I read this story yesterday afternoon, but was too busy at work to say anything about it. Now Beck is talking about it this morning. He's right, I think my head will explode! This guy, this worthless, past his expiration date, smart-ass, holier-than-thou, delusional, Papa Oscar Sierra has held his office as a Congressman for something like 38 years. Poster child for TERM LIMITS! The people in his district are clearly of questionable intelligence. Either that or they are primarily illegals who vote! If that were the case, then clearly he would think the border is secure.
Anyway, this guy says the border is secure, and acknowledges the fact that American citizens are being killed every day by illegals, and is clearly quite fine with that. I say fire him, and deport him to his beloved Mehico!
Rep. Stark Mocks Border Security Advocates: Who Are You Going to Kill Today?
A California congressman known for edgy sarcasm mocked an opponent of illegal immigration during a town hall meeting last week, asking, "Who are you going to kill today?" before the constituent, a self-identified Minuteman, posed his question.
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., no stranger to controversy, mocked the idea that the borders are not secure when asked about the federal government's lack of activity on border security.
"We can't get enough Minutemen armed. We'd like to get all the Minutemen armed so they can stop shooting people here," Stark said.
Eventually, members of the audience urged Stark to offer a serious answer.
"If you knew anything about our borders, you would know that's not the case. Our borders are quite secure, thank you," Stark said, drawing jeers.
Stark resumed his hostile act, asking the Minuteman what he would do to secure the border.
"I would send about about 25,000 troops for one thing and build a wall down so vehicles could not pass," the Minuteman said.
"How high and long would it be?" Stark asked.
"As high and as long as it takes," the Minuteman said, elicting cheers.
Stark said he would start a ladder company with the Minuteman if he designed the wall and doesn't shoot the people coming over.
"But I've got to know how high the wall is and I'll sell a whole lot of ladders for people who want to come," Stark said.
"This is a very serious matter and you're sitting there making fun of it," the Minuteman responded.
"I don't have to make fun of you sir, you do a fine job all by yourself," Stark said.
Stark made the comments last week at a town hall audience that included Steve Kemp, a member of the Golden State Minutemen, a group that opposes illegal immigrants. Kemp recorded the confrontation.
A spokesman for Stark did not return voicemail messages left at his office or on his cell phone. He also didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
The clash came as the national spotlight focuses on Arizona's tough new law cracking down on illegal immigrants and the protests it is drawing across the country, including a legal challenge from the federal government.
Immigration is shaping up to be among the critical election-year issues as Republicans try to regain control of both chambers in Congress riding a wave of anti-Washington sentiment.
Stark, a liberal Democrat, is expected to easily win re-election against a lightly regarded opponent, political newcomer Justin Jelincic, who describes himself as a conservative Democrat.
Stark earned his primary challenge after he slammed a constituent who voiced his opposition to Obama's health care plan last summer at a town hall meeting.
"Mr. Congressman, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining," the constituent told Stark, referring to what he called the smoke and mirrors of the president's plan.
"I wouldn't dignify you be peeing on your leg," Stark fired back. "It wouldn't be worth wasting the urine."
In March, Stark seized control of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee for one day after Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., stepped aside due to an ethics probe. But Stark was quickly pushed aside in favor of Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., after many Democrats privately complained that Stark was too volatile to lead such an important committee.
Stark is known for making inflammatory comments.
In 2007, Stark accused President Bush of sending troops to Iraq "to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."
He also once called former Colorado Republican Rep. Scott McInnis a "fruitcake."
And then there is this little tidbit...I don't know much about Gov. Brewer, but I like her style. Clearly she won't be bullied by B. Hussein, and now she is calling him out! She is responsible for the safety of the citizens of the state of Arizona, and in turn she is doing whatever it takes to provide that safety. Even going head-to-head with the current administration which seems hell-bent on handing over our country to the illegals!
Brewer Slams Administration Over Smuggler Warning Signs in Arizona Desert
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is slamming the Obama administration over government signs posted in the Arizona desert warning visitors to beware of illegal smugglers, saying the signs are hardly the kind of border security plan her state needs.
"This is an outrage," Brewer said in a new reelection campaign ad.
The ad shows the governor standing next to one of the warning signs in the middle of the Arizona desert, 80 miles from the border and, according to the ad, 30 miles from Phoenix. The signs have in recent weeks drawn attention from border-state lawmakers who say they demonstrate how unsafe the region has become. In the ad, Brewer noted that she recently met with President Obama, who "promised that we would get word" on the administration's border security plan.
"Well, we finally got the message -- these signs. These signs, calling our desert an active drug and human smuggling area. These signs warning people of danger and telling them to stay away," Brewer said in the ad. "Washington says our border is as safe as it has ever been. Does this look safe to you?"
The ad ended with a confrontational message: "Washington is broken, Mr. President. Do your job. Secure our borders. Arizona and the nation are waiting."
One of the signs warns visitors that "smuggling and illegal immigration may be encountered in this area." Another says "travel not recommended" due to "active drug and human smuggling" routes.
Though warning signs have been placed in certain areas of Arizona, broad swaths of federal land are considered dangerous because of the smuggling routes.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., brought up the signs on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. Calling for stepped-up border security, he said "the rise of violence and the influence of the drug cartels and the human smugglers" compelled the government to put up the signs.
After the Obama administration met with border-state governors Monday to detail plans to deploy 1,200 National Guard to the region, Brewer told reporters that the influx of more than 500 National Guard troops to her state would not be enough.
Brewer has said she wants 3,000 National Guard troops sent to her state and 6,000 total sent to the border. The Obama administration has also faced criticism for planning to assign the National Guard to surveillance and support positions, as opposed to in-the-field work.
Obama has asked Congress, however, to approve $600 million in new spending for more Border Patrol, immigration officers and drones.
