iran is under United Nations sanctions for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. To contact the reporter on this story: Ali Sheikholeslami in London at alis2@bloomberg.net .

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Whole Foods Backlash: Bloggers Outraged Over CEO’s Anti-’ObamaCare’ Column

August 18, 2009

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed on health care which argues against President Obama’s health reform proposals has caused a firestorm throughout progressive communities and on HuffPost. Mackey wrote: “The last thing our country needs is a massive new health care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health care system.” He instead suggested healthy food — preferably purchased from Whole Foods — as an answer to our health care woes: “Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat.” HuffPost News Editor Lila Shapiro points out: For those of you who are tempted to follow Mackey’s advice (and can afford it!) be warned: not all of the foods found at Whole Foods will actually make you healthy. As Mackey himself admitted [recently], “Basically, we used to think it was enough just to sell healthy food, but we know it is not enough. We sell all kinds of candy. We sell a bunch of junk.” HuffPost bloggers have taken some strong stances on the issue. Ben Wyskida has decided he’s done with shopping at Whole Foods, not only over the health care op-ed, but because he disagrees with many public stances Mackey has taken, like his opposition the the Employee Free Choice Act: To me, it’s pretty basic: Mackey is working to oppose things I believe in, so I should stop giving him money. That’s not easy: I spend a lot of money on food. I also spend a lot of money at Whole Foods. Wyskida’s blog received enthusiastic support on Facebook , with the vast majority of commenters declaring they’d boycott, and one reader stating she’d even sold her stock over the issue. Also on HuffPost, Ethan Nichtern declared that he’s no longer shopping there: I am not going to support [Mackey's] cognitive dissonance…. with any more of my hard-earned local-organic-neo-hippie-spinach money. Waylon Lewis says he will not boycott Whole Foods for some of the following reasons. Whole Foods is a vast organization, with thousands of staff, many if not most of whom disagree with John’s idealistic, superior Libertarian views. We live in a democracy, with a lowercase “D.” We don’t have to hate those we disagree with–we just have to beat them at the polls, and in the halls of Congress. John doesn’t own Whole Foods. It’s public.

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