Day: July 21, 2010

Finally! It Is Everything They Wanted!

Today is the big day!  The Prez will sign the new and improved FinReg bill into law….and it is everything they wanted….by they I mean Wall Street…..Obama has said….

“Because of this reform, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street’s mistakes. There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts—period.”

The GOP immediately sent out their Agent Orange, Rep. Boehner, to condemn the bill and its passage (go figure)….which to me is astonishing because Wall Street made out like a bandit and the GOP should be pleased that the bill was so watered down…..or is it just a political tactic?

Any way……

The bill authorizes the allocation of pubic funds to pay for the operation, without congressional approval, with the proviso that the major banks would subsequently be taxed to defer some of the cost.

This amounts to the institutionalization of financial rescue operations, instead of the ad hoc methods employed in the fall of 2008. The procedure is being put into place precisely because the regulatory overhaul fails to impose any real restrictions on the speculative activities of the banks.

It does not restore the legal wall between commercial banking and investment banking, a central reform carried out during the Depression of the 1930s to prevent deposit-taking commercial banks from engaging in the high-risk speculation that is the bread and butter of investment banks and brokerages. The weakening and final removal of this wall in 1999 during the Clinton administration encouraged the wave of speculation and swindling that led to the collapse in September 2008.

It does not cap executive compensation.

It does not eliminate or seriously limit trading in derivatives, the complex and opaque financial instruments that played a central role in the collapse of American International Group (AIG) and threatened to topple the entire banking system.

Instead, the bill sets up what some have called a Potemkin village of regulatory structures with little real substance, which Wall Street banks will have little difficulty manipulating and gaming. For the most part, the details concerning how much capital banks must hold in reserve, what percentage of their capital they can invest in hedge funds, which types of derivatives will be forced onto clearinghouses and exchanges and which will continue to be traded in the “shadow banking system,” etc. will be determined by the various regulatory agencies.  It will grow the bureaucracy but will not cease the gambling by the Banksters with taxpayer money.

Once again the paid agents of Wall Street have successfully set the stage for another economic meltdown…….sooner rather than later……the only good thing is that youtube is up and alive and everything anyone has ever said about FinReg has been recorded and it will come back to them in the near future…….the American people are getting their Christmas goose early…..sorry to be a buzz kill!

Where Is The Condemnation?

More from the VOMITORIUM

By now I believe everybody has witnessed the story of the black lady who worked for the USDA and her racist rant….which was a total fabrication…..and the mainstream media once it got the whole tape came down on the side of the Right and asking why the WH act too quickly to force this woman to resign….

I agree that the government acted before the whole picture was seen……but that is NOT the story they should be reporting….but then ALL conservs will do the stories that will do the most harm to the Pres…..that is ALL that matters to make the WH look ineffectual and panicky…….

The REAL story should be that some yellow journalist has ruined the life of an innocent person…..all the try and get even with the NAACP for the resolution on racists in the Tea Party……..it is all about a woman that was slandered by some pig on the Far Right and NO one is holding him accountable, at least in the media.  Why?

The Mainstream Media should be ashamed of itself….if they want to be journalist than they need to let the bullshit reside where it is most comfortable….FOX News.  Watching FOX news I have NOT seen them apologize for their coverage on a loop to be sure that all their pea brain viewers would get a shot at it…….and after some coward trying to disguise himself as a journalist has gone on FOX and defended the tape…and still NO one has called him to task to his action…….

Let me be the first (hopefully NOT) to apologize to Ms. Sherrod for the treatment she has received and continues to receive in the media…”I am truly sorry for the actions of the media…..it is never about the truth but rather the agenda”…….

If you dipsticks take these people seriously as journalists then you deserve the crap they feed you!

A Solution For Afghanistan

The College of Political Knowledge

Professor’s Classroom

International Studies

Subject:  Afghan Politics

I thank my friend Quin over at Quintessential Havoc (blogroll will get you to his site) for making me think about this….I enjoy it when my talents are put to the task and Quin does have a way of pulling my chain….thanx my friend…..

As the war in Afghanistan drags on into its 10th year, there are many that are asking just what is the end game in the country, me being one of many that is asking.  There are many vague excuses for the continuation of the armed conflict….you noticed I said vague?  Yes vague…..is it to get al Qaeda?  How about the Taliban?  We are trying to give Afghanistan its first stable government in a thousand years.  But we are NOT there to build a nation.  What would you call it when one country imposes its political beliefs on another through the use of arms?

In case you are not sure….it is called NATION BUILDING………

Because of the tribal mentality of the country there is only ONE logical and rational answer….a DICTATORSHIP!  Sorry people…..you must be realistic….there is NO way that Afghanistan will ever have a stable representative government like the US in the foreseeable future.  The only viable alternative is a dictatorship…like it or not….

We have seen how weak the president/legislation example is in Afghanistan?  There will NEVER be a stable form of representative democracy in Afghanistan.  An authoritarian dictatorship would be the ONLY answer for stability.  If you like we could call it a guided democracy if that makes you more comfortable.

An authoritarian dictatorship would have a command of the political system but is kept in check by other institutions like the church or the military.  And that brings us to another point…Afghanistan needs a strong general that can command ALL the army and keep it in tow.

Saddam comes to mind…..that much hated dictator of years past…..but if you look at the societal part of his reign you will find education for all, including women, health care for all from cradle to grave, inexpensive energy, abundant food…granted his rule had its ugly sides but there was relative peace within the country…Afghanistan could use a good dictator at this point if they are ever to move into the 21st century.

Or another example is Libya…..an authoritarian state with an assembly of 700+ seats elected from the people’s committees….this could be a sample of what to do….give the heads of the different factions a seat in government, in the Jirga…..

Like it or not, without what I outlined the US and its troops will be serving and dying in Afghanistan for a generation or more.  Let us NOT delude ourselves…..calling for a democracy will NOT make it so.  Many people have many definitions for democracy , but to think that Afghanistan will ever have an American style democracy is just a pipe dream, at best.