Clem’s Chronicles: Obama’s Nobel Speech/Wall Street Bonuses/Foreclosures/Winter Weather

Hello folks-Clem Lane here with tonight's ABC NEWS Editorial Note.

OBAMA NOBEL ACCEPTANCE SPEECH-President Obama spoke today in Oslo, Norway where he went to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. His speech did not gloss over the fact that the United States is engaged in two wars-in fact, the speech was not one of an apologist embarrassed by circumstances at odds with “peace” but as Jake Tapper noted on WORLD NEWS, “the speech became something of an Obama doctrine”. Is there such a thing as a just war? President Obama certainly laid out his case that the term was no oxymoron:
President Obama: “"We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes," he said. "There will be times when nations — acting individually or in concert — will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified. As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there's nothing weak — nothing passive — nothing naive — in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King, but as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms." That quote from the President was included in an excellent analysis piece written by Tapper on the speech. Tapper notes the President then “made clear his guiding principles:
1) that the US must hold itself to a higher code of conduct, hence his invocation of his ban on torture and his order of the closure of the detainee center at Guantanamo Bay;
2) that the international community, if it is truly serious about trying to avoid war, must fully engage tough diplomacy against rogue nations such as North Korea and Iran that would keep crises surrounding those nations from becoming wars;
3) that the world must engage with governments of ill-repute, and try to bring them back into the fold; and
4) that a nation's hostility towards human rights and economic injustice cannot be allowed to thrive, for those conditions lead to war in the long term.”
Reaction to the speech from most political corners in America was positive-in fact, George Stephanopoulos told Charles Gibson that props came from “some of his fiercest critics. Look at this from Sarah Palin, who has taken him on.  She said, ‘I like what he said.  Of course, war is the last thing I believe any American wants to engage in, but it's necessary. ‘ Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House.-‘I think having a liberal president who goes to Oslo and reminds the committee they would not be free, they wouldn't be able to have a peace prize without having force, I thought in some ways it's a very historic speech.” Stephanopoulos concurred with Tapper’s assessment of “an Obama doctrine” and added “this is something very true to the President’s entire upbringing.”
The President and Mrs. Obama return to Washington tomorrow.
 
WALL STREET BONUSES/GOLDMAN SACHS EXECS GET CASHLESS BONUS THIS YEAR-Goldman Sachs announced changes to its’ bonus compensation for the company’s top 30 execs. David Muir, who called it “an end-of-the-year 180” at the top of his WORLD NEWS piece, explains the new system: “Goldman Sachs’ top 30 executives forgoing those cash bonuses, instead getting stock…with a hitch. It can’t be sold for 5 years and it can be taken back, the ‘clawback’ option, if an employee takes too large a risk.” Altruism hits Wall Street? Not exactly. Muir notes that “Goldman, like many Wall Street firms, are feeling the heat because the recovery on Wall Street does not mirror Main Street where unemployment is still in double digits.” Stephen Leeb of Leeb Capital Management tells Muir the move is absolutely politically motivated, “no doubt about that. But what difference does that make? I mean it’s still a significant change.” A significant change yes but Muir points out that “these rules only apply to the very top. The firm’s 26 thousand full-time employees are still expected to earn about $700 thousand apiece in pay.”

MORE ON BONUSES FOR BAIL-OUT COMPANIES/FRIDAY ACTION-Matt Jaffe notes: “The Obama administration’s pay czar Ken Feinberg will be releasing new rulings Friday morning on the pay packages for some of the highest-paid employees at six companies receiving what the administration deems ‘exceptional assistance’ from the government. At 10:30am Feinberg will brief reporters off-camera at the Treasury Department in Washington. Tomorrow’s rulings will cover 2009 compensation for the 26th to 100th highest-paid employees at six companies: AIG, Citigroup, GM, Chrysler, and the automaker’s respective financing arms GMAC and Chrysler Financial. Feinberg will impose a $500,000 salary cap on these employees unless ‘good cause’ can be proven, a source familiar with the situation told ABC News Thursday.”

AMERICANS’ NET WORTH-Good news out today from the Fed: we’re worth more than last quarter!  Dan Arnall: “The Federal Reserve released its quarterly look at the nation’s balance sheet – the Z.1 Flow of Funds report – which shows American households saw their net worth grow during the third quarter by $2.7 trillion.
According to this report our collective household net worth is now $53.4 trillion, down from the high-water mark of $66 trillion in Q2 2007. For the math-impaired, that’s $12.6 trillion in household wealth lost during the financial crisis. Ugh.”

