New York Times — NATO Leaders Debate Afghan Strains at Summit
NATO’s commitment to Afghanistan was already slipping before President Obama announced his ambitious plan to expand the scope and aims of the almost-eight-year-old effort there.
Today, Obama is talking with the other NATO heads at an event celebrating both the 60th anniversary of the treaty organization and the return of French military might to the group 43 years after a partial withdrawal in protest of American dominance.
Writers Steven Erlanger and Thom Shanker show that Obama, who promised a more international mission in Afghanistan as a candidate, is reconciling himself to the fact that the U.S. will have to go it alone in large part to achieve his aims in Afghanistan – Americans will 2:1 ratio. Most of the Europeans are now focused on training police, not killing al Queda.
Obama’s shift comes with the realization that many in Europe would quit Afghanistan altogether as quickly as Charles de Gaulle quit NATO if given the chance.
“Daniel P. Fata, the Pentagon’s senior official for European and NATO issues during the Bush administration, said that Mr. Obama must not lower the NATO flag in Afghanistan, as that might provide allies an excuse to go home. ‘No European country wants to be the first to leave Afghanistan,’ said Mr. Fata, a vice president with the Cohen Group, a global business consulting practice. ‘But many would be happy to be the second, third or fourth.’”
Financial Times — G20 leaders hail crisis fightback
Writers George Parker, Chris Giles and Edward Luce cast a skeptical eye on promises of global cooperation from Thursday’s G 20 meeting, suggesting, as The Examiner’s Julie Mason did, that what countries like China really do on protectionism and establishing global financial rules will really be decided at home, not among the grips and grins of a world conference.
Best of all, the piece includes great charts and graphs that break down who did what to whom.
“Mr Sarkozy had objected to the absence of agreement to publish a list of offshore tax centres that were not in compliance with existing standards on transparency. In the end they agreed the G20 would only “take note” of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development list, rather than endorse it.
Mr Brown claimed that China had agreed a $40bn contribution to IMF funds. Chinese authorities could not confirm that last night. The IMF declined to comment
The summit text included commitments to curb “risky” bank pay and bonuses, but offered little new on monetary policy action or efforts to clean up bank balance sheets.”
Washington Post — As Crisis Loomed, Geithner Pressed But Fell Short
Writers Robert O’Harrow and Jeff Gerth put in a lot of man hours for a story that reaches such an ambivalent conclusion about whether Tim Geithner was up to scratch as head of the New York Federal Reserve.
The piece, made too long by vamping and equivocating at the top, does shed lots of light on the question of what the Treasury secretary’s approach was like as a top bank regulator. What the reporters found was that Geithner favored regulatory restraint and enjoyed a close relationship with the bankers he was checking up on. For Geithner’s detractors, especially on the left, the facts probably won’t lead them to the same ambivalent conclusion the Post headline writer reached.
“[Rodgin Cohen], who was in the running earlier this year to be Geithner’s deputy at the Treasury, is among hundreds of people listed in Geithner’s 2007 and 2008 appointment calendars, which were made available by the New York Fed. Geithner’s outside contacts include senior banking managers, Treasury officials, regulators from other nations and journalists. The appointments range from breakfasts and lunches with bankers to tennis with Alan Greenspan and “Dinner w/Dr. and Mrs. Kissinger, et. al.”
No institution shows up as frequently as Citigroup, the biggest bank company under the New York Fed’s supervision. Among the numerous senior Citigroup officials recorded were Geithner’s mentor Rubin, chief executive Charles Prince and his successor, Vikram Pandit.”
Wall Street Journal — Homeowner-Aid Plan Caught in Second-Loan Spat
The White House plan for $75 billion for foreclosure victims mostly contemplated those who had failed to pay their first mortgages. Now a fight has emerged over defaults on second mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit.
And as writers Ruth Simon and Michael Philips explain, the president would likely plan to return home to announce the implementation of his plan, were it not for the confusion.
Part of the problem is that the size of the universe of second-mortgage defaults is quite large, and already bailed-out banks stand to loose a bundle if they don’t get another backdoor cash pump from taxpayers.
No one had apparently considered that the kind of folks who need a second mortgage might be the kind of folks who have trouble living within their means.
“Banks and other financial institutions own as much as 90% of the $1.08 trillion in home-equity loans and lines of credit in the marketplace, according to SMR Research Corp., a market-research firm in Hackettstown, N.J. Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. have the largest home-equity portfolios, SMR said.
Banks say they are willing to write down the value of troubled home-equity loans, but they want to limit their losses.
‘We are going to have to take a haircut on the second’ lien, said one bank executive. ‘But we don’t think we should get wiped out.’
Write-downs of second mortgages are likely to mean higher losses for banks, which typically don’t mark down the value of these loans until they are 180 days past due, said Fred Cannon, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.”
Chicago Tribune — Blagojevich, his brother, top aides indicted
The indictment handed down against Rod Blagojevich and some of his cronies answers the question – for now – of how far this prosecution will go.
The indictment is limited to the Blago and his crew, and doesn’t seem to hint at nefarious activities beyond them.
But this is Chicago, and as Tony Rezko is proving, there’s usually somebody else around who you can pull down to help cushion your fall.
Blago still adamantly proclaims his innocence and suggests he is the victim of a politically motivated takedown. But as writers Rick Pearson and Jeff Coen explain, some of the charges, beyond selling a U.S. Senate seat, are so sleazy that a looming conviction may make Blago feel inclined to unburden himself to prosecutors – especially about those who helped build the case against him.
“Blagojevich was indicted on 16 racketeering, fraud and extortion counts. Among the new, damaging allegations were that Blagojevich delayed a $2 million grant to a public charter school while trying to extort campaign cash from now- White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and threatened to withhold future state business from financial institutions that refused to hire his wife.”
