by Andrew Zajac

All over New York, investment bankers are preparing to open tins of cat food for supper tonight and what does some jokester do but make light of their plight.

Some people have no shame:

URGEN MESSAGE FROM NIGERIA, ER, AMERICA

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

by Andrew Zajac

Charles Black Jr., a top adviser to the McCain campaign, has been the subject of unflattering ads in recent days by the Barack Obama campaign connected to his lobbying for Chinese and Russian oil companies.

But Black's largely-overlooked lobbying for a Russian think tank closely linked to the Kremlin may be more intriguing, and more instructive in understanding the limitations of current lobbyist disclosure laws.

In 2005, Black (pictured with McCain, left, aboard McCain's campaign plane in an AP photo by Mary Altaffer) signed up to lobby for the awkwardly named Center of the Development of Information Society, headed at the time, by Leonid Reiman, the telecom minister for then-president Vladimir Putin.

Black's firm, BKSH & Associates Worldwide, was paid $50,000 for eight months work, but it's not clear from disclosure what, if anything, the firm did for the money.

by Andrew Zajac

This can't be good for the campaign of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

The IRS is trying to serve a summons on Swiss bank UBS AG seeking information on U.S. taxpayers who may have used the bank to gin up records to avoid billions in taxes on offshore investments.

Top McCain economic advisor Phil Gramm is vice chairman of UBS' U.S. division which already has drawn unflattering scrutiny for writing off big losses in subprime mortgage-backed securities.

Gramm, the former Texas senator and presidential candidate, was registered to lobby Congress last year on mortgage securities issues on behalf of UBS.

There's no indication that Gramm has any involvement in the tax-avoidance scheme, but his presence in the pilothouse of a global finance company under fire from U.S. regulators is precisely the sort of special interest coziness that McCain insists he represents a break from.

At least five top McCain aides have left the Arizona senator's camp because their lobbying or business involvements were judged to be more than a maverick, tell-it-like-it-is campaign could bear.

The RNC was quick to point out today that Barack Obama has his own ties to UBS in the person of Robert Wolf, CEO of UBS Americas, who is a major fundraiser for the Illinois Democrat.

But Gramm's involvement in problematic economic policy issues benefiting UBS run to more than lobbying in the midst subprime mess. (Gramm successfully advocated defeat of a bill that would have given bankruptcy judges the clout to rewrite mortgage terms to prevent homeowners from losing their houses.)

As a senator he sponsored legislation that knocked down the regulatory wall separating commercial and investment banks, which in the view of some critics exacerbated the mortgage meltdown.

As a UBS lobbyist in Texas, he proposed selling so-called "death bonds", a complex financial product which would have allowed the ailing state teachers retirement system to take out life insurance policies on members and make money if they died prematurely.

Here's a copy of today's Justice Department's announcement of action against UBS:

by Frank James

The disagreement between the Bush Administration and congressional Democrats over the Colombia free trade agreement (the administration is for, many Democrats in Congress are against) has reached the he-started-it-first stage.

This morning, Sean Spicer, a White House aide, sent a blast e-mail to congressional staffers on Capitol Hill, pointing their attention to a newspaper insert for children that ran in many newspapers this weekend that explained the importance of the trade agreement "at a children's (sic) level" according to Spicer's e-mail.

Here's Spicer's message:

This past Sunday, in the comics section of papers nationwide (including the Post), was an insert called the Mini Page that explained trade at a children's level.

If you missed it, it is attached in PDF... mini page On page 4 there is an explanation of why the Colombia trade agreement is in the best interest of American workers.

Not to be outdone, this was the response of Joe Shoemaker, press secretary to Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's second-in command:

Thank you for your helpful (if somewhat condescending) explanation of trade "at a children's level."

P.S. If you find "I'm Just a Bill" helpful, you may also want to check out "Three Ring Government" which explains the three co-equal branches of the federal government and discusses the concept of separation of powers.

Maybe we can just schedule a fight after school and settle this matter once and for all.

The presidential palace in New Delhi. Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

The presidential palace in New Delhi was built, less than a century ago, as headquarters for the colonial governor of the former British colony.

Erected at a time when the Indian independence movement was fomenting, the ostentatious aspect of this palace seems, as viewed in retrospect, an invitation to overthrow an empire.

