Day: September 26, 2008

McKinney And Green Party Have The Answers

These are the proposals from the candidate and the party.  It is pretty lengthy but deserves to be read.

Pay for the massive transfer of wealth without placing the greater burden on working people and the poor. Those who made huge profits from the financial policies that led to the meltdown should be expected to pay for the major portion of the bailout, through the closing of tax loopholes and repeal of Bush tax cuts for top income earners, caps on CEO salaries and bonuses and on the corporate tax deductability of excessive CEO salaries and bonuses, and recovery of exorbitant payouts that financial industry executives have given themselves in recent decades, as well as a windfall proft tax on oil companies.

In bailing out financial institutions and absorbing their debt, assert the US government’s assumption of equity/ownership over them in exchange (as was done with AIG), and replace the secret negotiations and backroom deals that pervaded the industry with transparency and democratic control. “The Federal Reserve is becoming the lender of last resort. This means that the people are becoming the owners of the primary instruments of US capital and finance. This now means that the people have a say in how these instruments are to be used and what their priorities ought to be. The people should now have more say in how their tax dollars are spent and what the priorities of government and the public sector must be. We the people must now set our demands to ensure and promote the public good,” said Cynthia McKinney in her statement.

Stop appointing Treasury Secretaries, Federal Reserve board members, and other top financial policy-makers whose chief loyalties are to the major financial corporations from which they’re recruited. Restructure semi-private and private institutions like the Federal Reserve, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac to be owned, run, and staffed strictly for the public interest. “[T]he Federal Reserve should operate in the interests of the US taxpayer and not the interests of the private, international bankers that it currently represents. This, of course means that the Federal Reserve, too, must undergo a fundamental ownership and mission change,” said Ms. McKinney.

Impose a moratorium on foreclosures now before increases in the adjustable rate mortgage interest increases take effect; eliminate all adjustable rate mortgages; renegotiate the latter as 30- or 40-year loans; establish new mortgage lending practices to end predatory and discriminatory practices.
Establish criteria and construction goals for affordable housing; massively increase funding for housing programs that assist tenants (e.g., Section 8, public housing) that have been slashed repeatedly since the Reagan Administration. Recognize shelter as a right according to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, to which the US is a signatory.

Redefine credit and regulate the credit industry so that discriminatory practices are eliminated. Fully fund initiatives to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in home ownership.

Establish a fund to cushion job loss and provide for retraining of those at the bottom of the income scale as the economy transitions.

Increase taxes on corporations so that they pay their fair share and deny federal subsidies to those who relocate jobs overseas. Repeal NAFTA and renegotiate trade agreements so that national and local economies, jobs, human rights, and the environment are protected.

End military-industrial complex handouts. Major cuts in military contracts — especially if combined with a quick withdrawal of US troops and military contractors from Iraq and Afghanistan — will provide a huge windfall.

Downsize the insurance industry. Corporate health insurance is not an essential service and can be replaced with a single-payer national health care program that would drastically cut health care costs, since the profit-taking insurance and HMO middle-men would be eliminated.

Introduce creative ideas to democratize the financial industry, with alternative models such as public banks and insurance firms, consumer/worker ownership of such companies, and restructuring that would use the financial industry to promote conservation projects, transition to non-fossil-fuel energy and ecologically sound infrastructure, and creation of millions of jobs related to these efforts.

any thoughts of these proposals?

Is McCain Playing Political Theater?

Of course he is–that is his style–when his message loses its luster, he moves on to something else–the substance is weak and pathetic.

John McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign and return to Washington was little more than stagecraft, a political stunt to garner photo opportunities and to distract voters from his sinking campaign, congressional leaders suggested this evening, Sept. 25th.

From the time he announced his decision to suspend his campaign in New York, McCain stayed the night in the Big Apple in order to conduct a few interviews with friendly media, according to various media sources. So much for a national emergency requiring immediate action, some commentators suggested.