Here is the commercial Gov. Brewer is running. I love it! God Bless Arizona!
The miscellaneous ramblings of a Christian, white, heterosexual, happily married for over a decade, pro-life, pro-gun, conservative, over-protective, father of one. Yes, I know, I am a minority. Welcome to my world!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Stealth Drilling Ban
Really you ask? Oh no, Obama is only banning deep water drilling, depths over 500 feet! And only for 6 months!
No no silly kool-aid drinkers. And this is actually as reported by that Conservative haven CNN! Yes there is a video if you follow the link.
There is no way, you or anyone else can possibly believe this Kenyan usurper has any intention of doing anything other than destroying our economy and our way of life, and even our lives themselves! What benefit is there in this? It's not because of the environment! His answer to the deep water oil blowout is Cap and Trade. Is he planning to plug the hole with all the added tax dollars? (nod to Glenn beck for that!) NO, it will do nothing other than cripple the energy companies, in 2008, President Obama, then Senator Obama, told The San Francisco Chronicle, "Under my cap-and-trade plan, electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket." Tens of thousands of families are out of work because the administration has essentially frozen energy production in the Gulf of Mexico. They won't allow drilling in ANWR. They are crippling domestic energy production, and in the wake of that, increasing our dependence on foreign oil from our enemies.
So, lets add this up. People lose their jobs, energy prices skyrocket, the cost of everything else increases to cover the added production and transportation costs, but the people can't afford the increased cost because they don't have jobs, because the companies can't afford the costs of Obamacare, and lay off more workers, and then there are fewer and fewer people paying taxes, because you have to have a job to pay taxes, so the taxes on the rich keep climbing, and with the rampant spending in Washington, they keep printing more money, and selling more debt to China, inflation keeps increasing, crime will skyrocket, as desperate people do desperate things, eventually, it will all come crashing down. WAKE UP America! While there still is an America to wake up in!
Stealth Ban on Gulf Drilling
By Steve Hargreaves, Senior writerJune 26, 2010: 11:37 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The offshore drilling ban imposed after the BP disaster is only supposed to hit operations in deep water -- 500 feet or more.
But drillers in shallow water say they haven't been issued permits since the April 20 explosion. The delay has already forced hundreds of layoffs, and many more could be on the way.
"I'm almost out of business over here," said Paul Butler, president of Spartan Offshore, a small drilling company in Metairie, La.
Butler said that only one of his four drill rigs are operating; all four were drilling before the spill. Spartan has six contracts that would put his entire fleet back to work, but he can't get going until the permits come through, he added.
The week before last, Butler said he had to lay off 72 employees. Come Tuesday he'll have to let another 140 go.
"That's 140 families, is how I look at it," Butler said.
Same is true at Hercules Offshore, the largest shallow water driller in the Gulf.
"The Department of Interior isn't issuing permits," said Jim Noe, a Hercules executive. "By mid July all of our rigs will be on the beach, and the workers without a job."
That could be a lot of jobs.
Jobs on the line: Deep water drilling, which is currently banned while an investigation into the Deepwater Horizon accident is underway, is estimated to employ at least 35,000 people on both the rigs and in jobs that support them.
Nearly that many jobs could also be at stake over shallow water drilling. While shallow water rigs are smaller and employ only about half as many people, there are almost twice as many of them in the Gulf, according to the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association.
"Do not close down Louisiana's economy with this ill-conceived freeze," Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle said in a recent statement on the deep water ban. "Louisiana's offshore industry is critical to the economic survival of this nation."
Angelle is leading an effort to prod the administration into issuing shallow water permits as well, and is on a twice-weekly briefing call with federal officials on the matter.
"Every time he asks them how many permits they've issued, and each time the answer is zero," said Hercules' Noe.
Safety first: An Interior Department spokeswoman said there is no freeze on shallow water drilling. However, she said, new safety procedures were put in place following the Deepwater Horizon spill.
"Companies have to comply before we can issue them permits," the spokeswoman said. "No one has fully complied."
Spartan's Butler said there was a long delay between when Interior stopped issuing permits and when the new safety guidelines came out. Indeed, the first Interior Department notification to oil companies about the new requirements was dated June 8, nearly two months after the disaster.
Butler said he has been scrambling to get his paperwork in order and hopes that permits will be issued soon.
Drilling ban: The jobs at stake
Shallow water drillers feel their operations are safer than the deep water operations like BP's.
The drillers say that an oil leak is easier to stop in shallow water, because the safety equipment is mounted right under the rig -- not a mile under the ocean surface. The geology is also better known and the water pressure is less. In addition, oil is easier to corral in shallow areas.
'System is broken': But others say that's not true, and believe the new safety requirements are reasonable. The massive Gulf oil leak, so far unstoppable, is one of the worst environmental disasters in American history. And it appears that a series of faulty industry procedures and shoddy government oversight are to blame.
"The system regulating offshore drilling operations is broken," Regan Nelson, senior oceans advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote in a recent blog post. "A broken system could lead to additional failures, regardless of the depth of water."
Nelson noted that two bad oil spills -- one in Mexico in the late 1970s and one recently off the coast of Australia -- both occurred in shallow water.
"Until we have a better handle on what it takes to drill safely, the president's moratorium should cover all new drilling activities," she said.
No no silly kool-aid drinkers. And this is actually as reported by that Conservative haven CNN! Yes there is a video if you follow the link.
