Category Archives: Politics

November 20, 2011 · 1:26 pm

America’s ‘Brain Drain’: Best And Brightest College Grads Head For Wall Street

Okay, I’ve published enough fluff for today.

Let’s get back to Politics….

This is one of the biggest issues associated with income inequality.  And it’s frequently overlooked.

The ridiculous salaries on Wall Street are creating a Brain Drain that draws young people, fresh out of College and many with large student loans, to go to Wall Street to try chase the dream to slave for ten years or so and retire billionaires at 40.

All these ridiculous, complex new financial instruments, like Credit Default Swaps, Hedge funds, etc. are really legalized gambling, market manipulation and frankly, fraud, created by super smart people to make a quick buck.  The old, staid Wall Street of yore would never have thought these things up or known what to do with them.

Face it, the guys who used to run Wall Street weren’t that smart…

Now young people who should be attracted to  jobs that might make Society better, be more fulfilling and create something positive are all running to Wall Street to try to think up the next ridiculously complex financial instrument to make themselves rich- no matter who it hurts or that it adds nothing to society.

Let’s get back to the basics:

  1. Banks hold deposits and lend money to credit worthy people and companies-preferably in their local communities.  None should be “too big to fail.”  If they screw up, let them fail.
  2. Wall Street trades stocks and bonds for people to invest in companies that survive by respecting their workers and the social contract, create]ing something we actually need or want in the world and don’t give all their money to a few top executives and CEO’s no matter how badly they perform.
  3. Wall Street Investment Banks should invest in actual entities and not manipulative gambling instruments.
  4. Young people need to be taught to explore their talents and try to meld them with a career that will give them a decent salary, give something back to the world and thus provide a sense of personal fulfillment.

It’s all out of whack….priorities, salaries, creativity and risk.

It shouldn’t  all be about a quick and easy buck-like today’s system encourages….

From Huffington Post:

But what if top students didn’t go to Wall Street? What if, rather than creating complex financial products that collapsed the global economy, they were building bridges and creating new technologies instead?

As America struggles to create jobs and get back on its feet after the recession — caused largely by the financial industry’s recklessness — the country is in desperate need of more entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists and other professionals, a complaint regularly made by non-Wall Street business leaders and members of both major political parties.

Lee Jackson is a senior economics major at Stanford who edits a financial newsletter called The Opportune Time. He has interned on Wall Street and plans to work in finance after graduation, but admits the profession needs reform.

“I think the emphasis is more on making money and making a profit, and there’s been less emphasis … on what the greater societal implications of that are,” he said, pointing to fields like law and medicine that focus on the needs of the client or patient and have outreach programs to help low-income individuals. During the debate over Wall Street reform, meanwhile, bank lobbyists fought a provision in the Dodd-Frank legislation that would require financial companies to operate in the best interests of their clients.

“Over the past few years in the mainstream American culture, the bad side of American finance has come out time and time again,” he added. “But my fear is that the good side of finance and the side that can help people save for retirement, build their own wealth and be able to support themselves [will be lost].”

Yet without a cultural shift and reforms that rein in the financial industry’s sky-high profits and salaries, a disproportionate number of the best and the brightest will continue to head to Wall Street.

“Our financial system remains out of whack in terms of regulation, compensation, and until our economy is stronger, it’s not surprising that young people will be attracted to the place where the money and jobs are,” Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senate candidate and creator of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told The Huffington Post. “In a sense … it’s a demand problem, [as well as] the fact there is not enough demand in the rest of the economy. It’s both problems.”

via America’s ‘Brain Drain’: Best And Brightest College Grads Head For Wall Street.

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November 15, 2011 · 10:36 pm

Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on Mayor Bloomberg and Occupy Wall Street

Priceless….

He says just what I was thinking:  Michael Bloomberg is now in the same league as George Wallace, Senator Joseph McCarthy and others of that ilk….

I’ll let Keith say it as only Keith can:

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November 15, 2011 · 10:11 pm

House GOP Classifies Pizza As A Vegetable

Who wrote this law?  Herman Cain?

