Treasury to overhaul derivatives trading market

Better late than never. The same people who don't think we have an economic problem also thought it was OK to let this shady market evade oversight. If the risks weren't so high and the impact for everyone so great it would be one thing, but as we now know that was not the case. Treasury really needs to address the issue of high risk/high reward because as it stands today, Wall Street took plenty of risk and regardless of the outcome continues to pay high rewards even though it's not their own money. The gambling might be limited if this group actually had to eat their own losses.

It's about time some level of oversight is coming.

The Obama administration is asking Congress to extend its oversight of the financial system to include the shadowy market of derivatives, the kind of complex financial instruments that helped bring down the giant insurer AIG.

In a two-page letter sent Wednesday to congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he wants to create a central electronic-based system that would track the buying and selling of derivatives. He also wants to ensure that financial firms selling the instruments have enough capital on hand in case they default and subject them to stringent standards of conduct and new reporting requirements.

Read More......

Desperate for a scary political issues, Republicans freak over closing Guantanamo

George Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove have done enormous damage to the GOP brand -- Rove and Cheney are still out there doing even more to ruin it (thanks, guys). They indoctrinated the GOP into thinking that scary terrorist images are a requisite for politics. That's so 2002, but Republicans can't get past it.

I found this column on the GOP's hyperventilating over closing Guantanamo and putting the detainees in U.S. prisons by way of Kos' midday open thread. Markos wrote "Too much common sense for a single column." And, he's right. The part that struck me was the paragraph on Missouri Senator Kit Bond:

Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), in the party's weekly radio address Saturday, raised the possibility the detainees might be coming to "a halfway house in Missouri." To head off such threats, Republicans have introduced "The Keep Terrorists Out of America Act" -- which would forbid the president from moving the inmates to any state without first getting approval from the governor and the legislature. It seems like only yesterday conservatives were intent on upholding the powers of the commander in chief against encroachment by 535 armchair generals. I'm trying to imagine the reaction if, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Democrats had proposed legislation requiring the president to get a state's consent to send its National Guard troops to Iraq.

Kit Bond was a good choice to spew that message for the Republicans. As Fired Up Missouri reported, one of the terrorist masterminds, who actually had a trial and was convicted, spent time in --- Missouri:

Before Roy Blunt and Kit Bond get too far ahead of themselves with the "terrorists in our midst" demagoguery, they probably need to go back and remember how outraged they were when terrorist cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman -- the "Blind Sheik" -- was imprisoned in Missouri. Abdel-Rahman has stayed at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield several times since 1995. He lives in North Carolina now, but was kept in Springfield from 2003-2007.

I sure don't remember much outrage from Majority Leader/Majority Whip Roy Blunt and Senator Kit Bond during that time, do you?

Abdel-Rahman, you may remember, was sentenced to life in prison after his 1995 conviction for his advisory role in a plot to blow up New York City landmarks, including the United Nations. He isn't an enemy combatant, or a suspected terrorist or some sort of potential terrorist like the detainees in Guantanamo Bay legal limbo. He is a convicted terrorist. And he happens to be imprisoned just fine with other scumbugs at a federal correctional facility.

When Abdel-Rahman was in Missouri from 2003-2007, how many scary press releases did Bond and Blunt send out telling families that the Bush Administration was jeopardizing their safety? Um...zero.

Kit Bond and Roy Blunt have no confidence in Missouri's law enforcement personnel. But, they've already proven they can do the job. Read More......

About Palin's book deal

From an email going around:

Gov. Palin is reported to have signed a contract to write a book about her life, including her experiences as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate last year. In recent efforts to rehabilitate her image, she has talked about her love of reading and mentioned that one of her favorite authors is C.S. Lewis. There is, so far, no confirmation to the rumor that her new book will be entitled, "The Lyin', the Witch and the Wardrobe."

Read More......

No wonder Norm Coleman wants to use campaign funds for legal fees: The FBI is investigating him.

Yesterday, we did a post on one of our least favorite politicians: Norm Coleman. Seems the sleazy ex-Senator from Minnesota wants to use his campaign funds (the money people are ostensibly giving to help with his recount lawsuits) to pay for other legal bills associated with his benefactor, Nasser Kazeminy. Mr. Kazeminy is accused by his business partners of funneling money to Mrs. Norm Coleman.

Well, since we wrote that post, the story got even more interesting. As Sam Stein first reported yesterday, FBI is asking witnesses about Coleman's ties to Kazeminy -- in matters unrelated to that other lawsuit. The FBI wants to know if Kazeminy has been buying clothes for Mr. and Mrs. Coleman. Sam Stein first broke this story last night.

