Anderson Cooper, Richard Socarides & Dustin Lance Black On Obama's Same-Sex Cop-Out

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Soros calls for more banking reform

Whoa there. Surely a big money person like George Soros isn't calling for more reform that the President, is he? Doesn't Soros know how the system works and that we need a "light touch"? Clearly he's a communist who doesn't understand the market. It may be better to go easy on Wall Street and just let them create new problems and then deal with the mess.

"Proprietary trading ought to be financed out of a bank's own capital," Soros wrote in the opinion piece. "If a bank is too big to fail, regulators must go even further to protect its capital from undue risk. They must regulate the compensation packages of proprietary traders so that risks and rewards are properly aligned."

Hedge funds and other big investors should be monitored to ensure that they don't accumulate "dangerous imbalances," while the trading and issuing of derivatives should be as strictly regulated as that of stocks, he wrote.

"Custom-made derivatives only serve to improve the profit margin of the financial engineers designing them," Soros said, reiterating his view that some derivatives, such as credit default swaps, should be outlawed.

What's all this talk about "too big to fail" anyway? Now that the banks have increased their capital based on already passed worst case scenarios, what could possibly go wrong? Isn't the whole purpose of this new effort by Treasury and the White House to reduce the number of strong banks or have I completely missed their subtle hints? Read More......

Obama DOJ: We Can't Release Cheney Records Because Of Late Night Comedy

Seriously:

Justice Department lawyers told the judge that future presidents and vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could become available to their political opponents and late-night comics who would ridicule them.

"If we become a fact-finder for political enemies, they aren't going to cooperate," Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith said during a 90-minute hearing. "I don't want a future vice president to say, 'I'm not going to cooperate with you because I don't want to be fodder for 'The Daily Show.'"

Here's a thought. Stop acting like Republicans and the Daily Show won't make fun of you. Read More......

Obama admin rebuffed gay legal groups on DOMA, Part II

It seems that President Obama's Department of Justice is just livid over the Washington Post's Plum Line blog, and its earlier article about how Obama's DOJ and OPM refused to work with gay legal groups who were trying to find a way to work around DOMA in order to give federal employees health and other benefits. DOJ is reportedly claiming that Plum Line's story is wrong.

The story is of course damaging to President Obama since this week he held an Oval Office ceremony in which he signed a memo directing federal agencies to prepare a list of possible benefits they might be able to give the partners of gay federal employees. Not included in that list is health benefits, because the administration claims that Obama wanted to include them, but DOMA precludes them. If, in fact, President Obama's OPM and DOJ have been actively working to thwart the efforts of gay legal groups to figure out how to provide such benefits under the law, then that would make President Obama out to be a bit of a liar, wouldn't it.

The Plum Line's story is seriously damaging to an administration already reeling from a gay donor boycott, and the overall PR disaster that comes when you accuse an entire civil rights community of being akin to incest and pedophilia. So DOJ needs to fight back in order to be able to tell the power gays around the country on Monday's DNC call, and in next week's meeting with gay groups, that the Plum Line's story has been disproven.

The thing is, it hasn't.

Let me walk you again through what the Plum Line wrote, and then through what the administration's on the record response has been.

Plum Line quotes GLAD attorney Gary Buseck:

“We thought it would be a good idea to sit down with top folks at Justice to talk about this [DOMA] lawsuit and what it meant and to engage in more cooperative lawyering,” Buseck tells me. “They told us that they didn’t want to meet with us.” The government’s response in the case is due later this month, and gay rights activists are watching closely to see if it’s similar to the one in the California case that’s generating so much controversy.

Plum Line quotes Lambda Legal's Jennifer Pizer:

“We have communicated through a couple of different channels asking [OPM] to provide legal analysis to support their position,” Ms. Pizer told me. “We said, `At a minimum, give us your legal analysis so we can engage with you.’ The response was, `No, we’re not changing our position.’ That’s not what we expect from an administration whose leader speaks so emphatically about thinking discrimination is wrong.”

So, we have two gay lawyers saying that in the past several months both DOJ and OPM refused to work with those groups, to sit down with them, to give them their legal arguments for why they thought DOMA prohibited these benefits. In a nutshell, the Obama administration wasn't interested in helping gay civil rights groups find a legal way to provide health care benefits to gay federal employees.

What does DOJ have to say about this? They say they've now scheduled a meeting with the big gay groups for next week, to discuss the community's concerns.

That's nice.

Having a meeting NEXT WEEK does not, however, deny having IN THE PAST FIVE MONTHS refused GLAD's and Lambda Legal's earlier requests to work with you in an effort to provide gay federal employees benefits such as health care. You haven't proven a story wrong when you give a statement that doesn't address the story's key allegations. Read More......

House Dems. step up to deliver on real health care reform -- and they're ready to rumble with the Senate

Last night, it became even more clear that leading Democratic Senators are on the path to undermining real health care reform while doing the insurance industry's bidding. Max Baucus from Montana is the leader of that pack.

But, today, leading House Democrats introduced a real reform package -- and basically issued a challenge to the Senate. Ryan Grim reports:

Henry Waxman, Charlie Rangel and George Miller, chairs of the Energy & Commerce, Ways & Means and Education & Labor Committees, announced the result of six months of negotiations. The sight of three united committee chairmen in the turf-conscious House is a historically rare one.