The empire was turned on its head today: With Ford Motor Co.'s announced sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors, the ownership of two of Great Britain's legendary motor marques will pass this year from one former British colony to another.

This isn't so much a story of globalization as it is a tale of the globe turned on its axis.

For Ford, struggling to regain its footing, the $2.3 billion deal represents a significant loss. The company paid $2.5 billion for Jaguar in 1989 and $2.7 billion for Land Rover in 2000.

For Tata, the purchase will extend the Indian automobile and truck manufacturer's reach around the world to control of a British work force of about 15,300 in the Jaguar and Land Rover assembly lines.

And for a nation whose extraordinary growth and voracious appetite for energy is helping drive world oil prices higher, the rise of India as a world manufacturing power will accelerate debates over such matters as U.S. support for a civilian nuclear power program in a nation long allied with the old Soviet Union which never signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

If an American automaker has now relinquished control of one of the world's most luxurious lines of automobiles, and one of its legendary overland exploratory vehicles as well, the debate over the proper role of the United States in India's burgeoning economy -- and nuclear power program -- will return to Washington next year after the current debate over the heir to the White House is resolved.

The debate over globalization -- read free trade -- already has become a central fixture of the presidential campaign in the old manufacturing heartland of the United States where Ford once ruled as king of the automakers. Henry Ford never saw any of this coming.

By Jim Tankersley

Sen. Bernie Sanders believes the country is ready to join his fight to overhaul American trade policy. He wants to believe Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are too.

Sanders, a liberal Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, is a leader in the growing group of lawmakers who blame expanded trade for lost manufacturing jobs and stagnant wages for American workers. The campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination would appear to promise them a crowning achievement: Both Obama and Clinton say they'll renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and push for a more worker-friendly trade model if elected.

But many in the "fair trade" crowd aren't celebrating yet, and free-traders, particularly among Democrats, don't look worried. They have heard this before, and many of them doubt Obama or Clinton would make good on their tough talk.

"I don't know if they're really serious about going back and redoing NAFTA," said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the House majority leader. Hoyer supports increased trade, as does Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the House Democratic Caucus chairman. Emanuel notes that both Clinton and Obama backed a recent trade deal with Peru. "That's all I have to say," he said.

Sanders seems cautiously optimistic at best. "It doesn't take a PhD in economics to see when you go shopping the only products you can afford are made in China," he said. "The American people know it, and I hope our candidates learn it."

Some of his allies are more hopeful: "The winner, Hillary or Barack, will come to Congress [as president] with a different trade policy," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D- Ohio). "They'll follow through."

Read the full story in today's Tribune.

(Photo of Sen. Barack Obama at a Democratic rally in Burlington, Vt., on March 10, 2006, to support then Rep.Bernie Sanders, left, in his campaign for the Senate. Sanders says he's on the sidelines in the Hillary Clinton- Obama race. AP Photo by Toby Talbot)

by Mark Silva

Tony Blair, the former prime minister of Great Britain and President Bush's erstwhile closest ally in the war in Iraq, will be teaching at the president's alma mater this fall.

And Blair, once again, will be singing music for Bush's ears: Talking about the role of faith in tbe global village. Bush considers his "faith-based initiatives'' one of his central achievements.

Yale University today announced the appointment of Blair as the Howland Distinguished Fellow for the upcoming academic year. Blair will lead a seminar and "participate in a number of events around the campus,'' the Bulldogs say.

"The course in which he will participate with Yale faculty will examine issues of faith and globalization,'' the university said in an announcement. "His efforts at Yale relate to the work of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation that he will be launching later this year.''

The deans of the Yale School of Management and Divinity are working Blair on the details. The Howland Distinguished Fellowship was created in 1915 to recognize a “citizen of any country in recognition of some achievement of marked distinction in the field of literature or fine arts or the science of government.”

Among those who have preceded him: the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, journalist Sir Alistair Cooke and Indian stateswoman Indira Gandhi.

"The appointment of Mr. Blair provides a tremendous opportunity for our students and our community'' Yale President Richard Levin said in a prepared statement. "As the world continues to become increasingly inter-dependent, it is essential that we explore how religious values can be channeled toward reconciliation rather than polarization.''