The Star-Tribune has more today:

The FBI continues to investigate the relationship between former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman and a close friend who has been a major political donor, according to a source who was questioned by the FBI.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said the interview with two FBI agents occurred within the past two weeks. They asked questions about an allegation that Bloomington financier Nasser Kazeminy paid for suits and other items for Coleman and his wife, Laurie, at Nieman Marcus in Minneapolis.

"They said they've been talking to a lot of people,'' the source said Thursday.

This clothes issue came up during the campaign. Last October, on several occasions, Coleman's campaign wouldn't answer the questions of reporters -- because Coleman's campaign wouldn't respond to blogs:

The failure to answer those questions makes more sense now. Maybe Coleman's campaign will answer questions for the FBI. Read More......

Boy Scouts depict US Iraq vets as terrorists in bizarre paramilitary training for teenage Scouts

From the NYT:

Ten minutes into arrant mayhem in this town near the Mexican border, and the gunman, a disgruntled Iraq war veteran, has already taken out two people, one slumped in his desk, the other covered in blood on the floor.

The responding officers — eight teenage boys and girls, the youngest 14 — face tripwire, a thin cloud of poisonous gas and loud shots — BAM! BAM! — fired from behind a flimsy wall. They move quickly, pellet guns drawn and masks affixed....

The Explorers program, a coeducational affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America that began 60 years ago, is training thousands of young people in skills used to confront terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating border violence — an intense ratcheting up of one of the group’s longtime missions to prepare youths for more traditional jobs as police officers and firefighters.

Interesting that of all the potential terrorists in the world, the Boy Scouts chose a "disgruntled Iraq war veteran" as their bad guy for this very bizarre training session. But putting that aside, why are the Explorers, an affiliate of the Boy Scouts, apparently training young boys as some kind of glorified paramilitary force to take on terrorism, illegal immigration and "escalating border violence"?

That photo, above, is straight out of Somalia. Whose idea was this, Loud Dobbs and the NRA?:

Cathy Noriego, also 16, said she was attracted by the guns. The group uses compressed-air guns — known as airsoft guns, which fire tiny plastic pellets — in the training exercises, and sometimes they shoot real guns on a closed range.

“I like shooting them,” Cathy said. “I like the sound they make. It gets me excited.”

Nice. And oh, there's more:

The law enforcement posts are restricted to those ages 14 to 21 who have a C average, but there seems to be some wiggle room. “I will take them at 13 and a half,” Deputy Lowenthal said. “I would rather take a kid than possibly lose a kid.”

Wow, a C average. And 13 year olds? And this:

In a competition in Arizona that he did not oversee, Deputy Lowenthal said, one role-player wore traditional Arab dress. “If we’re looking at 9/11 and what a Middle Eastern terrorist would be like,” he said, “then maybe your role-player would look like that. I don’t know, would you call that politically incorrect?”

That didn't take long.

Remember when the Boy Scouts were about being a good kid and helping others. Then they turned into religious right activists, and now they think they're Blackwater. Just look at that photo. Absolutely sickening. Read More......

House Republicans looking to recruit more pro-choice candidates

First off, as Markos says, good luck with that. But more importantly, the House Republicans just threw out their pro-life litmus test? (Scooby Doo's head just bobbled back and forth.) This is not going to go over well with the Christian fundamentalists who run the Republican party. How long until the House Republicans issue a "clarification," a la Michael Steele, on their hands and knees begging forgiveness? Read More......

Mom McCain blasts Limbaugh

Dear Lord, the woman is 97 years old. Watch this, it's short. It's rather amazing to see any Republican say this, let alone a 97 year old. Ben Smith transcribed a small bit.

Read More......

Boehner flip flops on Intelligence Community

Then again, intelligence was never Boehner's strong suit. From the Media Matters Action Network:

Today, May 14, 2009, Rep. John Boehner criticized Speaker Pelosi's press conference by saying, "it's hard for me to imagine that our intelligence area would ever mislead a member of Congress." Yet in 2007, Rep. Boehner criticized our nation's intelligence community by saying, "either I don't have confidence in what they told me several months ago or I don't have confidence in what they're telling me today." Once again, rather than finding the truth, Rep. Boehner is playing politics.

Read More......

Anti-gay bigots -- this time Sarah Palin -- invoke Obama, again, to justify discrimination

At some point, the White House needs to shut this down. From RawStory:

Palin said she “can relate as a liberal target myself,” and — not surprisingly– turned the focus on President Barack Obama.