I think after this, we can safely classify the House GOP Caucus as a vegetable.

I’ve seen some idiotic bills come out of the GOP Caucus.  I’ve seen some blatant bills where it’s obvious payback to campaign contributors and lobbyists.

This is an excellent example of both.

From ThinkProgress.org:

Earlier this year, the USDA made an attempt to bolster the nutrition guidelines for the federal school lunch program. Under the new guidelines, for instance, school lunches would be limited to one cup of starchy vegetables a week and the ability of schools to count tomato sauce on pizza towards their fruit and vegetables requirement would be scaled back. But House Republicans, in a new spending plan unveiled yesterday, have done away with those changes:

The spending bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. The department’s proposed guidelines would have attempted to prevent that.

The changes had been requested by food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers. Some conservatives in Congress have called the push for healthier foods an overreach, saying the government shouldn’t be telling children what to eat.

According to a bill summary released by Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee, these provisions are meant to “prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations.” What they will actually do is ensure that a steady flow of dollars continues toward certain favored food manufacturers, at the expense of children’s health.

“We are outraged that Congress is seriously considering language that would effectively categorize pizza as a vegetable in the school lunch program,” said Amy Dawson Taggart, the director of Mission: Readiness, a group advocating for healthier school lunches. “It doesn’t take an advanced degree in nutrition to call this a national disgrace.”

via House GOP Classifies Pizza As A Vegetable To ‘Prevent Overly Burdensome’ School Lunch Regulations | ThinkProgress.

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November 15, 2011 · 8:57 pm

Colin Powell: Occupy Wall Street Demonstrations Are ‘As American As Apple Pie’

Seems he’s in the minority on this- at least among the GOP.

Mayor Bloomberg certainly doesn’t seem to agree with this opinion…

 

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are “as American as apple pie,” former Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a recent interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan. According to Powell, there is plenty of justification for the movement’s outrage, but also some reason for concern over its direction.

Powell began by recalling his upbringing in Harlem and the Bronx at a time when his parents didn’t make much, but were at least able to find stable employment.

“I don’t think either of them ever made more than 50 or 60 dollars a week,” Powell said. “Both my parents worked for as long as I can remember, they always worked, they always had work.”

But this sort of job stability is no longer present, the retired four-star Army general said, a fact that is now serving as a catalyzing force for the Occupy movement.

“People are concerned now that there is not that source of an income, there isn’t that work source that I remember,” Powell continued. “What you’re seeing with Occupy Wall Street and the others are people who are unhappy and they’re directing their unhappiness now toward Wall Street and toward those they think are doing too well in our society.”

via Colin Powell: Occupy Wall Street Demonstrations Are ‘As American As Apple Pie’.

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November 15, 2011 · 5:32 pm

Scalia and Thomas dine with healthcare law challengers as court takes case

There is no way this is not a conflict of interest, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

Everyone knows Scalia and Thomas are idealogues and could not care less about either the perception or the reality of a conflict of interest.

Amazing how quaint Judicial qualities like honor, honesty and impartiality seem when you look at these guys….

But then, they are lawyers….

From the LA Times:

 

It’s nothing new: The two justices have been attending Federalist Society events for years. And it’s nothing that runs afoul of ethics rules. In fact, justices are exempt from the Code of Conduct that governs the actions of lower federal judges.

If they were, they arguably fell under code’s Canon 4C, which states, “A judge may attend fund-raising events of law-related and other organizations although the judge may not be a speaker, a guest of honor, or featured on the program of such an event.“

Nevertheless, the sheer proximity of Scalia and Thomas to two of the law firms in the case, as well as to a company with a massive financial interest, was enough to alarm ethics-in-government activists.

“This stunning breach of ethics and indifference to the code belies claims by several justices that the court abides by the same rules that apply to all other federal judges,” said Bob Edgar, the president of Common Cause. “The justices were wining and dining at a black-tie fundraiser with attorneys who have pending cases before the court. Their appearance and assistance in fundraising for this event undercuts any claims of impartiality, and is unacceptable.”

