Clipmarks | deb2012's clips

A strong condemnation based on voting record

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:21:36 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: "We face a perfect financial storm,” Kucinich warned. “The elements are the deficit spending for the war of 3 to 4 trillion dollars, the trillion and more tax cuts, the war itself and the lack of serious investment in the country. We are being hollowed out. We are going to see more unemployment and more people losing their homes. With $700 billion we could have made a real investment in the country, in jobs, in infrastructure and in homes. Instead, we got robbed.”

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

Obama arrived on the Senate floor Brutus-like to thrust a knife into the back of the working and middle class. He lobbied hard for the bill. He did so, according to some who met with him on Capitol Hill, because he feared that if he opposed the bailout and it triggered a market collapse it could cost him the election. Better to placate the thieves on Wall Street than stand up for the masses of enraged and swindled citizens.

Obama’s betrayal is the betrayal of the Democratic Party. The Democrats gave us the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, which ripped down the firewalls that were put in place by the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act. The 1933 act, designed to prevent the kind of meltdown we are now experiencing, established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC).

He did not support an amendment that was part of a bankruptcy bill that would have capped credit card interest rates at 30 percent.

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

let us honor

the handful of elected officials who valiantly defied their party leadership

Tags: politics

An endorsement based on policy

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:07:11 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: rather than fear

Clip Source: www.newyorker.com

Obama has made a serious study of the mechanics and the history of this economic disaster

Last March, in New York, in a speech notable for its depth, balance, and foresight, he said, “A complete disdain for pay-as-you-go budgeting, coupled with a generally scornful attitude towards oversight and enforcement, allowed far too many to put short-term gain ahead of long-term consequences.”

He has called for greater and more programmatic regulation of the financial system; the creation of a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank, which would help reverse the decay of our roads, bridges, and mass-transit systems, and create millions of jobs; and a major investment in the green-energy sector.

He supports a cap-and-trade program to reduce America’s carbon emissions

He also wants to raise federal fuel-economy standards and to require that ten per cent of America’s electricity be generated from renewable sources by 2012

Tags: politics

Historian on Panic of 1873 vs. now

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:15:47 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: the current economic woes look a lot like what my 96-year-old grandmother still calls "the real Great Depression." She pinched pennies in the 1930s, but she says that times were not nearly so bad as the depression her grandparents went through. That crash came in 1873 and lasted more than four years. It looks much more like our current crisis.

Clip Source: itulip.com

If there are lessons from 1873, they are different from those of 1929.

when banks fall on Wall Street, they stop all the traffic on Main Street — for a very long time

The post-panic winners

might be those firms

that have substantial cash reserves

widespread consolidation of industries may be on the horizon

The failure in July of the World Trade Organization talks begun in Doha seven years ago suggests a new wave of protectionism may be on the way

In the end, the Panic of 1873 demonstrated that the center of gravity for the world's credit had shifted west — from Central Europe toward the United States. The current panic suggests a further shift — from the United States to China and India

Tags: stock market, depression, geopolitics

fightthesmears.com

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:13:34 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: “In 1993, Obama was named by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of “40 under 40” outstanding young leaders in the city of Chicago. He is the recipient of the 1995 Legal Eagle Award from IVI-IPO for his work in bringing Illinois into compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (Motor-Voter).

Clip Source: fightthesmears.com

Discredited Republican voter-suppression guru Ken Blackwell is attacking Barack Obama with naked lies about his supposed connection to ACORN.

• Fact: Barack was never an ACORN community organizer.
• Fact: Barack was never an ACORN trainer and never worked for ACORN in any other capacity.
• Fact: ACORN was not part of Project Vote, the successful voter registration drive Barack ran in 1992.

In his capacity as an attorney, Barack represented ACORN in a successful lawsuit alongside the U.S. Department of Justice against the state of Illinois to force state compliance with a federal voting access law. For his work helping enforce the law, called “Motor Voter,” Barack received the IVI-IPO Legal Eagle Award in 1995.

