The “When Will He Quit” Watch Begins on Newt Gingrich, Goldman Sachs Has to Pay a Fine (Ho Hum), Romney Praised by Staff Member Who Will Not Identify Himself/Herself, . . .

And Other News That Needs Commenting On

Just about the entire political staff of Newt Gingrich has quit according to The Dismal Political Economist’s favorite political writer, Chris Cillizza.   Since day that Gingrich formally announced his candidacy, the expectation that he would quit has been the main story about Mr. Gingrich.  This news will officially start the “Guess Which Day Newt Withdraws” sweepstakes.

[Note:  The Dismal Political Economist had earlier said that because Mr. Gingrich’s start of his campaign had been so incompetent, he would have to quit the race in order to start over.  The Dismal Political Economists condemns the trend of reality encroaching on satire.]

Goldman Sachs was fined $10 million for funneling its stock research to a limited group of investors, instead of making it available to everyone.  The NYT reported

 On Thursday Massachusetts regulators fined Goldman Sachs $10 million for this practice, calling it “a dishonest and unethical violation” of the state’s securities act.

Goldman said that it has that it keeps about $2 billion in petty cash for security law violations, and wanted to know if Massachusetts would take $50 million to cover future violations, so that Goldman Sachs would not be bothered with having to make another payment.  

Mitt Romney is in trouble with the Conservative Base of the Republican Party for stating his belief that the Earth is warming and that humans are in some part responsible. 


Romney draws early fire from conservatives over views on climate change

A campaign spokesman praised Romney for taking a consistent stand, praise that might have been more effective had the spokesman not done so anonymously.

Yale University has conducted a study to determine why smokers who quit tend to gain weight, in a story reported in USA today.  The Dismal Political Economist has high praise for this study, as a great example of the type of research that is being carried on in U. S. schools when they should be educating their students.  If Yale had simply contacted The Dismal Political Economist he could have provided the answer to the question and saved considerable expense and time for Yale and its research team.

People who quit smoking gain weight for the same reason anyone gains weight, they eat more.

Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?