Scalia and Thomas have shown little regard for critics who say they too readily mix the business of the court with agenda-driven groups such as the Federalist Society. And Thomas’ wife, Ginni, is a high-profile conservative activist.

Moreover, conservatives argue that it’s Justice Elena Kagan who has an ethical issue, not Scalia and Thomas. Kagan served as solicitor general in the Obama administration when the first legal challenges to the law were brought at the trial court level. Her critics have pushed for Kagan to recuse herself from hearing the case, saying that she was too invested in defending the law then to be impartial now. Kagan has given no indication she will do so.

via Scalia and Thomas dine with healthcare law challengers as court takes case – latimes.com.

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November 11, 2011 · 10:10 am

Happy Veterans Day: This Year It’s a Little Different

Many thank to ALL our veterans.  We honor you today and every day.

This Veterans Day is a little different.  For the first time, we can openly recognize and thank our Gay and Lesbian Veterans who have served so long, so well and in silence.

A special Thank You to you and to those brave soldiers, such as a man I’m proud to call my friend, Col. Andy Leonard, who fought so long and hard to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  They fought to allow all vets to be recognized not just for what they do, but to do so without fear that who they are might end their service.

Now we can truly thank all the Vets as they proudly stand openly and together.

Here is a blogpost from the Human Rights Campaign with another Vet’s story:

The following post is from Retired Marine Staff Sergeant Eric Alva:

Today is Veterans Day.  It’s a day to honor all those who have served their country – our country.  Whether they saw combat, or served during times of peace, all who have worn the uniform of any of the five branches of the U.S. Military, are heroes in my eyes.  I salute them.

This year, Veterans Day is a little different.  The honor the uniform commands has always been there, even when we were forced to serve in silence, but this year openly gay veterans like me are holding our heads a little higher because this is the first Veterans Day without the stain of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on our nation.

Last month I was proud to attend the HRC National Dinner.  I’ve attended the dinner the past several years, but this was the first year I wore my uniform to the gala.  I wasn’t alone.  Hundreds of veterans were there that night, some in uniform, others not.  But what struck me the most was not the sheer number of service members and veterans at the Washington Convention Center, but the look in all of their eyes.  That night we knew two things: our nation had changed, and we were part of that change.

Today, on Veterans Day, the love I have for my country is as strong as it’s ever been.  I am proud that I fought for my country, and that fight includes fighting to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  People who are willing to fight and die for their country are rare.  We should not be denied the opportunity to serve, we should be encouraged.  I’m thankful we now are.

Happy Veterans Day.  God bless the United States of America.

Eric Alva was the first American service member wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom, when he triggered a landmine just three hours into the conflict, losing his right leg.  He served as HRC’s spokesperson in our efforts to repeal DADT.  He stood behind President Obama as he signed DADT repeal into law.

via Guest Post: This Year Veterans Day is a Little Different | Backstory Blog | Human Rights Campaign.

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November 10, 2011 · 8:06 pm

Wall Street Transaction Tax Would Raise $350 Billion

This makes way too much sense to ever become law….

This is not aimed at true investors, but rather at the Market manipulators who treat Wall Street much the way other gamblers treat Las Vegas…

Unfortunately, these same people, who would pay this miniscule tax, now own most of our Senators and Congressmen.  Therefore, they will say it’s better to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security than to implement this transaction tax….

 

A minuscule tax on financial transactions proposed by congressional Democrats would raise more than $350 billion over the next nine years, according to an analysis by the Joint Tax Committee, a nonpartisan congressional scorekeeping panel.

The analysis was sent Monday to the offices of Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the lawmakers who proposed the tax, and provided to The Huffington Post.

The Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act would impose a tax of 0.03 percent on financial transactions, meaning that longterm investors would barely notice it, but traders who move rapidly in and out of positions would feel its sting and, the authors hope, reduce the volume of their speculation in response.

via Wall Street Transaction Tax Would Raise $350 Billion.

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November 10, 2011 · 5:26 pm

Bank Of America Charges Debit Fees for Unemployment Benefits Debit Cards

This is just disgusting….

