AIG: Thanks for the Cash, America, but We May Sue You

  

American International Group, the insurer that received one of the biggest rescue packages to come out of the financial crisis that ultimately amounted to a whopping $182 billion might join a lawsuit against the government. The company’s board of directors will hear arguments on both sides of the question of whether to join the $25 billion lawsuit, reports the Wall Street Journal. The 2011 suit, filed on behalf of a company led by AIG’s former chief executive, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, claims the government deprived shareholders of profit and charged exorbitant interest rates. The government eventually took a 92 percent stake in the company. And when the U.S. Treasury completed its final sale of the insurer’s stock last month, it said the bailout ended with a “positive return of $22.7 billion,” notes Reuters.

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By Daniel Politi

Americans Say Washington Politics Is Harming the Country, but Think Things Will Get Better

Dirty Harry
 

 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rubs his eyes

It's not surprising that the latest Gallup poll shows the American public has an overwhelmingly negative attitude toward the federal government, particularly Congress. What is surprising though, is how optimistic Americans are on the future of Washington politics.

We know that Congress' approval rating has been stuck in a historically low rut for a while now, and Monday's Gallup poll provides a complimentary statistic: 77 percent of Americans agree that "the way politics works in Washington these days is causing serious harm to the United States." 19 percent disagreed. Current job approval rating for Congress? 18 percent. Republicans were more negative, but a clear majority of all party designations did not have a positive opinion about Washington politics.

Here's where it gets interesting. While agreeing that "politics," apparently Congress in particular, based on Gallup's analysis, are causing "serious harm" to the country, Americans generally remain optimistic about the political process. When asked whether they're "generally optimistic or pessimistic that the way politics work in Washington will improve in the next ten years," 52 percent pegged themselves as optimistic while 45 percent were pessimistic. Democrats were more positive than Republicans or independents. The big question: Where is this optimism coming from?

Some might chalk up this optimism as a symptom (or cause) of notions of American exceptionalism, a waning belief according to this 2011 Pew poll, which found that just about half of Americans believe their culture is superior to other nations. But, despite the similar shares of the American public, the optimists and exceptionalists don't quite line up. Exceptionalists trend older, while the Gallup poll found optimism levels slightly higher among younger Americans. There just doesn't seem to be a clear explanation to fully explain the gap between current low opinions and high hopes for the future. An optimist could argue that the positive outlook for a decade from now comes from an intent to do something to fix what Americans perceive to be wrong, but historically, Americans don't generally receive high grades in political participation.

By Abby Ohlheiser

Butch Otter Wants To Be Governor of Idaho, Chris Christie Wants To Be President

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 06: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is surrounded by security and journalists as he walks through the U.S. Capitol December 6, 2012 in Washington, DC.

Hurricane Sandy gas shortage leads to rationing in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey counties.

New York City Begins Gas Rationing

 

 Welcome to gas rationing, New York.



Why Obama's Ads Are Getting More TV Airtime Than Romney's

Coming down the home stretch, Team Obama and Team Romney are flooding the airwaves with roughly the same amount of campaign cash. The difference? The president's money appears to be going a good deal farther in terms of ads bought.

Politico's Mike Allen with the numbers and the explanation:

Kantar Media’s CMAG, counting every presidential ad aired from Oct. 24 to Oct. 30, found the Obama campaign aired TWICE as many spots as Romney – 35,731 to 17,277, with estimated spending of $24 million for Obama and $11 million for Romney. But, but, but … what about the outside groups? Even adding in the outside groups, the total Democratic message had 79,089 spots (Obama + outside groups), to 64,945 for Republicans. Spending, though, was at parity: $55 million for each side. Republicans will argue they are targeting more precisely, and had to buy later, more expensive time because of the primaries. Nevertheless, Democrats can claim more spot for the buck.
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Whites Without a High School Diploma Aren't Living as Long as They Once Did

The New York Times has the details on a new study that suggests what the paper called "disturbingly sharp drops" in the life expectancy of white Americans without a high school diploma.
A handful of recent studies have identified the trend of declining life expectancies of those Americans with the least education, but this new one is particularly depressing for whites in that demographic, who saw their average life expectancy fall by four years between 1990 and 2008.
Within the white subset, women actually fared the worst, with a five-year drop in life expectancy compared to a three-year drop for their male counterparts. The decline for females was so bad, in fact, that it had at least one health expert comparing it to the seven-year drop Russian men saw in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse.

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