This report from Shahien Nasiripour at Huff Po's Financial Fix is gaining traction fast.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has expressed opposition to the possible nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a source with knowledge of Geithner's views.
I'm not a Tim Geither fan. So of course I'm in the group that would like to see him go. But my argument here is that he needs to go.
H.R. 1068, the Let Wall Street Pay for Wall Street's Bailout Act.
Wall Street Transaction Tax Proposed by Democrats Ryan J. Donmoyer
Dec. 3, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- A group of congressional Democrats proposed taxing large transactions in stocks and derivatives, an idea that has received a cool reception from the Obama administration. [...]
.25 Percent for Stocks
The measure would be based on legislation DeFazio proposed in the House that would apply a tax of 0.25 percent or 25 basis points to stock transactions in excess of $100,000, and a levy of 0.02 percent or 2 basis points on derivatives including futures, options, swaps and credit default swaps.
Harkin and DeFazio said the proposed new levy is backed by more than 200 economists, the AFL-CIO labor union federation and business leaders including Warren Buffett and Vanguard Group Inc. founder John C. Bogle, now president of Bogle Financial Markets Research.
The only thing Alan Grayson should Apologize for ...
was not having the Fed's Price List
for their services!
(imo)
Perhaps Grayson can be excused, since "The Fed" does favors for its clients, far from the scrutiny of prying eyes ... giving away Billions to their good ole Buddies, both Foreign and Domestic, without so much as a Receipt or and IOU exchanging hands ...
It's easy to see how this shady activity just might get "mis-construed":
Alan Grayson: Which Foreigners got the Fed's 500 Billion?
While discussing the enormity of the Financial Bailout, with a co-worker today, and struggling to find a way of comprehending all those BILLIONS, that Taxpayers are in one way or another, PAYING FOR -- we hit upon a novel idea for comprehending the depth of the damages.
The Idea of Stock Ownership!
Here's how it works, roughly speaking,
Take the Total amount "invested" in Bank of America during the Bailout,
Divide that by the Number of People "footing" the Bill,
And Presto you get your rough "back of the envelope" calculation, for YOUR Stake in the "Ownership" of that still Public Company!
BofA: $52,500,000,000 / 306,377,462 people = 171 Shares
Given that BofA Stock Price Closed UP today at $13.51
it leads me to Ask:
Where are MY 171 shares of BofA?...Where are YOURS?
a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. It depicts the plight of the French proletariat under the brutal oppression of the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution
The share of total income going to the top-earning 1 percent of Americans went from 8 percent in 1980 to 16 percent in 2004.
...
One reason: gains in the stock market. Affluent people own more stocks, and executives are often paid in stock or stock options. So when the market does well, their wealth accelerates quickly
Well, Bill Moyers is currently telling the historic Story about the Need for "Two Banking Systems" ...
(Elizabeth Warren is a hero... - promoted by poligirl)
Elizabeth Warren was appointed chair of a newly created Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), which is charged with keeping tabs on the $700 billion bailout of the financial sector - including Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).
Warren however, has had some "Trouble" getting straight forward answers ... as she explained to the Boston Globe:
Keeping tabs on the bailout By Elizabeth Warren -- April 12, 2009
Elizabeth Warren: There's a major problem and a minor problem. The minor problem is documentation. I've spent four weeks now looking for someone who can give me the details of the stress test so that we can do an independent evaluation of whether the stress test is any good.
We get: "someone will call [you] right back." Only the call doesn't come.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner found himself at ground zero of U.S. economic discontent on Thursday.
...
BIPARTISAN GRILLING
It was a bipartisan grilling -- both Obama's Democrats and rival Republicans were tough while praising his and the president's abilities and acknowledging the difficult situation they find themselves in.
Here's an example of the grilling, and Geithner's surprisingly "composed" responses:
Merkley questions Geithner on Toxic Assets and Regulation
(ACTION and agriculture... - promoted by poligirl)
Tom Vilsack appears to be on track for unanimous confirmation by the Senate as Secretary of Agriculture in Barack Obama's cabinet. At his confirmation hearing yesterday, Republicans didn't ask hostile questions, and Vilsack didn't have to explain away any embarrassing behavior like Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner's failure to fully meet his tax obligations over a period of years.
Despite the lack of drama, Vilsack made a number of noteworthy comments during the hearing. Join me after the jump for some highlights.
This is a new Tuesday evening event, replacing the former Rolling Lounge. I'll still host the occasional RL when something transportation-y seems appropriate, but it seems that Reality Bites way more often!
So, traveling down this highway of life in the ole US of A, let's gather some reality around us to fend off the wingnuts, whackos, and others with their fingers in their ears singing "la la la la la la..."
Reality isn't always the most fun or even the most popular, and in politics, it is certainly not always easy to discern. Still, like a good swift kick in the pants, reality has a habit of trumping the alternative so it's a good idea to keep an eye out for it.
As is our norm around these parts, there are 2 rules:
Reality, not conspiracy theories, reign - make a claim, expect to back it up with something other than "some say..." or "I read it somewhere..."