I can’t say this often enough:  If States, Federal and Local Governments are going to contract with these banks to manage Government Benefits, these contracts should specify that these banks cannot charge these poor people fees to use the benefits.

This is robbery of the poor and most vulnerable by the rich, politically powerful, government bailed-out banks who assume these people don’t have the power to fight back.

B of A already gets a percentage of each charge from the merchant.  That’s fine as that’s how the credit/debit card system is meant to work.  The cost is- or should be- built into consumer  pricing….

These additional fees are at the very least immoral and should be illegal.

I’ll say it again:  Bank of America is just plain evil….

From the Huffington Post:

Bank of America recently aborted plans to charge ordinary banking customers $5 a month to use their debit cards in the face of national outrage. But the bank has quietly continued to mine another source of fees: jobless people who depend upon the bank’s prepaid debit cards to tap their benefits. Bank of America and other financial firms — including U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase — have secured contracts to provide access to public benefits in 41 states. These contracts typically allow banks to collect unlimited fees from merchants and consumers.

In short, the same banks whose speculation delivered a financial crisis that has destroyed millions of jobs have figured out how to turn widespread unemployment into a profit center: The larger the number of people who are out of work and dependent upon the state for sustenance, the greater the potential gains through administering their benefits.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Sue Berkowitz, director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, a Columbia nonprofit that represents low-income people facing foreclosure, food insecurity and other problems. “It should not cost you any more to use a debit card than if they had issued you a check.”

For the state, handing Bank of America responsibility for unemployment benefits secured cost savings, said Berkowitz, but they have come at vulnerable people’s expense.

via For Bank Of America, Debit Fees Extend To Unemployment Benefits.

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November 10, 2011 · 12:57 pm

How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the OWS Protests

Brilliant article in “Rolling Stone” by Matt Taibbi.  Finally, someone truly both gets and can articulate the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Here is a very brief excerpt and a link to the full article.  I strongly encourage you to click the link and read the entire article.

It’s not very long, so don’t be afraid….

 

…Occupy Wall Street was always about something much bigger than a movement against big banks and modern finance. It’s about providing a forum for people to show how tired they are not just of Wall Street, but everything. This is a visceral, impassioned, deep-seated rejection of the entire direction of our society, a refusal to take even one more step forward into the shallow commercial abyss of phoniness, short-term calculation, withered idealism and intellectual bankruptcy that American mass society has become. If there is such a thing as going on strike from one’s own culture, this is it. And by being so broad in scope and so elemental in its motivation, it’s flown over the heads of many on both the right and the left.

via How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the OWS Protests | Politics News | Rolling Stone.

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November 9, 2011 · 5:05 pm

National Review: Cain Is More “Authentically Black” Than Obama

I knew it was only a matter of time before the GOP started this…

They are so proud to have a Black Republican they just don’t know what to do….

All I can think of is Bernice on “Designing Women” when here dementia acts up and she starts singing “Black Man, Black Man”…..

From a great Mother Jones article critiquing this idiotic article in the National Review:

The comparison between Cain and Obama isn’t so much “volatile” as it is flattering to conservatives who, having latched onto Cain as a racial alibi, an explanation for the fact that the party of Lincoln hasn’t broken 20 percent of the black vote since Richard Nixon, desperately need a symbolic figure of racial absolution. The only time conservatives aren’t using trite arguments about black authenticity as an explanation for ongoing racial disparities is when they’re relying on them to show everyone how well they understand the soul of the Negro. Hanson doesn’t bother to explain how it is that the overwhelming majority of black people haven’t discerned that Barack Obama is a fraud and that Herman Cain is the second coming of Marcus Garvey, but that’s because their “brainwashed” opinions don’t actually matter. The sole purpose of establishing Cain’s racial authenticity, premised as it is on Hanson’s rather limited view of what constitutes “the black experience,” is for Hanson to flatter himself and his ideological allies as racially enlightened.

Link to full Story:   National Review: Cain Is More “Authentically Black” Than Obama | Mother Jones.

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