“What I find so remarkable is that these politically-motivated attacks fail to show that what [Miss California] Carrie [Prejean] and I believe is also what President Obama and Secretary Clinton believe — marriage is between a man and a woman,” Palin said.

“I respect Carrie for standing strong and staying true to herself,” Palin continued, “and for not letting those who disagree with her deny her protection under the nation’s First Amendment Rights.”

To reiterate, Miss California has been criticized for posing for semi-nude photos, and then lying about it, and for getting a boob job while serving as a top religious right spokesman for chastity and wholesomeness. She's also been criticized for being the biggest sore loser in the history of beauty pagent-dom, complaining that her answer lost her votes. Uh, that's kind of the way beauty pageants work - you get asked a question, you answer, and then the judges vote on how well they like your answer. Could the Republicans be bigger victims?

Making a boob-job bimbo some icon of free speech is, well, very Palin-esque. But then again, the woman who thought Africa was a country is hardly our guiding light. Read More......

New unemployment numbers surprise

And this time, in a bad way. Reuters:

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits increased 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 637,000 in the week ended May 9, reversing an easing trend of the previous two weeks.

A Labor Department official said "a good part of the increase is due to automotive states and claims."

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast new claims rising to 610,000.

Read More......

GOP says "no" to global warming legislation

Of course they do. It doesn't matter if the scientific community is now 100% certain that global warming is a reality. It doesn't matter if Americans agree. The Republican party no longer represents mainstream America. They represent only 20% of the American people. So they will continue to say "no" to every effort to solve the world's crises, from the economy to the environment. Read More......

Will health care "reform" help me too?

I'm reading an update about the House health care reform proposal, and I have to say, it's looking increasingly like, once again, no one is going to do anything to help those of who are supposedly "rich" - i.e., not poor. Now, this is just an AP story, so it's obviously not a comprehensive description of the legislation, but on its face, it's troubling.

The subsidies for health insurance would be offered on a sliding scale to those earning up to four times the federal poverty level, or $88,200 for a family of four, according to the document.

The House plan would set up a new insurance purchasing pool called an "exchange" to help make private coverage more affordable for individuals and small businesses. In its first year, the exchange would be open only to employers with fewer than 10 workers.

First off, here we go with the class warfare again. Only helping families making under $88,000 a year. Well, as we've shown before, if you live in NYC, for example, a single person making $88,000 isn't rich. In fact, a $123,322 salary in NYC equals $50,000 in Houston. And if you've got a spouse and two kids, you're really not wealthy. But regardless, shouldn't health care be a right in this country? Do we really think it's fair, or feasible, for someone middle class or upper middle class to pay $1200 a month in insurance premiums, which is what one company tried to do to a 40 year old friend of mine when he moved to another state and they tried to gouge him for his pre-existing eye condition. My friend worked on the Hill. He was clearly not "poor" enough for House Democrats to even care if he lived or died, but we're expecting him to pay $1200 a month for insurance because he's upper middle class? How does this plan address that problem?

But putting that aside, why on God's earth do we want to help people get into a system that's broken? I wouldn't wish my health care provider, CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield (CareLast I call them), on my worst enemy. As I've written before, in detail, my prescription drug coverage is a joke. Blue Cross hasn't increased my drug coverage in 14 years - I have the same $1500 limit I had in 1997, even though $1500 bought you a lot more drugs in 1997 than it does in 2009. Oh well, guess I'll just die, or go bankrupt, if I ever get sick. And the thing is - and this is important - there is no better plan at Blue Cross that I can buy. So even if Congress were to help me, and they clearly won't because I'm not "poor," but even if they did help me buy into a plan, the plans suck.

So Congress' great solution is to put even more people into the greedy, stingy hands of Blue Cross and its brethren?

Now, as I've said, I'm sure there's more to the plan that the AP hasn't told us. But the Democrats in Congress, and the House Democrats especially, have a proven track record of not really caring about anyone who isn't poor, or blue collar. It's just a sad fact. Republicans care about the rich, Democrats care about the poor, and everyone else is pretty much screwed. And while it's annoying as hell when they want to hand out money to everyone under the sun who fits their twisted little demographic, it's an entirely other thing if they're going to "fix" the health care problem for poor people (even though they're not) and then screw the rest of us.

They haven't screwed us yet. But past is prologue. And I've learned that it's far better to fire a warning shot in advance in this town, then to wait until it's too late. Keep an eye on the Democrats, folks. If they do anything on health care reform, you can bet they'll cave in the end and the only people they'll end up helping are the poor. Which is nice. But doesn't really address a nationwide crisis. Read More......

