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The 10 banks that received the most bailout aid during the financial crisis spent over $16 million on lobbying efforts in the first half of 2010, as the debate over financial regulatory reform reached its height.
One of the last paragraphs...
Consumer advocacy groups had their own lobbyists working the Capitol's halls during the finance reform debate as well, but their spending was dwarfed by the banks -- a total of $792,000 in the first half of the year for four of the top organizations.
So let's recap: banks just about blow up the entire economy [and help sink the global economy] due to greed; then they get bailed out at tax payer's expense; then they use the money to pay out bonuses to the CEO's who oversaw the financial collapse; then they started posting profits; which they used to lobby Congress to weaken, if not downright kill, the financial reform bill.
As the article points out, those in favor of reform had their own lobbyists. But they were out-spent 20-to-1. If you really think banks can be fought, you need to think long and hard about that raio.
Now what do you think banks are going to spend on the November elections?!
Banks and analysts say billions of dollars in potentially lost revenue is at stake.
Banks are now trying to salvage what they can during the rulemaking process by trying to convince the Fed that some processing fees, like fraud prevention costs, should be broadly defined.
Why can't banks be...well...just a bank! You know - a place for people to keep their money that the bank then uses to lend to others at interest. Afterwards, with the principle and interest payments from me and others, it gives me a trickle of interest on my accounts, whiling using the rest to make loans to others (at interest, of course). What is so difficult about that? It's a perfectly self-sustaining system!
Unfortunately, it's all about profits and making another 3 bucks on top of the 5 bucks you are already earning free and clear. In the end, if you are serious about cleaning up this mess called the American Economy, it has to start with banks - force them to be banks, not Microsoft wannabees.
We are almost at the Labor Day weekend, but we aren't there yet. Still, with the weeks continuing to fly by, it will be here before we know it. I have no plans other than to sleep in for 3 days straight. Sometimes that's the best you can do. Until then, let's celebrate our freedom from the work week with some good tunes. As always, if you don't like what's being posted, use your freedom to post something you do like! Anything goes...on FREEday!!
...another day of the right claiming not a single job was created from it, and putting the country deeper in debt.
Ok, it's a forced rhyme, but it suits my needs.
Yes, the stimulus has cut taxes for 95% of working Americans, bailed out every state, hustled record amounts of unemployment benefits and other aid to struggling families and funded more than 100,000 projects to upgrade roads, subways, schools, airports, military bases and much more.
I want to throw something out here. I'm not trying to start crap [although I'm sure it will]. But rather, I want to tap into the strong anti-God sentiments on this site.
For the most part, those of us who believe in God live rather peacefully along side the atheists here. Every now and then Lysia and Spiral will get into it. When that happens, I try to just stay on the sidelines. Afterall, most people here know I'm Jewish but that I'm not overly religious. But I want to bring a different aspect to this topic. I know I won't change any minds. But there is something that I feel everyone, not just on this site, but on this planet, is over looking. Everyone.
Sometimes I guess I can consider myself a bit lucky. Perhaps not in all aspects of my life...but in some important ones instead. A tree in my neighbor's yard snapped in half during a storm earlier today. It took out half of a huge limb from a tree in my back yard. Somehow, neither my neighbor's tree nor the half limb from mine hit my house. Hell, neither even hit my fence that is between the two! Just when I'm feeling down about my proverbial lot in life, I'm reminded that things aren't all that bad.
After an emergency session of the House was called, "son of stimulus" was passed and signed into law by President Obama. In the bill is $10+ billion for states to re-hire axed teachers and to keep other teachers from being fired. There is also $16+ billion to help states pay for medicaid so that they can turn around and use the ear-marked money to keep police officers from being canned.
The bill is paid for by closing a corporate tax loophole AND "the phasing out of an increase in food stamp payments implemented in last year's economic recovery bill". Think about that for a moment. The bill is, first of all, paid for. Secondly, the money comes from the upper tier of society [corporations] AND the lower tier of society [food stamps]. That's pretty damn fair-and-balanced I'd say.
I bumped heads with my sup so many times this week that I started to question if I had somehow become part of a herd of rams. But I managed to get through this week without getting written up. Thankfully. Some weeks just need to end, ya know?
Now that this one has, it's time to slide into the weekend.
Hi, I'm Glen Beckk* and I am here to warn you about a scourge that is threatening our pure and wholesome way of life. It threatens to ruin our great country. If the Founding Fathers had known about it, they would have taken up arms against it and eradicated it. It is Progressivism.
I..I just can't tell you how much I hate progressives. Although I will tell you this much - if I don't hear on the news by noon that at least 3 of them have somehow been killed, I just know it is not going to be a good day.
Along with some of the LT family, I am a member of The Teabusters on Facebook. It's your typical Tea Party bashing page. However, upon perusing their page this evening I saw that a fellow member posted some puppet videos. Being tired of doing laundry and dishes, I decided to take a look. Afterall, I survived Team America. How bad could this be?
Oh man. These videos are cheesy. They are poor quality. And they are funny as all hell. I'm proving one for your enjoyment. Please do take a look through the rest. They nail many of the topics that we have discussed on LT - the ancestry of the movement, Fox news, the gulf oil spill, etc.. It's definitely worth the 3 mins of your life. Now it's back to laundry. Yippie.