In fact, McCain arrived in Washington just as the first announcements of a deal between Congress and the White House were being made, somewhere close to 24 hours after McCain’s declaration of the emergency.
Aside from failing to abide by his own announcement of suspension, McCain appears to have done very little while on Capitol Hill. Congressional Democrats seem to feel that John McCain’s role in the bailout negotiations has been a hindrance. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, told CBS news that he thinks the late afternoon White House summit “was more of a political stunt for McCain.” Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters that at the meaning with the president, McCain had little to say and when he did speak he “said nothing substantive.
While a deal between Congress and the White House on the bailout plan appeared to be struck in the early afternoon, political insiders are now suggesting that McCain’s late arrival delayed the deal in order for him to float an alternative plan that offered nothing of substance except more tax breaks for corporations and less independent regulatory oversight. McCain’s alternative plan suggested little deviance from George W. Bush’s usual economic policies.

Once again McCain is just a continuation of the present policies.  He learned nothing from the S&L meltdown back in the day.

Credit: Truth Not Spoken

First of all we need to establish one thing—credit is fictitious capital or wealth, if you will. Simply put the sale of a commodity consists of —the exchange of the commodity for the commodity of money. The seller may accept a promise of payment in the future which then becomes—the seller is the creditor and the buyer the debtor.

Credit for too long has been accepted in lieu of cash or money. The growth of the use of credit has created an unstable element within the economy. This involves an unstable chain of interdependences since each agent depends on payment by their debtors so they may pay their creditors. Once a kink forms in this chain it begins to amplify exponentially. The economic crisis the US is facing now is just such a situation. It all began with the foreclosures and mushroomed from there.

Each of the credit crises precipitates the wholesale destruction of weaker capitals which in turn will force the government to react to save the weaker capital. Just read or listen to the economic news of the day, this is happening as I write. AS it stands today there are NO natural recovery mechanism for the problems, the government MUST react and react quickly.

Now the problem is, as I see it, have arisen because of accumulation, insufficient competition and excessive greed by Wall Street speculators. Unfortunately, they cannot be managed away by Fed intervention, no matter how progressive or populist they may be. Why? First of all, to solve this problem there will have to be an attack on domestic programs, basically attacking the middle class or most notably the working class.

The economic crises of today are because of the addiction to living above ones means or on credit. Also, since income and such are stagnant the working class is forced to maintain their lifestyle through the use of credit.

NO! To Wall Street Bailout

Sorry guys but the money will not last much longer.  Eventually the government is going to have to just let one of these large speculation firms fail.

There was Goldman-Sachs, Fannie and Freddie, Lehman Bros, Bear-Stearns and the list will most likely continue and at some point we will have to stop the bailouts.  Unfortunately, there is NO limitless supply of funds.  The question is, when will the American voter decide enough is enough?

The plan, which is being rushed through Congress for passage this week, is the response of the government and the entire political establishment to what is acknowledged to be the greatest economic crisis since the Wall Street crash of 1929. It calls for an unprecedented transfer of public funds to the major banks and the American financial elite at the expense of the broad mass of the people.

Both the plan itself and the manner in which it is being imposed are deeply undemocratic. Exploiting the breakdown in US and global financial markets, the financial aristocracy, which is responsible for the crisis, is exercising its control over the government, both political parties, and the media to implement policies of the most far-reaching character without any genuine debate or discussion. As in the aftermath of 9/11, it is seeking to utilize the crisis to push through policies that would otherwise be considered entirely unacceptable.

None of the measures being carried out changes the underlying causes of the financial meltdown, nor will they resolve the crisis. At most, they will only postpone the day of reckoning.

This flagrantly unconstitutional provision establishes the unelected Treasury secretary as a law unto himself, beyond the control or oversight of Congress, other executive agencies or the courts. Two things need to be said of this provision: It makes overt what is normally hidden behind the trappings of American democracy—that is, the dictatorship of finance capital—and it implicitly acknowledges that what is being proposed is a violation of law. Why else insist that no one be allowed to challenge it in court?