FORECLOSURES:  Foreclosure filings are on track to hit a record 3.9 million in 2009, surpassing 2008’s record 3.2 million filings, according to RealtyTrac.  On the upside, the number of filings dropped for the fourth month in a row – an 8 percent decrease for the month of November and 15 percent from the peak in July.  “November foreclosure activity was at the lowest level we've seen since February," said RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio.  Although foreclosures are declining, RealtyTrac SVP Rick Sharga says the tracking company doesn’t “really believe the underlying problems have been resolved…[some borrowers] simply aren't going to qualify" for help.  Nevada has the nation’s highest foreclosure rates, followed by Florida and California.  The foreclosure crisis has led to steep declines in home prices around the country.  For WORLD NEWS Betsy Stark profiled a California family who is taking advantage of the foreclosure crisis in their state: “The foreclosure crisis that has claimed the homes of 2 million Americans in the past year has been the opportunity of a lifetime for [Valli and Marty Cox]…Earlier this year, the couple, their two children and two dogs were living in a small mobile home..imagining they would be there forever…until a 50 percent plunge in local home prices – helped by a flood of foreclosures – finally put the prices of a house within their reach.”  Stark continues: “Foreclosures and other ‘distress’ sales now account for nearly a third of home sales nationwide.  But they can surprisingly hard to come by.  Foreclosed homes have become such a hot-selling commodity in this part of Southern California (Alpine) that home buyers looking to get into one often find themselves in bidding wars,” Betsy Stark reported on WORLD NEWS.  (thanks to Marisa Bramwell for this entry)

WINTER STORM:  The major winter storm that spent the past few days blasting most of the U.S. with snow, ice and high winds is in its final days as it continues moving east.  Here’s David Kerley, reporting from Buffalo for WORLD NEWS: “There is no quick relief in sight.  The snow and high winds will pound parts of New York until Saturday morning…leaving behind up to three feet of snow.” In the Midwest the snow blast is gone, but now residents are dealing with frigid Arctic temperatures.  “Bone chilling, record-setting temperatures, 9 below in Russell, Kansas – minus 7 in Grand Island, Nebraska…and that’s without the wind chill,” Barbara Pinto reported on WORLD NEWS.  Accuweather reports Real Feel temps in Wisconsin and Minnesota could sink as low as minus 35 degrees. (thanks to Marisa Bramwell for this entry)

AMERICANS IN PAKISTAN PLUS DRONE ATTACK-“Who you know” seems to apply as much to the world of terrorism as the corporate world. Jim Sciutto spent the day pursuing the story of the American men being detained in Pakistan and reports: “We’re getting a picture of terror suspects who may have had more ambition than ability. Police officials in Sargodha tell ABC NEWS that the five Americans attempted to join several terror groups but were turned down, partly because they were foreigners and had no local references. ‘They wanted to join jihad but didn’t know the meaning of jihad,’ said the deputy chief of police. Their plan to go to Waziristan to join the fight against US soldiers in Afghanistan – linking up with Tehrik-i-Taliban, according to police source I spoke with – appears to be their plan C or D, after being rejected by other groups, among them Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Jaish-e-Mohammed, in Karachi and Lahore.” Kirit Radia attended today’s State Department briefing with spokesman PJ Crowley and reports: “Security team from embassy in Islamabad and Consulate in Lahore, comprised of embassy and FBI officials, met with the men today. Crowley said more visits to come within the next 24 hours, including by consular officials (civilian visit to check on well-being, the type usually afforded to foreign nationals who are arrested).
Crowley said the 5 are American citizens, but wouldn’t get into the breakdown of whether they are naturalized or were born here. Also wouldn’t speak to their heritage. As to why they were arrested, Crowley said he was unaware of any charges against the 5.”
Also today in Pakistan, a man described as a senior al-Qaeda operative was killed in a drone attack. Brian Ross will have the latest on this tomorrow morning on GMA.

NORTH KOREA-US Special Envoy Stephen Bosworth spoke to reporters in Seoul today after spending the past two days engaged in talks with the North Koreans. Joohee Cho covered the presser-Bosworth said that  “NK officials agreed on the importance of the 2005 agreement. His visit was for 'exploratory talks,' not negotiations. Bosworth expressed hope to resume talks expeditiously.” When? Cho quotes Bosworth as saying "It remains to be seen as to when and how they will come back to talks," and it is "something that requires further consultation among six parties". North Korea’s Foreign Ministry released a statement Friday morning-AP reports “North Korea says it has reached a common understanding with the United States on the need to resume the stalled international talks on ending its nuclear programs. The North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that it and the U.S. agreed to work together to ‘narrow remaining differences.’ The statement was the first reaction to three days of talks this week with President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pyongyang.”

OTHER STUFF-
–MINING GIANT PAYS WHOPPER OF A FINE- American Smelting and Refining Company, “a leading producer of copper and one of the largest nonferrous metal producers in the US,” has paid $1.79 BILLION to settle the largest Superfund cleanup case in history. The company’s mining operations polluted more than 80 sites in 19 states. (Brian Hartman)
–ERIN ANDREWS STALKER PLEADS GUILTY- An insurance executive has agreed to plead guilty to interstate stalking for secretly making nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews. Court documents filed Thursday say Michael Barrett will plead guilty in Los Angeles federal court. He faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Barrett’s lawyers released a statement which read in part “Mr. Barrett accepts full responsibility for his conduct. He apologizes to Ms. Andrews, and expresses his deep regret for his conduct that caused her so much pain.” (Justin Weaver/AP)