In a mere 12 months, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 4,488.43 points, or 33.8 percent, its most punishing loss since 1931. Blue chips like Bank of America, Citigroup and Alcoa lost more than 65 percent of their value. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index sank 39.5 percent, almost exactly matching its decline in 1937.

All told, about $7 trillion of shareholders’ wealth — the gains of the last six years — was wiped out in a year of violent market swings. [Emphasis added.]

If President George W. Bush was allowed to take credit for good economic performance, then I guess its only fair to lay blame for the crash squarely at his feet.

Heckuva job, Georgie! You have less than three weeks to turn this thing around before it officially goes in the history books.

From Bloomberg:

After 28 years of growth, Atlantic City’s gambling proceeds are down for the second time in a row. In the first 11 months of 2008, revenue from casino games fell 6.7 percent to $4.2 billion, regulators reported Dec. 10. Last year’s 5.7 percent decline was the first ever, as the number of visitors slipped to 33.3 million from 34.5 million.

You might think this is no big deal. Most of the people who gamble probably shouldn’t, so if the economy forces them to quit the habit, so much the better. The only problem is that New Jersey and many other states need that gambling revenue, and its loss will add to already difficult budget problems.

Again, from Bloomberg:

The slowdown comes as Governor Jon Corzine has warned that the state faces a revenue shortfall of $1.2 billion for the year ending June 30 and $5 billion in fiscal 2010. Through November, the state collected $338 million in Atlantic City tax revenue, down from $364 million and $384 million, respectively, in the first 11 months of 2007 and 2006. Casino employment fell to 39,137 in November from more than 42,000 as recently as August and a peak of 51,560 in July 1997. James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, said the casino industry is vital for the economy of southern New Jersey and for the tax revenue it generates.“It’s possible Atlantic City is past its peak,” said Hughes, who predicted the situation may worsen next year. “It could never go back to its past glory. It’s a much tougher game now.”

That’s true everywhere these days, and now it’s hit the blackjack table as well.

Senate Republicans are following this course for three key reasons — first is payback against a major industrial union; second is payback against states like Michigan and Ohio who have been moving away from the GOP; third is the desire to advantage Japanese auto manufacturers who disproportionately do business in their southern states.

I think the first and second points are key — that the GOP is taking a firm stand against the United Auto Workers, a core Democratic constituency, and in turn, against big-time GM states like Michigan and Ohio.

In recent history, Michigan and Ohio have been reliable swing states. But the actions of prominent Republicans may call into question whether they will retain their status as battleground states in future competitive elections.

As President Lyndon Johnson famously and presciently mused about the impact his signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would have on his own Democratic Party, “There goes the South for a generation.”

I suspect some forward-thinking Republicans might harbor similar concerns about Michigan and Ohio.

Clusterstock has the indictment, if you want to read the details. Madoff’s firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investments, ran more than two dozen funds for decades, overseeing $17 billion and promising high returns and low fees. But a few days ago, Madoff blew the whistle on himself, telling senior executives at his firm and the FBI, according to the indictment, that it was all one big lie, a giant Ponzi scheme. He was broke.

But what pushes this beyond a juicy Wall Street rip-off story is the sheer size of the swindle — possibly the largest fraud in Wall Street history — and its implications for other hedge funds and investors.

From the New York Times:

“We are alleging a massive fraud — both in terms of scope and duration,” said Linda Chatman Thomsen, director of the enforcement division at the Securities and Exchange Commission. “We are moving quickly and decisively to stop the fraud and protect remaining assets for investors.”

Andrew M. Calamari, an associate director for enforcement in the S.E.C.’s regional office in New York, said the case involved “a stunning fraud that appears to be of epic proportions.”

Those proportions have some concerned about how this will play out, beyond Madoff’s personal saga, according to The Times:

There was some worry on Wall Street that Mr. Madoff’s fall would shake more foundations than his own.

Calculated Risk supposes Madoff had about 10 to 25 hedge funds as clients, that they lost everything, and that some hedge funds will be taking some serious write downs soon.

Looks like Wall Street will be sorting through the wreckage of all this today, to see how much damage has been done. As if there weren’t enough to worry about, already.

As of November 15, the transition has raised $1,170,937.44 from 1,776 donors, for an average donation of $659.31. The contributions range in size from $5 to the $5,000 legal maximum.

According to the transition, it accepts donations only from individuals, and rejects any from corporations, labor unions, political action committees, registered federal lobbyists and registered foreign agents.

A quick review of the largest donations indicates many appear to come from lawyers and those working in the financial industry. This is not entirely surprising. According to OpenSecrets.org, lawyers and the financial industry were the second and fourth largest sources of contributions to the presidential campaign’s of both Obama and Sen. John McCain (’retired’ was the largest.)

There are a few interesting donors. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, and William Daley, former commerce secretary, both are advisers to the transition and contributed the maximum.

However, the one that really jumped out was a $5,000 donation from George Lucas, of the San Rafael, Calif.-based Lucasfilm Ltd. — the director and producer of the “Star Wars” franchise.