In spite of my politics, I really like Peggy Noonan. I'm willing to overlook her Republican apologism and recommend her recommendations to Bush for his State of the Union tomorrow. She's whipsmart, plainly admits to the weaknesses of the Administration, and can turn a phrase to boot.

Apparently, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ate through an $8 billion surplus, and is now tapped out. The PBGC was created in 1974 to make sure that people could get their pensions even if a company goes el-busto. That's 44 million retirees who are now praying that their pension fund doesn't crack open. Basically, the PBGC got trapped between low interest rates and the crappy stock market. Here's the interest part: how to fix it. Companies pay premiums to insure their pensions through the PBGC. The solvent companies don't want to have to pay out for the invsolvent ones, so it'll be a hard sell to get the premiums raised. The insolvent companies can't fix it, obviously. The Erisa Industry Committee, who lobbies for the biggest participants, thinks that this will pass and that the $800M is premiums each year is a good "buffer." I don't know how the premiums became a buffer -- that's like putting groceries on your credit card. One solution is to raise premiums based on the riskiness of the contributing company's pension fund. This makes me ask: why weren't we doing that in the first place?

Am I the only one wondering why Microsoft isn't being taken to task for the SQL Slammer mess? When is the FBI going to haul MS to court? If this was a car company, they'd have their charter revoked by now.

When the executive branch creates a regulation, they're obligated to defend those regulations against public opinion. That opinion is solicited through public comments. Until now, you only knew to comment on something when a wild-eyed activist sent you an alarmist email alert. Now, you can saunter over to http://www.regulations.gov/ and rant to your heart's content.

Never remember a password again, courtesy of Puppy Suite.

I know, because I read His blog.

Congress cut off funding for TIA, amid concerns over civil liberties and the fact that it's led by an unscrupulous technocrat. So it's not such a bad day after all.

Mutual funds now have to report once a year on their proxy votes. The SEC is making them do this so that mutual fund customers can judge whether a fund is working in their interests. I think this is a great idea. The mutual funds, shamefully, fought the SEC on this. The funds said it would subject them to pressure from activist groups and increase their paperwork... but shouldn't the funds be accountable for their proxy votes? Isn't pressure from activist groups exactly the point? How can they invest my money without telling me how they voted on my behalf? And suddenly the financial houses are opposed to paperwork? That argument is so disingenuous as to be insulting. Really obnoxious. Good for the SEC.

You wouldn't believe what the EPA knows about your neighborhood.

I'm glad I found PhoneScoop before I dropped big money on a Motorola T68i.