There is no way, you or anyone else can possibly believe this Kenyan usurper has any intention of doing anything other than destroying our economy and our way of life, and even our lives themselves! What benefit is there in this? It's not because of the environment! His answer to the deep water oil blowout is Cap and Trade. Is he planning to plug the hole with all the added tax dollars? (nod to Glenn beck for that!) NO, it will do nothing other than cripple the energy companies, in 2008, President Obama, then Senator Obama, told The San Francisco Chronicle, "Under my cap-and-trade plan, electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket." Tens of thousands of families are out of work because the administration has essentially frozen energy production in the Gulf of Mexico. They won't allow drilling in ANWR. They are crippling domestic energy production, and in the wake of that, increasing our dependence on foreign oil from our enemies.
So, lets add this up. People lose their jobs, energy prices skyrocket, the cost of everything else increases to cover the added production and transportation costs, but the people can't afford the increased cost because they don't have jobs, because the companies can't afford the costs of Obamacare, and lay off more workers, and then there are fewer and fewer people paying taxes, because you have to have a job to pay taxes, so the taxes on the rich keep climbing, and with the rampant spending in Washington, they keep printing more money, and selling more debt to China, inflation keeps increasing, crime will skyrocket, as desperate people do desperate things, eventually, it will all come crashing down. WAKE UP America! While there still is an America to wake up in!
Stealth Ban on Gulf Drilling
By Steve Hargreaves, Senior writerJune 26, 2010: 11:37 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The offshore drilling ban imposed after the BP disaster is only supposed to hit operations in deep water -- 500 feet or more.
But drillers in shallow water say they haven't been issued permits since the April 20 explosion. The delay has already forced hundreds of layoffs, and many more could be on the way.
"I'm almost out of business over here," said Paul Butler, president of Spartan Offshore, a small drilling company in Metairie, La.
Butler said that only one of his four drill rigs are operating; all four were drilling before the spill. Spartan has six contracts that would put his entire fleet back to work, but he can't get going until the permits come through, he added.
The week before last, Butler said he had to lay off 72 employees. Come Tuesday he'll have to let another 140 go.
"That's 140 families, is how I look at it," Butler said.
Same is true at Hercules Offshore, the largest shallow water driller in the Gulf.
"The Department of Interior isn't issuing permits," said Jim Noe, a Hercules executive. "By mid July all of our rigs will be on the beach, and the workers without a job."
That could be a lot of jobs.
Jobs on the line: Deep water drilling, which is currently banned while an investigation into the Deepwater Horizon accident is underway, is estimated to employ at least 35,000 people on both the rigs and in jobs that support them.
Nearly that many jobs could also be at stake over shallow water drilling. While shallow water rigs are smaller and employ only about half as many people, there are almost twice as many of them in the Gulf, according to the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association.
"Do not close down Louisiana's economy with this ill-conceived freeze," Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle said in a recent statement on the deep water ban. "Louisiana's offshore industry is critical to the economic survival of this nation."
Angelle is leading an effort to prod the administration into issuing shallow water permits as well, and is on a twice-weekly briefing call with federal officials on the matter.
"Every time he asks them how many permits they've issued, and each time the answer is zero," said Hercules' Noe.
Safety first: An Interior Department spokeswoman said there is no freeze on shallow water drilling. However, she said, new safety procedures were put in place following the Deepwater Horizon spill.
"Companies have to comply before we can issue them permits," the spokeswoman said. "No one has fully complied."
Spartan's Butler said there was a long delay between when Interior stopped issuing permits and when the new safety guidelines came out. Indeed, the first Interior Department notification to oil companies about the new requirements was dated June 8, nearly two months after the disaster.
Butler said he has been scrambling to get his paperwork in order and hopes that permits will be issued soon.
Drilling ban: The jobs at stake
Shallow water drillers feel their operations are safer than the deep water operations like BP's.
The drillers say that an oil leak is easier to stop in shallow water, because the safety equipment is mounted right under the rig -- not a mile under the ocean surface. The geology is also better known and the water pressure is less. In addition, oil is easier to corral in shallow areas.
'System is broken': But others say that's not true, and believe the new safety requirements are reasonable. The massive Gulf oil leak, so far unstoppable, is one of the worst environmental disasters in American history. And it appears that a series of faulty industry procedures and shoddy government oversight are to blame.
"The system regulating offshore drilling operations is broken," Regan Nelson, senior oceans advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote in a recent blog post. "A broken system could lead to additional failures, regardless of the depth of water."
Nelson noted that two bad oil spills -- one in Mexico in the late 1970s and one recently off the coast of Australia -- both occurred in shallow water.
"Until we have a better handle on what it takes to drill safely, the president's moratorium should cover all new drilling activities," she said.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Transparency?
"I'll make our government open and transparent"
"I'm going to make it impossible for congressmen and lobbyists to slip pork barrel projects and corporate welfare into laws when no one is looking"
"Meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public, no more secrecy!"
"No more secrecy"
"When there's a bill that ends up on my desk, as President, you, the public, will have five days to look online, find out what's in it, before I sign it"
"So that you know, what your government is doing"
"you can decide whether your representative is actually representing you"
--B. Hussein Obama
“But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi D-CA 03/09/2010
"No one will know until this is actually in place how it works" -- Sen Christopher Dodd D-CT 06/25/2010
Really Barry? Really Nancy? Really Chris? What the Hell people?
How many women would take this crap from their men? Baby you can't know what I'm doing at that other woman's house until after I'm through with her. Guys? Honey, nobody can know what that man is doing with me in our bedroom until I know how it works out. I hear phone calls to lawyers, moving trucks, belongings tossed out in the yard, maybe even a little domestic violence!
What if your boss told you this? You'll find out what we are paying you after you take the job and do all the work.
Coaches, you can find out the score after the game is over.
Passengers, this is your captain speaking, I'll let you know where we have flown, after we land.
Attention all Jews, you'll find out where you are going after we lock you in the oven.
