Wankers of The Day

Republican members of the Senate EPW Committee.

It's really quite clear that the current GOP political strategy is to shut down the government without shutting down the government.

Why Didn't China Invest In China?

I've wondered why China invested so much money in America for a long time now. If you're the Chinese government and you've got a lot of investment capital, it seems like you'd do well to invest in China. You aren't afflicted by the kinds of problems that face foreign investors in emerging markets like "What if the government makes a policy change that screws me?" since you are the government. You're better positioned than any foreign investor to capture positive externalities that spill over from your investment, since they mostly spill into your country. Plus, China looks like a place that's ripe for investment that allows it to become more productive.

My thought is that you'd want something countercyclical that wouldn't lose tons of value if the global economy tanked, and US Treasury bonds can work that way, so that's a benefit. I don't know how well that works when you've made such a big investment that it's tough to get out, though. Matt's view is that this is a result of IMF failures from the 1990s. There's probably a bunch of things going on here, and I'd be curious to hear more thoughts on this.

Minor Pelosi Highlight

In keeping with my agenda of turning this into a Nancy Pelosi fan blog, I bring you Meredith Shiner's reporting from the rollout of the House health care bill:

An anti-Pelosi activist started screaming into a bullhorn, "Nazi Pelosi! Nazi Pelosi! You'll burn in hell for this!" as she was announcing the plan, which includes a public option.

Pelosi, scarcely missing a beat, responded, "Thank you, insurance companies of America."

Her greatest skills are as an indoor politician -- working behind closed doors with her caucus to get just enough support for the most progressive option possible -- and she's often out of her element in front of a microphone. So I guess the sports highlight equivalent would be Shaq crossing somebody over on the perimeter and driving the lane.

Stacking The Deck

I'm trying to understand why Barney Frank is listening to this witness list as he's thinking about financial sector reform:

• Mr. Richard Trumka, President, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
• The Honorable Richard Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Managed Funds Association
• The Honorable Phillip Swagel, Visiting Professor, McDonough School of Business
  Georgetown University
• Mr. Scott Talbott, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, The Financial Services Roundtable
• Mr. Steven A. Kandarian, Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
• Mr. R. Michael S. Menzies, Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Easton Bank and Trust, Co. on behalf of the Independent Community Bankers of  America
• Mr. Peter Wallison, Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Financial Policy Studies, The American Enterprise Institute
• Ms. Jane D’Arista, Americans for Financial Reform
• Mr. Edward L. Yingling, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Bankers Association
• Mr. T. Timothy Ryan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association

For those of you keeping score, that's two voices from the left (Trumka and D'Arista), two from the right (Swagel and Wallison) and six industry shills. People tell me that Democrats control both houses of Congress, but given the witness list I'm skeptical.

The Last Hurrah

This looks like a fairly even series, except that the Yankees will go with a three-man rotation featuring CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte. As Scott Lemieux observes, the Phillies lineup is so heavy on lefties that this puts the team at a severe disadvantage. So I have a hard time convincing myself that the Yankees, the slightly superior team in the substantially superior league with a number of small advantges, will lose. Yankees in 6.