Alan Greenspan, author of The Age of Turbulence, has created some in Washington with his new memoir. AP photo

by William Neikirk

Alan Greenspan’s new book is full of odd detail. He confesses that Ayn Rand, the libertarian author and his mentor, called him "the undertaker" because of his serious manner and conservative clothing. As a boy, he collected railroad timetables, a vicarious if not nerdy way of seeing the world. Unlike most people, he wanted to get out of New York City.

The former chairman of the Federal Reserve writes that his wife, television correspondent Andrea Mitchell, jokes to friends that he proposed three times in his indecipherable "Fedspeak" before she grasped what he was saying. Wrong, said Greenspan. "Actually, I proposed five times—she missed a couple."

For all the lightness and heaviness sprinkled through Greenspan’s memoir, "The Age of Turbulence," this is a serious book by and about a serious man who felt secure enough to criticize President Bush and the Republican Party from which he came for failing to take fiscal discipline seriously. The GOP deserved to lose last year’s elections, he says, and Bush made a mistake in not vetoing a bill. What heresy it was to say that he is fonder of Bill Clinton than any president named Bush.

Posted by William Neikirk at 1:15 p.m. CDT

The story from the White House at first appeared to be dramatic. President Bush announced that he has changed his position on climate change. He called on industrial nations to set a "goal" of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2008 (or the virtual end of his presidency).

On closer examination, it's hard to see the real change in his policy. He's already announced plans (unlikely to be enacted in his presidency) to use renewable fuels and conservation measures that he says will reduce greenhouse gases way out there in the future.

Posted by Mark Silva at 6:05 am CST

HANOI – What would a regional economic summit in the Communist-controlled Socialist Republic of Vietnam be without a few sponsors?

The banners lining the road from the airport en route to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit here fly with the names of familiar corporate sponsors: Citigroup, Microsoft, Federal Express, General Motors, Boeing.

The signs that welcome world leaders arriving at the airport outside Hanoi for the Pacific Rim economic summit getting underway this weekend. Photo by Mark Silva

Posted by William Neikirk at 1 p.m. CDT

As the former head of Goldman Sachs Group, Henry "Hank" Paulson understands the bottom line. As he was sworn in today as the new Treasury secretary, it was clear that he also appreciates and understands Washington symbolism.

The big guys turned out. Power surrounded him. President Bush came to the Treasury Department to make remarks. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office. And in the audience was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, along with House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Monday, July 10, as compiled by the Associated Press.

Congress returns this week after its 10-day break for the Fourth of July holiday.

British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett is in town and meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, July 6, as compiled by the Associated Press.

President Bush is meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

1 p.m. - 2 p.m. GEORGIA-SAAKASHVILI — President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia delivers remarks on Georgia’s efforts to join NATO, energy security, the deployment of troops to Iraq, Russian relations and U.S. relations.
Location: Wohlstetter Conference Center, 12th floor, American Enterprise Institute, 1150 17th St. NW.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, June 29, as compiled by the Associated Press.

President Bush meets with Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and later hosts an official White House dinner for him.

The Supreme Court is handing down more decisions.

The Commerce Department is releasing its revised first quarter report on the Gross Domestic Product at 8:30 a.m.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Tuesday, June 13, as compiled by the Associated Press.

President Bush and his top security and military advisers wrap up their two-day conclave at Camp David on future Iraq operations.

10 a.m. OCEANS INITIATIVE — A National Ocean Policy Action Plan for Congress, ``From Sea to Shining Sea: Priorities for Ocean Policy Reform, developed at the request of a bipartisan group of 10 senators, will be released by Leon E. Panetta and William D. Ruckelshaus of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.
Location: Room 138, Dirksen.

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Friday, June 2, as compiled by the Associated Press.

Labor Department releases May unemployment figures. 8:30 a.m.

Chairman Edward Lazear of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers speaks to a conference on corporate income taxation and the economy. 12:20 p.m.

President Bush is meeting with the senior minister of Singapore, and later having his picture taken with the Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers.

Posted by Frank James at 1:13 pm CDT

I received a press release today which you can read below. A shrewd public-relations person for Foreign Policy magazine saw the Senate vote yesterday to make English the official, national language as an opportunity to plug a language-related article in the periodical.

The article is on the sorry state of foreign-language training in the U.S. Among the striking statistics is that only 8 percent of U.S. college students take a foreign language.