Tags: politics

Gamble anyone?

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:03:10 GMT

clipped by: deb2012

Clip Source: www.online-betting-guide.co.uk

Irish bookmakers Paddy Power, famous for their imaginative betting markets on current affairs, are betting on which will be the first major city worldwide to riot due to economic influences or factors.

New York Favourite To Be First Riot City

With the US amongst the worst hit it has to be New York that is favourite as that is the hub of the financial trade in the country. Further problems on Wall Street could feasibly lead to riots and New York is 9/4 with Paddy Power to be the first to riot.

Paris is no stranger to protests and these could turn nasty according to Paddy Power who have the French capital as the second favourite at 3/1. Just behind Paris is US capital Washington at 10/3. With the US Presidential race hotting up there is going to be plenty of action in Washington and this could be the centre of a protest. Protest can turn to riots without too much of a spark so it is no surprise they are amongst the favourites.

Tags: gambling

Why Republicans are losing

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:13:53 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: opinion of David From, former Bush speechwriter

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

A new book, Comeback, by the conservative journalist and former Bush speechwriter David Frum begins with a bracing chapter entitled “Why We're Losing”.

Nobody wants to vote for a party that angrily disapproves of how they live.

Across the world left-wing parties have accepted capitalism and moderated. This requires conservative parties to move towards the centre to compete.

Conservatives need to show that they can run government, providing services, not merely talking about shrinking them

This is linked to another issue - tax cuts.

Always an automatic crowd-pleaser in the past, it isn't working quite as reliably as it used to

And in America Frum notes a very good reason for this. Mostly it is not the middle class who gain, it is the very well-off.

Frum urges Republicans to abandon their old “read my lips, no new taxes” slogan and impose taxes on fossil fuel consumption.

Tags: politics

The truth about SEC chair Cox

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:58:26 GMT

clipped by: deb2012

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Christopher Cox had been a close ally of business groups in his 17 years as a House member from one of the most conservative districts in Southern California. Mr. Cox had led the effort to rewrite securities laws to make investor lawsuits harder to file. He also fought against accounting rules that would give less favorable treatment to executive stock options.

“The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work,” Mr. Cox said

But critics say that the commission could have done more, and that the agency’s effectiveness comes from the tone set at the top by the chairman, or what Mr. Levitt, the longest-serving S.E.C. chairman in history, calls “stakes in the ground.”

“If you go back to the chairmen in recent years, you will see that each spoke about a variety of issues that were important to them,” Mr. Levitt said. “This commission placed very few stakes in the ground.”

Tags: politics, regulation, cox

The truth about Henry Paulson

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:45:10 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: With the stroke of a pen, capital requirements were removed

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Many events in Washington, on Wall Street and elsewhere around the country have led to what has been called the most serious financial crisis since the 1930s

But decisions made at a brief meeting on April 28, 2004, explain why the problems could spin out of control.

the five members of the Securities and Exchange Commission met in a basement hearing room to consider an urgent plea by the big investment banks.

They wanted an exemption for their brokerage units from an old regulation that limited the amount of debt they could take on.

Those funds could then flow up to the parent company, enabling it to invest in the fast-growing but opaque world of mortgage-backed securities; credit derivatives, a form

The five investment banks led the charge, including Goldman Sachs, which was headed by Henry M. Paulson

Two years later, he left to become Treasury secretary.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

It’s a fair criticism of the Bush administration

said Roderick M. Hills, a Republican who was chairman of the S.E.C.

Tags: paulson, politics

Double Outhouse

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:29:59 GMT

clipped by: deb2012

Clip Source: www.jibjab.com

Tags: politics, humor

Debt Soars under Bush

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:06:34 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: Maybe the dems are big spenders and taxers, but this huge spend and cut taxes policy of the last few Republican administrations is disgraceful. "I will veto any bill with pork"-well you voted for one with pork, does that not count Senator?

