Posts filed under “Politics”
A brief reminder: Hurricane Sandy was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane since Katrina. It caused 285 total fatalities and was the second-costliest hurricane in United States history.
During the immediate aftermath of this act of Nature, these 2 dimwits were among many who decided to use the disaster as a political platform. They voted against a full FEMA / Army Corp of Engineer reconstruction, and repeatedly delayed votes to fund any for of rescue.
The claim that the rescue bill was any more pork laden than anything else that comes out of the sewer that is Washington D.C. was specious at best. Do a search for “Hurricane Sandy Pork” — what comes up are the same wingnut articles repeated over and over in various partisan outlets.
Media Matters noted in January that claims of money for “climate change for the EPA” was actually money for wastewater treatment in damaged areas (Fox News’ Bogus Hunt For Pork In Sandy Bill Continues).
Even Forbes called foul — they noted that the “pork” came from having to bribe red state Republicans — including Texas — in order to get the package passed over their filibuster” (Pork Holding Up Senate Sandy Relief Bill Funneled Into The Troughs Of GOP Deficit Hawks? You Betcha).
The hypocrisy reached a point of such absurdity that the Republican Governor of New Jersey, a Conservative favorite, went postal against the GOP House members as well as these two Oklahoma Senators.
Which brings me to the recent tragedy in Oklahoma: Now that the disaster is on the other foot, the Oklahoma Senators/deficit hawks are claiming Tornado aid ‘totally different’ from Hurricane Sandy aid.
Want to know how its different?
A big chunk of the Sandy emergency package replenished FEMA, which had been underfunded by the usual suspects. The Sandy relief package replenished its coffers. The votes in favor of Sandy Aid ironically funded FEMA, and it is helping with the rescue and clean up efforts in Oklahoma.
I would suggest that the entire NY/NJ/CT Congressional Delegation, regardless of party, as well as Governors Christie, Cuomo, and Malloy should demand an apology from Senators Inhofe and Coburn. These two geniuses were voting against funding an agency that is now helping out their electorate.
Category: Politics, Really, really bad calls, Science
Can two senators end ‘too big to fail’? Barry Ritholtz Washington Post, May 10 2013 Last month, an unlikely pair of senators — Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, and David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican — introduced a non-binding resolution calling for the end of the implicit subsidies that “too big to fail” (TBTF)…Read More
click for ginormous graphic Source: United Republic Hat tip Fabius Maximus
Category: Digital Media, Politics, Really, really bad calls
“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” -William James Reinhart and Rogoff are being blamed for the damaging, widespread adaption of post-crisis austerity programs in Europe and in the United States. This reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how political decision get made. Regardless of what…Read More
Category: Economy, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Really, really bad calls
Is there a more reliable fade than Donald Luskin? Exactly one year ago this week (May 4, 2012), Luskin exhorted WSJ readers to dump equities because The 2013 Fiscal Cliff Could Crush Stocks. “Do the math on dividend taxes” he advised, warning that dividend yields would be lower, and stock prices would be considerably lower…Read More
Category: Investing, Politics, Psychology, Really, really bad calls
Insider trading still allowed for Congress critters and government employees:
Category: Legal, Politics, Think Tank
Matt Stoller writes: Earlier this week, the House Ag Committee marked up some bills deregulating derivatives. I don’t think they were expecting anyone to really notice, but there was a bunch of press on what they did. The next step in the legislative process is for the House Financial Services Committee to look at the…Read More
Category: Derivatives, Politics, Regulation
Congress Did Nothing to Rein In One of the Main Causes of the Financial Crisis … and Is About to Let Things Get Even MORE Insane
Out-of-control derivatives were largely responsible for the 2008 financial crisis … and still pose a massive threat to the economy.
Unchecked derivatives are so harmful to the economy that:
- Warren Buffet called them “weapons of mass destruction”
- A Nobel prize winning economist who helped develop derivatives pricing said some of them were so dangerous that they should be “blown up or burned”
- Newsweek called them “The Monster that Ate Wall Street” after the financial crash
This is especially true since the big banks are manipulating the hundred trillion dollar derivatives market.
No, the big “financial reform” bill passed in the wake of the financial crisis didn’t fix anything. We noted last year:
No, there have not been any reforms or attempts to rein in derivatives, and the Dodd-Frank financial legislation was really just a p.r. stunt which didn’t really change anything.
Indeed, the derivatives “reform” legislation previously passed has probably actually weakened existing regulations, and the legislation was “probably written by JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs“.
Harold Bradley – who oversees almost $2 billion in assets as chief investment officer at the Kauffman Foundation – told the Reuters Global Exchanges and Trading Summit in New York that a cabal is preventing swap derivatives from being forced onto clearing exchanges:
There is no incentive from the moneyed interests in either Washington or New York to change it…I believe we are in a cabal. There are five or six players only who are engaged and dominant in this marketplace and apparently they own the regulatory apparatus. Everybody is afraid to regulate them.
*** Moreover, the big banks are still dumping huge amounts of their toxic derivatives on the taxpayer. And see this.
Indeed, the U.S. has agreed to backstop potential trillions in derivatives in the U.S. … and abroad.
If the big banks are manipulating the derivatives market, they could manipulate every other market on the planet. Given that the size of the derivatives market dwarfs the entire global economy, and given that derivatives are – by definition – not real assets, but paper abstractions loosely based upon real assets, manipulation of derivatives can drive asset prices up or down at whim.
***
Of course, the big banks own Washington D.C. politicians, lock stock and barrel. See this, this, this and this.
So don’t expect anything to change without a huge public outcry … or worse (and see this).
There wasn’t a big enough public outcry. So the boys are at it again.
Category: Bailouts, Politics, Really, really bad calls, Regulation
Voters should pay attention to politics. Investors should ignore it. By Barry Ritholtz Washington Post, March 8 2013 On March 1, the $85 billion sequester went into effect. It will potentially shave half a percentage point from GDP. With estimates for this year’s economic growth at 1.5 to 2.0 percent, the sequester by…Read More
Category: Apprenticed Investor, Investing, Politics, Psychology