Puleeze! How stupid are we? Is America a nation of friggin' idiots? Are we? Are we all morons? Clearly or elected officials all think we are. The only thing they haven't done is come right out and say it! Yet!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/25/AR2010062500675_pf.html
House, Senate leaders finalize details of sweeping financial overhaul
By Brady Dennis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 25, 2010; 11:36 AM
Key House and Senate lawmakers approved far-reaching new financial rules early Friday after weeks of division, delay and frantic last-minute dealmaking. The dawn compromise set up a potential vote in both houses of Congress next week that could send the landmark legislation to President Obama by July 4.
The final and most arduous compromise began to fall into place just after midnight. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) agreed to scale back a controversial provision that would have forced the nation's biggest banks to spin off their lucrative derivatives-dealing businesses.
The panel also reached accord on the "Volcker rule," named after former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker. That measure would bar banks from trading with their own money, a practice known as proprietary trading.
Lawmakers pulled an all-nighter, wrapping up their work at 5:39 a.m. -- more than 20 messy, mind-numbing hours after they began Thursday morning.
"It's a great moment. I'm proud to have been here," said a teary-eyed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee led the effort in the Senate. "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done."
Both the House and Senate must approve the compromise legislation before it can go to Obama for his signature.
Despite myriad changes in recent days, Democrats appear poised to deliver a final bill that largely reflects the administration's original blueprint unveiled almost precisely a year ago. Although it would not fundamentally alter the shape of Wall Street or break up the nation's largest firms, the legislation would establish broad new oversight of the financial system.
A new consumer protection bureau housed in the Federal Reserve would have independent funding, an independent leader and near-total autonomy to write and enforce rules. The government would have broad new powers to seize and wind down large, failing financial firms and to oversee the $600 trillion derivatives market. In addition, a council of regulators, headed by the Treasury secretary, would monitor the financial landscape for potential systemic risks.
"The finish line is in sight. The bill that has emerged from conference is strong," Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in a statement early Friday. "It will offer families the protections they deserve, help safeguard their financial security and give the businesses of America access to the credit they need to expand and innovate."
Obama, speaking to reporters before leaving for a meeting of global finance ministers and central bankers in Toronto, said the compromise legislation includes "90 percent of what I proposed when I took up this fight."
The president said he is committed to a "strong, robust financial sector" but wants to curb abuses and tighten oversight to make the financial system more transparent and safe.
"The reforms making their way through Congress will hold Wall Street accountable," Obama said, "so we can help prevent another financial crisis like the one that we're still recovering from."
On the House side, the final tally was 20 to 11 to approve the conference committee's report. On the Senate side, it was 7 to 5. The votes fell along party lines, earning no support from Republicans on the two panels.
Asked whether he expected the compromise legislation to pass the full Senate -- which on May 20 approved an earlier version, 59-39, with support from four Republicans -- Obama replied, "You bet."
Republican lawmakers who serve on the financial panels blasted the compromise bill. "This legislation is a failure on both counts," Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said in a statement that denounced the compromise as failing to address "shoddy underwriting practices" or problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "It will not encourage much-needed stability and confidence in our financial markets. It will not significantly reduce systemic risk in our financial sector."
Lincoln's provision on derivatives had for months remained a particularly thorny issue for Democrats, causing internal divisions that threatened to derail the massive legislation.
Although consumer advocates and many liberals supported her provision, it encountered stiff opposition from the Obama administration and some regulators, as well as from an influential bloc of moderate Democrats and House Democrats from New York, where much of the financial derivatives industry is concentrated.
Administration officials and Democratic leaders worked fervently to bridge the divide between Lincoln and those House Democrats. Top Treasury officials, including Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin and Michael Barr, an assistant secretary, roamed the Dirksen office building alongside White House economic adviser Diana Farrell, conferring with aides and key lawmakers. Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, worked the committee room throughout Thursday.
Lincoln came and went from the hearing room, meeting with members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition to try to find common ground and huddling with Dodd (D-Conn.); Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee; and other lawmakers.
In the very early morning hours Friday, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) -- chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and a Lincoln supporter -- introduced a proposal that would compel banks to spin off only their riskiest derivatives trades, including particular forms of credit-default swaps, which are complex financial bets that exacerbated the financial crisis.
At the same time, the proposal would allow banks to hold onto certain derivatives trading related to interest rates, currency rates, gold and silver. They also would be allowed to continue trading in derivatives in order to hedge against their own risks.
Under the compromise, the derivatives operations that firms spin out of their federally insured banks could still be retained in a separately capitalized affiliate. In addition, firms would have two years to institute the new rules.
The Senate agreed to the compromise language just after 2:30 a.m.
The cavernous Dirksen 106 conference room remained packed at that hour, but it was a chaotic and cluttered mass of humanity. Lawmakers had stopped trying to conceal their yawns. Aides who had worn down their BlackBerry batteries recharged them for the home stretch. Trash cans spilled over with coffee cups and sandwich wrappers. Empty Fritos bags and plastic Diet Coke bottles littered the room, along with reams of paper -- old amendments, new amendments, handwritten amendments, amendments to amendments.
"So much for the paperless society," Frank quipped at one point.
In reaching a deal on the Volcker rule, negotiators adopted a provision that mirrors language previously offered by Sens. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), which would ban certain forms of proprietary trading and forbid firms from betting against securities they sell to clients. The Merkley-Levin measure never got a vote on the Senate floor.
"One goal of these limits is to reduce participation in high-risk activity that can cause significant losses at institutions which are central to the financial system," Dodd said. "A second goal is to end the use of low-cost funds, to which insured depositories have access, from subsidizing high-risk activity."
Under the agreement, firms would have up to two years to scale back their proprietary trading and investments in hedge funds and private equity funds. Banks also would be barred from betting against their clients on certain investments deals.