The Fierce Urgency Of Whenever

In this must-read, Andrew Sullivan speaks for pretty much every gay person I've spoken with, excluding those in the administration. I'm going to attempt to excerpt. You really need to read the entire thing.

I have a sickeningly familiar feeling in my stomach, and the feeling deepens with every interaction with the Obama team on these issues. They want them to go away. They want us to go away.

Here we are, in the summer of 2009, with gay servicemembers still being fired for the fact of their orientation. Here we are, with marriage rights spreading through the country and world and a president who cannot bring himself even to acknowledge these breakthroughs in civil rights, and having no plan in any distant future to do anything about it at a federal level. Here I am, facing a looming deadline to be forced to leave my American husband for good, and relocate abroad because the HIV travel and immigration ban remains in force and I have slowly run out of options (unlike most non-Americans with HIV who have no options at all).

And what is Obama doing about any of these things? What is he even intending at some point to do about these things? So far as I can read the administration, the answer is: nada. We're firing Arab linguists? So sorry. We won't recognize in any way a tiny minority of legally married couples in several states because they're, ugh, gay? We had no idea. There's a ban on HIV-positive tourists and immigrants? Really? Thanks for letting us know. Would you like to join Joe Solmonese and John Berry for cocktails? The inside of the White House is fabulous these days.

Yesterday, Robert Gibbs gave non-answer after non-answer on civil unions and Obama's clear campaign pledge to grant equal federal rights for gay couples; non-answer after non-answer on the military's remaining ban on honest servicemembers. What was once a categorical pledge is now - well let's call it the toilet paper that it is. I spent yesterday trying to get a better idea of what's intended on all fronts, and the overwhelming sense - apart from a terror of saying anything about gay people on the record - is that we are in the same spot as in every Democratic administration: the well-paid leaders of the established groups get jobs and invites, and that's about it. Worse: we will get a purely symbolic, practically useless hate crimes bill that they will then wave in our faces to prove they need do nothing more.

So much to respond to. But I'll start with that last line. I disagree with Andrew about the value of the Hate Crimes amendment. Having said that, he's right about one thing. It's the least important of our civil rights priorities at the moment, and I fear it may be the only thing we get in the next 4, or 8, years. And rest assured, it will be lauded over our heads to show us "how much" has been done for us, when in fact, it isn't that much compared to DOMA, DADT, ENDA and marriage - all of which, I fear, will be abandoned.

The bottom line: People are pissed. Increasingly so. And if the gay community has proven one thing, it's our ability to dominate a news cycle. The irony is that by abandoning their gay civil rights commitments, if in fact that's what's happening, the Obama administration may be creating the very public gay PR fiasco, a la Clinton's first term, that they're trying to avoid. Read More......

Cheney is making GOPers "wince" and "caused queasiness" -- and they're afraid of him

Dick Cheney gets top billing in today's Washington Post:

Cheney entered the arena this winter in a politically weak position after that election. His personal favorability ratings were and are still low. A Gallup poll in late March found that 30 percent of respondents gave him a favorable rating, while 63 percent rated him unfavorably.

That is why his high-profile defense of controversial Bush administration policies has caused queasiness among Republican political strategists. But Cheney remains powerful enough that most of his GOP critics are not willing to take him on in public. "The fact that most people want to talk [without attribution] shows what a problem it continues to be," said one Republican strategist who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to be candid. "Cheney continues to be a force among many members of our base, and while he is entirely unhelpful, no one has the standing to show him the door."

So, let's get this straight: Dick Cheney is wildly unpopular. The Bush/Cheney policies caused great damage to the nation. But, Dick Cheney has made himself the GOP's top spokesman. But, other Republicans, who are queasy over Cheney's role -- are too afraid of him to stop him. Wow. No wonder the GOP is such a mess. And, what a bunch of wimps. They're cowering before Dick Cheney.

How could we trust Republicans to keep our nation safe when they can't protect their own party from Dick Cheney? Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Well, Obama did his first commencement address as president last night. Arizona State's leaders had made it a little more complicated than it had to be, but Obama handled it smoothly, of course. The next one is Notre Dame on Sunday, May 17th. The extreme right-wing Catholics are foaming at the mouth over this speech. They're going to make fools of themselves -- and, remember, they don't speak for most Catholics.

Today, in New Mexico, Obama is making a push for the new credit card reform bill. The White House is making a full court press (when they want something, this is how they do it). Meanwhile, that legislation is mired in the Senate. It should pass, but, you know, it is the Senate.

So, let's how this day plays out... Read More......

Why do anti-health care change people use the UK example?