Without some sort of oversight—then I say no to this attempt to just help the speculators that put us in this crisis.

Who Should Profit From The Bailout?

The quick answer is–not the pigs that put us in this trick bag of debt and crisis.

The situation is so dire that some type of dramatic action is needed to avoid disaster for U.S. workers. Organized labor, community groups and others are increasingly angry at the bailout currently on the table. Any plan before Congress must:

1) Protect homeowners faced with foreclosure by restructuring mortgage rates to be in line with family income.

2) Create economic stimulus for working people and small businesses.

3) Provide $100 billion in emergency relief to state and local governments wracked with budget cuts and diminished tax revenue.

4) Bar CEO severance packages and cap the pay of executives receiving a bailout.

5) Regulate banking and finance with transparent public oversight.

6) Maintain public control over monopolies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that have a decisive role in the economy.

7) Control speculation and increase revenues by taxing large financial transactions.

There is another drag on the economy that should be stopped–that is the War In Iraq which is costing in the neighborhood of multiple millions of dollars a day.

Developments are moving quickly and their full impact has yet to be felt, but let’s make sure that American workers — those who made this country rich — do not further suffer at the expense of the financial elites, those who have created this crisis.

I realize that I am not in the loop when it comes to the economic big-shots in Washington, but most of America is angry with this bailout.  Then I say find away that thew average person has a reason to support it.  Why?  Oh never fear, there will be a bailout, but the question should be who should profit?

The Race Is On

The announcement of a virtually open-ended government bailout of Wall Street has set off a frenzied competition among the biggest banks and financial firms to grab the lion’s share of the super profits to be reaped from the program.

Banks, brokerage houses, insurance firms, mortgage lenders, private equity companies and asset managers are furiously lobbying the Bush administration and Congress to make sure that the legislation authorizing the bailout gives them the biggest possible share in the spoils. Behind the public speech-making and posturing by administration officials, presidential candidates and congressmen, a sordid campaign of influence-peddling and vote-buying is under way, which will determine the details of the bailout law that is expected to be passed either this week or next.

Tens of billions of dollars in corporate profits and billions more in personal windfalls for senior executives and big investors are at stake. The plan drawn up by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson not only allows the biggest financial firms to rid themselves of virtually worthless assets that are driving down their stock and slashing their profits, it provides vast opportunities for the winners in the money race to realize huge gains from the management of the program and the ultimate resale of the assets by the government.

And The (Economic) Beat Goes On

We have a deal….candidates arrive at White House….Deal is shattered…Damn!  This is great political theater.

The day began with an agreement that Washington hoped would end the financial crisis that has gripped the nation. It dissolved into a verbal brawl in the Cabinet Room of the White House, urgent warnings from the president and pleas from a Treasury secretary who knelt before the House speaker and appealed for her support

When Congressional leaders and Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, the two major party presidential candidates, trooped to the White House on Thursday afternoon, most signs pointed toward a bipartisan agreement on a grand compromise that could be accepted by all sides and signed into law by the weekend. It was intended to pump billions of dollars into the financial system, restoring liquidity and keeping credit flowing to businesses and consumers.

But once the doors closed, the smooth-talking House Republican leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, surprised many in the room by declaring that his caucus could not support the plan to allow the government to buy distressed mortgage assets from ailing financial companies.  Did he use his patent weeping as a tool?

Mr. Boehner pressed an alternative that involved a smaller role for the government, and Mr. McCain, whose support of the deal is critical if fellow Republicans are to sign on, declined to take a stand.

The talks broke up in angry recriminations, according to accounts provided by a participant and others who were briefed on the session, and were followed by dueling news conferences and interviews rife with partisan finger-pointing.

In other words, the candidates did not help the process at all—so why are they there?