Even as they worked to toughen the Volcker language, lawmakers agreed to an exemption at the behest of Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), one of the four Republicans who voted for the earlier version of the financial regulation bill.
Brown, whose state is a hub of the asset-management industry, wanted the bill to allow banks to invest at least a small amount of capital in hedge funds and private equity investments. The measure would prohibit a banks from investing more than 3 percent of their capital in private equity or hedge funds. It was one of a number of provisions tailored to hold onto key votes as the bill heads toward final passage.
Lawmakers squared away a handful of other lingering issues late Thursday and early Friday.
They agreed to exempt the nation's 18,000 auto dealers from oversight by a new consumer financial protection watchdog, a striking legislative victory for one of the nation's most influential lobbying groups and a blow to consumer advocates and Democratic leaders who had long opposed such a loophole. "It is time for people like myself to concede that the votes are not there to give the consumer regulator any role in this," Frank said.
Lawmakers also voted to give shareholders more of a say on corporate governance, to place new restrictions on mortgage lending and to levy a risk-based assessment on large financial firms to help pay for the wide-ranging bill, which the Congressional Budget Office has estimated would cost nearly $20 billion over the next decade.
Weary lawmakers wrapped up their work just after sunrise, only hours before Obama was scheduled to leave for Canada. Both Dodd and Frank said they hoped the passage of the legislation by their committees will help the United States lead the ongoing global effort to harmonize new financial safeguards.
"We've put in the hands of the president a very powerful set of tools for him to reassert American leadership in the world," Frank said.
One of the last motions Friday was to name the bill after the two chairmen, who had shepherded the legislation through the House and the Senate over the past year. At 5:07 a.m., they agreed unanimously that it would be known as the Dodd-Frank bill, and the sound of applause echoed down the empty hallways.
"I'm going to make it impossible for congressmen and lobbyists to slip pork barrel projects and corporate welfare into laws when no one is looking"
"Meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public, no more secrecy!"
"No more secrecy"
"When there's a bill that ends up on my desk, as President, you, the public, will have five days to look online, find out what's in it, before I sign it"
"So that you know, what your government is doing"
"you can decide whether your representative is actually representing you"
--B. Hussein Obama
“But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi D-CA 03/09/2010
"No one will know until this is actually in place how it works" -- Sen Christopher Dodd D-CT 06/25/2010
Really Barry? Really Nancy? Really Chris? What the Hell people?
How many women would take this crap from their men? Baby you can't know what I'm doing at that other woman's house until after I'm through with her. Guys? Honey, nobody can know what that man is doing with me in our bedroom until I know how it works out. I hear phone calls to lawyers, moving trucks, belongings tossed out in the yard, maybe even a little domestic violence!
What if your boss told you this? You'll find out what we are paying you after you take the job and do all the work.
Coaches, you can find out the score after the game is over.
Passengers, this is your captain speaking, I'll let you know where we have flown, after we land.
Attention all Jews, you'll find out where you are going after we lock you in the oven.
Puleeze! How stupid are we? Is America a nation of friggin' idiots? Are we? Are we all morons? Clearly or elected officials all think we are. The only thing they haven't done is come right out and say it! Yet!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/25/AR2010062500675_pf.html
House, Senate leaders finalize details of sweeping financial overhaul
By Brady Dennis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 25, 2010; 11:36 AM
Key House and Senate lawmakers approved far-reaching new financial rules early Friday after weeks of division, delay and frantic last-minute dealmaking. The dawn compromise set up a potential vote in both houses of Congress next week that could send the landmark legislation to President Obama by July 4.
The final and most arduous compromise began to fall into place just after midnight. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) agreed to scale back a controversial provision that would have forced the nation's biggest banks to spin off their lucrative derivatives-dealing businesses.
The panel also reached accord on the "Volcker rule," named after former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker. That measure would bar banks from trading with their own money, a practice known as proprietary trading.
Lawmakers pulled an all-nighter, wrapping up their work at 5:39 a.m. -- more than 20 messy, mind-numbing hours after they began Thursday morning.
"It's a great moment. I'm proud to have been here," said a teary-eyed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee led the effort in the Senate. "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done."
Both the House and Senate must approve the compromise legislation before it can go to Obama for his signature.
Despite myriad changes in recent days, Democrats appear poised to deliver a final bill that largely reflects the administration's original blueprint unveiled almost precisely a year ago. Although it would not fundamentally alter the shape of Wall Street or break up the nation's largest firms, the legislation would establish broad new oversight of the financial system.
A new consumer protection bureau housed in the Federal Reserve would have independent funding, an independent leader and near-total autonomy to write and enforce rules. The government would have broad new powers to seize and wind down large, failing financial firms and to oversee the $600 trillion derivatives market. In addition, a council of regulators, headed by the Treasury secretary, would monitor the financial landscape for potential systemic risks.
"The finish line is in sight. The bill that has emerged from conference is strong," Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in a statement early Friday. "It will offer families the protections they deserve, help safeguard their financial security and give the businesses of America access to the credit they need to expand and innovate."
Obama, speaking to reporters before leaving for a meeting of global finance ministers and central bankers in Toronto, said the compromise legislation includes "90 percent of what I proposed when I took up this fight."
The president said he is committed to a "strong, robust financial sector" but wants to curb abuses and tighten oversight to make the financial system more transparent and safe.
"The reforms making their way through Congress will hold Wall Street accountable," Obama said, "so we can help prevent another financial crisis like the one that we're still recovering from."
On the House side, the final tally was 20 to 11 to approve the conference committee's report. On the Senate side, it was 7 to 5. The votes fell along party lines, earning no support from Republicans on the two panels.
Asked whether he expected the compromise legislation to pass the full Senate -- which on May 20 approved an earlier version, 59-39, with support from four Republicans -- Obama replied, "You bet."