Other than the language, there's really little else in common with the US and UK in terms of health care today or even in an Obama-sponsored system. The better comparison would be the French system where there is a mix of public/private but of course, the anti-change people don't want to make that comparison because the French system is consistently rated among the best in the world. Oops. Now that's not very convenient, is it? How much French-bashing can they do when the French system is number one compared to the US at number 37 and even the UK at 18? What does it say about the US system if it's so far behind such a failing system like the UK's NHS?

What is always missing in these ridiculous attack adverts by the right wingers are the stories from America, by Americans. I have a few to offer myself, in case they're interested. I also remember the glorious moment when a doctor asked my father for almost $30,000 to be a guinea pig for a new pharmaceutical drug test. He almost wrote the check (which in itself was a miracle but probably would have killed him) but the pharmaceutical decided that he might not help show the results they wanted, so they canceled his involvement in the test. Now there's some good old fashioned free market capitalism that serves the public so well. Best system money can buy, if you have the money.

What fool believes that the US health care system does not ration treatment? Instead of the government telling you what you can and can't do, in the US it's the insurance companies who tell you to use this doctor or how much treatment you are allowed to have. In the US you need to confirm with your insurance company if they will allow whatever treatment. Huh. Interesting for a free market system but that doesn't happen here in socialist France in most circumstances.

As always, the anti-health care change people are cherry picking and hoping that you will overlook the miserable system that they love and support. The Republicans act like it's still the Clinton years and that people are running in fear of this change. The world has changed but never the GOP. Same as it ever was. Read More......

Report: British company dumps tons of toxic waste in Africa

Now that proof has emerged, the courts need to throw the book at this company. This oil trading company dumped toxic waste in one of the poorest countries on the planet and repeatedly lied about their involvement. Even their executives joined the lie. The Guardian:

Documents have emerged which detail for the first time the potentially lethal nature of toxic waste dumped by British-based oil traders in one of west Africa's poorest countries.

More than 30,000 people from Ivory Coast claim they were affected by the ­poisonous cocktail and are currently bringing Britain's biggest-ever group lawsuit against the company, Trafigura.

The firm chartered the ship, Probo Koala, which transported the cargo to Ivory Coast in 2006.

An official Dutch analysis of samples of the waste carried by the Probo Koala indicate that it contained approximately 2 tonnes of hydrogen sulphide, a killer gas with a characteristic smell of rotten eggs.

Even worse are reports that the company in question, Trafigura, has been making attempts to influence those who were impacted to change their stories. What would happen to this company if they tried the same in the UK? The same laws ought to apply across the board. Read More......

Overseas voting continues to be a joke

None of this comes as a surprise. The ballot process has always been inconsistent despite the best efforts of the Democrats Abroad to help out. (I'm not a fan of the Democrats Abroad but for the elections, they have done a great job in difficult circumstances.) None of us ever are really sure when our ballots will arrive or even if they will arrive. Often when they come in it's a few days before the actual election so you have the option of either sending back via snail mail and wondering if they arrived in time (or at all) or sending via express courier for a small fortune. Even with express mail, I have yet to receive confirmation that anything was ever received. The system as it stands today stinks and now there's an official report that tells me what I already know.

One out of every four ballots requested by military personnel and other Americans living overseas for the 2008 election may have gone uncounted, according to findings being released at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, said the study, while providing only a snapshot of voting patterns, "is enough to show that the balloting process for service members is clearly in need of an overhaul."

The committee, working with the Congressional Research Service, surveyed election offices in seven states with high numbers of military personnel: California, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.

Both of us vote in PA though in different counties. Even within the state the timing varies though at least they are consistent in one way. They both stink. It would be nice to see a democracy like the US deliver actual democracy, but I'm not holding my breath. Read More......

Daydreaming really does serve a purpose

This workout is somehow triggered minutes into online meetings.

Contrary to the notion that daydreaming is a sign of laziness, letting the mind wander can actually let the parts of the brain associated with problem-solving become active, a new study finds.

Kalina Christoff of the University of British Columbia in Canada and her colleagues placed study participants inside an fMRI scanner, where they performed the simple routine task of pushing a button when numbers appear on a screen. The researchers tracked subjects' attentiveness moment-to-moment through brain scans, subjective reports from subjects and by tracking their performance on the task.

Until now, scientists had thought that the brain's "default network," which is linked to easy, routine mental activity, was the only part of the brain that remains active when the mind wanders. But in the study subjects, the brain's "executive network" - associated with high-level, complex problem-solving - also lit up.

This means Ronald Reagan was really a genius. Read More......