Clip Source: www.cato-at-liberty.org

With no fanfare and little notice, the national debt has grown by more than $4 trillion during George W. Bush’s presidency.

It’s the biggest increase under any president in U.S history.

Buried deep in the hundred pages of bailout legislation is a provision that would raise the statutory ceiling on the national debt to $11.315 trillion. It’ll be the 7th time the debt limit has been raised during this administration.

Tags: politics, debt

Lion Rides Horse

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:26:32 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: it just shocked my senses

Clip Source: kemo-d7.livejournal.com

A lion rides a horse in a circus show as part of celebrations to mark National Day, the 59th anniversary in

China

Tags: china, circus, animals

Helping India build nuclear plants

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:19:07 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: Is this the next time bomb?

Clip Source: djysrv.blogspot.com

Congress approved a landmark deal ending the three-decade ban on U.S. nuclear trade with India. Reuters reports final approval came as the Senate voted to ratify the deal 86-13, sending the legislation to President Bush to sign into law. The Senate's move was taken just prior to an expected trip to India by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The House of Representatives has already approved the agreement. Critics of the deal in the House said it damaged global efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons.

Reuters noted the accord opens up a market potentially worth billions to American companies such as General Electric and Westinghouse, a unit of Japan's Toshiba Corp.

Russian and France are already racing to set up nuclear deals with companies in India. For its part India must change its domestic laws to allow private companies to build nuclear power plants.

Tags: politics, energy, nuclear

Commentary from a Central Banker

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:54:40 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: "And what better way to ensure the corporate largesse is returned to the GOP to win back the White House and Congress in 2012 as the depression fuels public anger?"

Clip Source: londonbanker.blogspot.com

As I write this I don’t know the outcome of the attempt to ram through legislation for looting the US Treasury of $700 billion before the end of the Bush administration. I suspect that Congress will force the passage of the bill in some form because the media and political narrative on the necessity of the measure is unremitting and so horribly biased.

No alternatives will be considered.

no doubt in my mind that this legislation represents the sort of federal largesse for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citibank and JPMorgan Chase that the Iraq war provided for Halliburton and Blackwater.

America is now a centrally planned economy where the Treasury will determine which firms survive

Clearly what is going on here has nothing to do with kick starting the credit markets or stabilising the equity markets or restoring depositor confidence in banks. (Treasury official: “No provision in the legislation that mandates re-lending.”)

Tags: economics, finance, politics

Kathleen Parker on her ugly emails

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:11:21 GMT

clipped by: deb2012

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

That we have become a partisan nation is no secret

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave a partisan speech, blaming the credit crisis on the Bush administration (omitting the Clinton administration's role in launching the subprime lending debacle). Republicans responded by voting against the bill.

Such extreme partisanship has a crippling effect on government

Readers have every right to reject my opinion. But when we decide that a person is a traitor and should die for having an opinion different from one's own, we cross into territory that puts all freedoms at risk. (I hear you, Dixie Chicks.)

Our day of reckoning may indeed be upon us. Between war and economic collapse, we have enormous challenges. It will take the best of everyone to solve them. That process begins minimally with a commitment to engage in civil discourse and a cease-fire in the war against unwelcome ideas.

Tags: politics, ethics, manners

Obama's 2007 letter to Paulson

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:16:28 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: March 2007

Clip Source: obama.senate.gov

I urge you immediately to convene a homeownership preservation summit with leading mortgage lenders, investors, loan servicing organizations, consumer advocates, federal regulators and housing-related agencies to assess options for private sector responses to the challenge.

Rampant foreclosures are in nobody’s interest, and I believe this is a case where all responsible industry players can share the objective of eliminating deceptive or abusive practices, preserving homeownership, and stabilizing housing markets.

serious conversation about the following

What standards investors should require of lenders

How to ensure adequate liquidity across all mortgage markets

There is an opportunity here to bring different interests together in the best interests of American homeowners and the American economy.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Barack Obama

Tags: housing, economy, finance