Republican lawmakers who serve on the financial panels blasted the compromise bill. "This legislation is a failure on both counts," Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said in a statement that denounced the compromise as failing to address "shoddy underwriting practices" or problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "It will not encourage much-needed stability and confidence in our financial markets. It will not significantly reduce systemic risk in our financial sector."
Lincoln's provision on derivatives had for months remained a particularly thorny issue for Democrats, causing internal divisions that threatened to derail the massive legislation.
Although consumer advocates and many liberals supported her provision, it encountered stiff opposition from the Obama administration and some regulators, as well as from an influential bloc of moderate Democrats and House Democrats from New York, where much of the financial derivatives industry is concentrated.
Administration officials and Democratic leaders worked fervently to bridge the divide between Lincoln and those House Democrats. Top Treasury officials, including Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin and Michael Barr, an assistant secretary, roamed the Dirksen office building alongside White House economic adviser Diana Farrell, conferring with aides and key lawmakers. Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, worked the committee room throughout Thursday.
Lincoln came and went from the hearing room, meeting with members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition to try to find common ground and huddling with Dodd (D-Conn.); Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee; and other lawmakers.
In the very early morning hours Friday, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) -- chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and a Lincoln supporter -- introduced a proposal that would compel banks to spin off only their riskiest derivatives trades, including particular forms of credit-default swaps, which are complex financial bets that exacerbated the financial crisis.
At the same time, the proposal would allow banks to hold onto certain derivatives trading related to interest rates, currency rates, gold and silver. They also would be allowed to continue trading in derivatives in order to hedge against their own risks.
Under the compromise, the derivatives operations that firms spin out of their federally insured banks could still be retained in a separately capitalized affiliate. In addition, firms would have two years to institute the new rules.
The Senate agreed to the compromise language just after 2:30 a.m.
The cavernous Dirksen 106 conference room remained packed at that hour, but it was a chaotic and cluttered mass of humanity. Lawmakers had stopped trying to conceal their yawns. Aides who had worn down their BlackBerry batteries recharged them for the home stretch. Trash cans spilled over with coffee cups and sandwich wrappers. Empty Fritos bags and plastic Diet Coke bottles littered the room, along with reams of paper -- old amendments, new amendments, handwritten amendments, amendments to amendments.
"So much for the paperless society," Frank quipped at one point.
In reaching a deal on the Volcker rule, negotiators adopted a provision that mirrors language previously offered by Sens. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), which would ban certain forms of proprietary trading and forbid firms from betting against securities they sell to clients. The Merkley-Levin measure never got a vote on the Senate floor.
"One goal of these limits is to reduce participation in high-risk activity that can cause significant losses at institutions which are central to the financial system," Dodd said. "A second goal is to end the use of low-cost funds, to which insured depositories have access, from subsidizing high-risk activity."
Under the agreement, firms would have up to two years to scale back their proprietary trading and investments in hedge funds and private equity funds. Banks also would be barred from betting against their clients on certain investments deals.
Even as they worked to toughen the Volcker language, lawmakers agreed to an exemption at the behest of Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), one of the four Republicans who voted for the earlier version of the financial regulation bill.
Brown, whose state is a hub of the asset-management industry, wanted the bill to allow banks to invest at least a small amount of capital in hedge funds and private equity investments. The measure would prohibit a banks from investing more than 3 percent of their capital in private equity or hedge funds. It was one of a number of provisions tailored to hold onto key votes as the bill heads toward final passage.
Lawmakers squared away a handful of other lingering issues late Thursday and early Friday.
They agreed to exempt the nation's 18,000 auto dealers from oversight by a new consumer financial protection watchdog, a striking legislative victory for one of the nation's most influential lobbying groups and a blow to consumer advocates and Democratic leaders who had long opposed such a loophole. "It is time for people like myself to concede that the votes are not there to give the consumer regulator any role in this," Frank said.
Lawmakers also voted to give shareholders more of a say on corporate governance, to place new restrictions on mortgage lending and to levy a risk-based assessment on large financial firms to help pay for the wide-ranging bill, which the Congressional Budget Office has estimated would cost nearly $20 billion over the next decade.
Weary lawmakers wrapped up their work just after sunrise, only hours before Obama was scheduled to leave for Canada. Both Dodd and Frank said they hoped the passage of the legislation by their committees will help the United States lead the ongoing global effort to harmonize new financial safeguards.
"We've put in the hands of the president a very powerful set of tools for him to reassert American leadership in the world," Frank said.
One of the last motions Friday was to name the bill after the two chairmen, who had shepherded the legislation through the House and the Senate over the past year. At 5:07 a.m., they agreed unanimously that it would be known as the Dodd-Frank bill, and the sound of applause echoed down the empty hallways.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Big Oil Nationalization
"And guess what this liberal would be all about. This liberal will be about socializing … uh, um. …Would be about, basically, taking over, and the government running all of your companies. …" -- Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA.
Oh Maxine, what are you saying? Puleeze! Like any of that nonsense could ever happen. This is America, the land of the Free and home of the Brave, not Venezuela!
"I say seize their assets. Right now. Seize their assets today. Take over the company. I don't care how. Issue an executive order...Call it socialism, call it communism, call it anything you want. Let's watch Rush Limbaugh explode on TV...Seize the assets. Take over BP." -- Rosie O'Donnell, Moronic waste of skin and water.
Oh Rosie, were you aware that BP actually stands for British Petroleum? They are not even an American company. I'm not so sure that an act such as this might not be an act of war! We don't just seize private companies assets (excluding banks and automobile manufacturers) in this country anyway, this is America, the land of the Free and home of the Brave, not Venezuela!