Laffer then reasoned that at a 100% tax rate, revenue would also be 0, since no one would want to work in a country where the government took 100% of everyone's income.
I'm going to do something absolutely crazy right now. I'm going to argue that Laffer can't be more wrong.
I must have watched the video below a few thousands times when I was a kid in '85. Growing up the son of a huge baseball fan, I could name [and still can!] almost everyone shown in the video. From The Gashouse Gang playing pepper to Yogi going crazy on the ump when Jackie Robinson stole home to Bobby Thomson's "shot heard around the world" to beat the [my dad's beloved] Brooklyn Dodgers in '51 to Yogi jumping into Don Larsen's arms when he threw his perfect game against those same Dodgers in the '56 World Series. Oh the list goes on and on as I see the video again.
I tend to wonder how many players in the video kids these days would know. I'm sure they could pick out cultural icons like Joe D and Ruth. But would they even know that guy wearing #9 was Bill Mazeroski and that's his HR to beat the Yankees in the '60 World Series? Sadly, I doubt it. Or is everyone now just entralled with "modern day heroes" who play a kids game mostly for the money and fame. As sad as that is.
Anyway, that's my trip down Nostalgia Lane for today. Enjoy your FREEday!
This is a great article and I felt that I had to share it. Not to toot my own horn, but it backs up a lot of what I've been saying this for well over a year. Especially this little nugget...
Many companies are focusing on cost-cutting to keep profits growing, but the benefits are mostly going to shareholders instead of the broader economy, as management conserves cash rather than bolstering hiring and production. Harley, for example, has announced plans to cut 1,400 to 1,600 more jobs by the end of next year. That is on top of 2,000 job cuts last year - more than a fifth of its work force.
After a week off, I'm proud to proclaim FREEday is back! This was a long, grueling week at work for me. Next week isn't looking much better. But it's always nice to be able to sit back and relax at the end of the week knowing that the next 2 days are mine. Hence, the spirit of FREEday. This is your day. No one this side of your "significant other" can tell you what to do with your time. So enjoy it to the fullest!
(btw, sorry about the crappy video quality. Embedding was disabled on youtube.)
Now that Senate Democrats have enough votes to break the Republican filibuster, they have passed an extension of unemployment benefits. This is, obviously, cause for celebration for the unemployed masses in our country. Afterall, you can't exactly force a company to hire you. And if you do, you go to jail. Funny how that is.
Of course, the [now] fiscally-mindful conservatives in our Gov't are crying foul because the $34 billion needed to pay for the extension goes straight onto the national debt. This let me to think...wait, something isn't right here. I tend to remember Republicans hammering Obama's government wage freeze because it would only save around $25 billion a year.
So when President Obama tries to decrease the debt, "it isn't enough!!". But when he tries to do things that help Americans, and has the consequence of adding to the national debt, "it isn't right!!"
Laffer then reasoned that at a 100% tax rate, revenue would also be 0, since no one would want to work in a country where the government took 100% of everyone's income.
I'm going to do something absolutely crazy right now - I'm going to argue that Laffer can't be more wrong.
After months of lies and distortions, it appears that we are finally at the end of the road for the broken well that has been bleeding an unknown [yeah right] amount of oil into the Gulf of Mexico daily. BP has effectively capped the broken well after numerous well-known failures to slow and stop the leak. Whether capping the well is a good idea is a different debate. I feel they should not over-pressurize the system by capping it. Afterall, that might cause tears in the earth through which other leaks might form. Instead, if you have a solid seal, which it appears that they do, then pump the crap to a surface ship.
It also appears that the 2 relief wells are nearing completion. Through these secondary wells, the main, broken one will be permanently sealed with concrete. Then they will take on the role of pumping the oil reservoir. Incase anyone wasn't paying attention, these relief wells were supposed to be completed in August. So they are well ahead of schedule, which might be the only glimmer of good news in an otherwise multi-month-long nightmare. But at least it shows we are nearing the end of it.
Now comes the clean up portion of the show. Oh, and BP being fined the living hell out of for every gallon of oil that was spilled. We will see if they own up to their failures and pay the bill. Or will they take the cowards way out and declare bankruptcy? We shall see. Until then, yippie?!
(This deserves a front page acknowledgement-- thanks to Lysia and Faultguy--for teaming up to get this out to one and all! - promoted by lamb12)
Lysia asked for someone to repost this...and I gladly will. It's worth the 11 minutes of your life. If nothing else, just enjoy the dry erase board artwork [I'm no artist, so I'm always enthralled by what people can do with nothing more than a canvas, a pen and their hand].
Anyway, this is a great video that goes a long way to explain how the country got to this point from where it was in the 70's. I actually agree that labor shouldn't have too much power [so much for being a marxist, heh]. But the pendulum has shifted way Way WAY too far to the other side. I especially enjoyed the part where it talked about stagnant wages and how they got around that problem with easy credit. Nice way to not solve the problem.
A FREEday is a good day. So naturally I'll light this candle with some songs about bad days! Afterall, you have to take the bad with the good. Goodness, this week was full of both.
Factory workers demanding better wages and working conditions are hastening the eventual end of an era of cheap costs that helped make southern coastal China the world's factory floor.
And it begins. The end of cheap Chinese labor has begun and companies are scrambling to figure out their next move.