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela will nationalize a fleet of oil rigs belonging to U.S. company Helmerich and Payne, the latest takeover in a push to socialism as President Hugo Chavez struggles with lower oil output and a recession.
A former soldier inspired by Cuba's Fidel Castro, Chavez has made energy nationalization the linchpin in his 'revolution'. He has also taken over assets in telecommunications, power, steel and banking.
The 11 drilling rigs have been idled for months following a dispute over pending payments by the OPEC member's state oil company PDVSA. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Wednesday the rigs, the Oklahoma-based company's entire Venezuelan fleet, were being nationalized to bring them back into production.
Ramirez said companies that refused to put their rigs into production were part of a plan to weaken Chavez's government,
"There is a group of drill owners that has refused to discuss tariffs and services with PDVSA and have preferred to keep this equipment stored for a year," Ramirez told reporters in the oil producing state of Zulia. "That is the specific case with U.S. multinational Helmerich and Payne."
The company was not immediately available for comment.
Chavez, who faces legislative elections in September, often pushes ahead with radical plans during election campaigns.
The 55-year-old leader is having a hard time in his 11th year in power. Venezuela's economy is the worst performing in Latin America this year, a problem exacerbated by a drop in oil output since 2008, power outages and soaring inflation.
NO SURPRISE
The takeover of Helmerich and Payne's rigs was not a surprise, considering Chavez penchant for nationalizations and the company's refusal to work before being paid the $49 million it has invoiced PDVSA.
Helmerich and Payne is a small player in the drilling industry, but global giants like Halliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes also have a presence in Venezuela.
Halliburton and Schlumberger have avoided public spats with the government.
Chavez has kept pressure up on the private sector in recent months, blaming a "parasitic bourgeoisie" for Venezuela's recession and 30 percent annualized inflation,
He has threatened to nationalize Polar, the top brewer and food processor in the country of 30 million. The government has also seized a bank belonging to an owner of the leading opposition TV station and put an arrest warrant out for his partner, who is now on the run.
Chavez in 2007 nationalized multi-billion dollar projects in Venezuela's vast Orinoco oil region, persuading companies such as BP Plc, to accept minority stakes in facilities they had built.
Last year he ordered the takeover of dozens of smaller oil service companies as PDVSA, reeling from a sharp plunge in oil prices, struggled to pay contractors.
When he was flush with oil cash during a boom in oil prices that ended in 2008, Chavez often compensated nationalized companies fairly, although the 2007 takeovers led to lawsuits from ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil.
More recently Venezuela has been slower in paying compensation.
(Reporting by Patricia Rondon, editing by Jackie Frank)
Just to make sure I understand this, Helmerich and Payne, were operating these rigs offshore in Venezuelan waters. Hugo Chavez basically stops paying for their production, so they stop producing. After a year, the pinko commie nutjob decides that they do it his way, or he is taking them over and running them himself. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot People! I'm sure B. Hussein has no intention whatsoever of even consider using harsh language to dissuade his dear friend Hugo Chavez from doing this. Let alone actually acting on it. WOW, The USA has become a complete pushover.
Oh Maxine, what are you saying? Puleeze! Like any of that nonsense could ever happen. This is America, the land of the Free and home of the Brave, not Venezuela!
"I say seize their assets. Right now. Seize their assets today. Take over the company. I don't care how. Issue an executive order...Call it socialism, call it communism, call it anything you want. Let's watch Rush Limbaugh explode on TV...Seize the assets. Take over BP." -- Rosie O'Donnell, Moronic waste of skin and water.
Oh Rosie, were you aware that BP actually stands for British Petroleum? They are not even an American company. I'm not so sure that an act such as this might not be an act of war! We don't just seize private companies assets (excluding banks and automobile manufacturers) in this country anyway, this is America, the land of the Free and home of the Brave, not Venezuela!
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela will nationalize a fleet of oil rigs belonging to U.S. company Helmerich and Payne, the latest takeover in a push to socialism as President Hugo Chavez struggles with lower oil output and a recession.
A former soldier inspired by Cuba's Fidel Castro, Chavez has made energy nationalization the linchpin in his 'revolution'. He has also taken over assets in telecommunications, power, steel and banking.
The 11 drilling rigs have been idled for months following a dispute over pending payments by the OPEC member's state oil company PDVSA. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Wednesday the rigs, the Oklahoma-based company's entire Venezuelan fleet, were being nationalized to bring them back into production.
Ramirez said companies that refused to put their rigs into production were part of a plan to weaken Chavez's government,
"There is a group of drill owners that has refused to discuss tariffs and services with PDVSA and have preferred to keep this equipment stored for a year," Ramirez told reporters in the oil producing state of Zulia. "That is the specific case with U.S. multinational Helmerich and Payne."
The company was not immediately available for comment.
Chavez, who faces legislative elections in September, often pushes ahead with radical plans during election campaigns.
The 55-year-old leader is having a hard time in his 11th year in power. Venezuela's economy is the worst performing in Latin America this year, a problem exacerbated by a drop in oil output since 2008, power outages and soaring inflation.
NO SURPRISE
The takeover of Helmerich and Payne's rigs was not a surprise, considering Chavez penchant for nationalizations and the company's refusal to work before being paid the $49 million it has invoiced PDVSA.
Helmerich and Payne is a small player in the drilling industry, but global giants like Halliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes also have a presence in Venezuela.
Halliburton and Schlumberger have avoided public spats with the government.
Chavez has kept pressure up on the private sector in recent months, blaming a "parasitic bourgeoisie" for Venezuela's recession and 30 percent annualized inflation,
He has threatened to nationalize Polar, the top brewer and food processor in the country of 30 million. The government has also seized a bank belonging to an owner of the leading opposition TV station and put an arrest warrant out for his partner, who is now on the run.
Chavez in 2007 nationalized multi-billion dollar projects in Venezuela's vast Orinoco oil region, persuading companies such as BP Plc, to accept minority stakes in facilities they had built.
Last year he ordered the takeover of dozens of smaller oil service companies as PDVSA, reeling from a sharp plunge in oil prices, struggled to pay contractors.
When he was flush with oil cash during a boom in oil prices that ended in 2008, Chavez often compensated nationalized companies fairly, although the 2007 takeovers led to lawsuits from ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil.
More recently Venezuela has been slower in paying compensation.
(Reporting by Patricia Rondon, editing by Jackie Frank)
Just to make sure I understand this, Helmerich and Payne, were operating these rigs offshore in Venezuelan waters. Hugo Chavez basically stops paying for their production, so they stop producing. After a year, the pinko commie nutjob decides that they do it his way, or he is taking them over and running them himself. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot People! I'm sure B. Hussein has no intention whatsoever of even consider using harsh language to dissuade his dear friend Hugo Chavez from doing this. Let alone actually acting on it. WOW, The USA has become a complete pushover.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Here is a good topic to start with...Border Security, or the lack thereof
Uptick in Violence Forces Closing of Parkland Along Mexico Border to Americans
Published June 16, 2010| FOXNews.com
About 3,500 acres of southern Arizona have been closed off to U.S. citizens due to increased violence at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The closed off area includes part of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge that stretches along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu told Fox News that violence against law enforcement officers and U.S. citizens has increased in the past four months, forcing officers on an 80 mile stretch of Arizona land north of the Mexico border off-limits to Americans.
The refuge had been adversely affected by the increase in drug smugglers, illegal activity and surveillance, which made it dangerous for Americans to visit.
"The situation in this zone has reached a point where continued public use of the area is not prudent," said refuge manager Mitch Ellis.
“It’s literally out of control,” said Babeu. “We stood with Senator McCain and literally demanded support for 3,000 soldiers to be deployed to Arizona to get this under control and finally secure our border with Mexico. “
U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials have warned visitors in Arizona to beware of heavily armed drug smugglers and human traffickers.
“We need support from the federal government. It’s their job to secure the border and they haven’t done it,” said Babeu. “In fact, President Obama suspended the construction of the fence and it’s just simply outrageous.”
Signs have been posted warning Americans not to cross into the closed off territory south of Interstate 8. Babeu said the signs are not enough – he said Arizona needs more resources to help scale back the violence caused by the drug cartels.
“We need action. It’s shameful that we, as the most powerful nation on Earth, … can’t even secure our own border and protect our own families.”
Seriously? We, the United States of America, the mightiest superpower on the planet has surrendered a small part of our country to a rag-tag bunch of drug runners and human traffickers? Really?
Hello....you can't win the fight if you walk away. Strength through superior firepower people. There is no more superior firepower than the people of the USA. If the Fed wants to tuck their tail under their skirt and run away like a band of knights in a Monty Python movie, then so be it. How about We the People taking it back!
Will you let them take up residence in your back yard? You keep paying the taxes, you keep paying the maintenance, but if you and your kid go out there to play catch, they will kill you and sell your child into slavery. Is that OK with you? It's OK with the Department of Homeland Security. They are perfectly fine with it. As a matter of fact, you probably deserve it. You make too much money anyway! Shame on you, be grateful for a quick death.
Making a change....
So, clearly I have been neglecting this, my own quiet little corner of the interwebz...I'm thinking, that, daily, I'm juggling a lovely housewife, an amazing daughter, a full time job, an hour-long one-way commute, two Facebook profiles, and a strong interest in more hobbies than I have time or money, and then there is this, my blog. Bottom of the list. Thought of, but very rarely even noticed by me, the creatorrrrrr. OK, maybe just author, creator seems a bit...glorious trinity on high, for me.
Mr. Popularity here has 4 amazingly devoted followers! Like Bartles and James once said, thank you for your support.
I am going to try to increase my visibility here. On my political Facebook profile, I am but a small voice in the cacophony of screaming conservatives who are just beside ourselves with the Usurper in Chief, and his freedom crushing Congress. So, I think in the interest of feeling like actually accomplishing something, I'm going to start posting articles here, that Me, Myself, and I find pertinent and timely, as well as my own thoughts on some of them. I'll also try to contribute some of my own thoughts on other, non-political subjects as well.
Consider yourselves warned. If you get a notification email every time i post something new...you may find your inboxes full. Maybe, if I get around to it hehehe.
Later, Chris
Oh oh oh, I almost forgot! Please, please, feel free to post comments questions and opinions. I'll try really hard not to get my feelings hurt and run crying into the dark. Wait, what? For the most part, I think I can try to agree to disagree on some subjects, on others, you are just plain wrong bwahahahaha!
Mr. Popularity here has 4 amazingly devoted followers! Like Bartles and James once said, thank you for your support.
I am going to try to increase my visibility here. On my political Facebook profile, I am but a small voice in the cacophony of screaming conservatives who are just beside ourselves with the Usurper in Chief, and his freedom crushing Congress. So, I think in the interest of feeling like actually accomplishing something, I'm going to start posting articles here, that Me, Myself, and I find pertinent and timely, as well as my own thoughts on some of them. I'll also try to contribute some of my own thoughts on other, non-political subjects as well.
Consider yourselves warned. If you get a notification email every time i post something new...you may find your inboxes full. Maybe, if I get around to it hehehe.
Later, Chris
Oh oh oh, I almost forgot! Please, please, feel free to post comments questions and opinions. I'll try really hard not to get my feelings hurt and run crying into the dark. Wait, what? For the most part, I think I can try to agree to disagree on some subjects, on others, you are just plain wrong bwahahahaha!
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