Where the Senate Finance Committee's outline of a bill didn't include a public health insurance option for people to buy into, the House version includes a robust public plan that would operate nationally and compete with private insurers on a level playing field to keep them honest.

The public plan would be self-sustaining and not subsidized by the federal government, although an upfront infusion of capital would be needed. It would initially be tied to Medicare reimbursement rates, to capitalize on the existing infrastructure, but would evolve into a separate plan that paid higher rates. Participation by doctors would be voluntary.

Rangel described the public plan as "the best of Medicaid, best of Medicare, then kick it up a notch." The chairmen estimated the plan would cover 95 percent of Americans.

While the Senate has cowered from the debate over a public option in the face of Republican and conservative Democratic opposition, Rangel said he relishes the battle.

"I'm anxious to take on those people who oppose a public option," he said. He'll have public opinion on his side. A recent poll showed 3 out of 4 people want a public plan as part of health care reform. "We've got the momentum."

This is more like it. Now, the best thing would be for the White House to join with the House Democrats and push the best possible plan -- even if it means no GOP support. In years to come, this will be known as the "Obama Health Care Reform Law" not, the "Obama and a couple of Republicans Health Care Reform Law." This is his legacy -- and his staff is screwing it up. For example, Jim Messina is going to have to put the interests of his current boss, the president, ahead of the interests of his old boss, Max Baucus.

A lot of us are ready to talk on those people who oppose a public option. We just need to make sure the White House doesn't throw us all under the bus.

Also, this week, the biggest tool in political punditry, Mark Halperin, said health care reform would fail because "most journalists" still have insurance. Of course, it's all about self-interest for him and this comment encapsulates the thinking of the Villagers. No doubt, loathsome Halperin has been so ensconced in his self-absorbed bubble that he hasn't realized the world of journalism is collapsing around him. So, Mark Halperin shouldn't get too cocky. Journalism isn't the most stable profession these days. Halperin and his ilk aren't the gatekeepers they used to be. Thank god. Read More......

Top Obama aides holding conf. call with LGBT members of the DNC on Monday afternoon

Damage control continues.

Two very top White House officials, Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina and Political Director Patrick Gaspard, are holding a "wonderful" conference call on Monday with the LGBT caucus of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). I've seen the email, which reads in part:

The call will include important updates on the Administration's LGBT agenda and how we move forward.

Now, hopefully, those LGBT DNC members are going to actually try to hold the Obama administration accountable and get them to take some real action on the LGBT agenda. These two staffers are both very powerful. So, while they have Messina and Gaspard on the call, those DNC members better get some deliverables from the White House on ENDA, DADT and DOMA. But, the way things go in this town, Gaspard and Messina will probably be screaming at them for the current mess -- and the LGBT DNC members won't push back because they might not get invited to the White House.

This does go to show -- and I've heard it from many people on other issues -- if you want the attention of the Obama White House, you have to play hard ball. For the LGBT community, among other things, that means shutting down the Gay ATM.

No doubt, we'll hear how great it was that White House people talked to the gays. That might have been a big deal in 1979, not 2009.

P.S. Anyone know who is on the LGBT caucus of the DNC?

P.S.S. Don't forget, Maine will be holding a referendum this November, pushed by the Catholic Church, to repeal the new marriage equality law. Support "Maine Freedom to Marry," the campaign to defeat the right-wing's effort to steal the rights of same-sex couples again. In Maine, every dollar matters, especially the early ones. Help save marriage equality. (Read our post about the Maine campaign here.) Read More......

Obama's regulatory plan "disappointing" & "special interest free for all"

Maybe some of the inside the beltway types are a bit too cautious about providing firm criticism though it's a start with a few pretty strong punches. It remains unthinkable how someone who ran on the theme of change could even propose such mild reform. This is one of the most brutal recessions in decades and it's not even close to being over. We know who triggered this recession yet political leadership both in Congress and the White House remain terrified to restore confidence in a system that must be successful for everyone and not only the chosen few.

Reforming Wall Street so that retirement plans are productive and safe along with building an economic system that profits the broad majority of Americans instead of the prized corner offices is what we need. A light scolding and sheepish request to do better is not the way. If this is the best we're going to get, why even bother? At least with Bush you knew you were getting screwed and his intentions were clear. Now, we're given some happy talk as though we're receiving reform but in reality, it's nothing more than a wasted opportunity. Steven Pearlstein raises a number of excellent points today.

I don't mean to minimize the political difficulty that would arise from confronting these issues. But given that we have just gone through the worst financial crisis in 75 years, one would hope that the government's response would be something more than an exercise in political triangulation.

It should have been grounded, first and foremost, in a thorough and independent analysis of how the crisis was allowed to develop and what regulators did and didn't do to prevent it, drawn from interviews under oath and internal records and made available to the public. That should have been followed by a detailed set of recommendations from a panel of seasoned regulators and independent experts on how the regulatory system should be reformed to prevent similar crises in the future.

If Congress decided to deviate from those recommendations, of course, nobody would be surprised. But at least it would have given the public a marker for reform that was free of industry influence. It would have also provided political cover for the president and members of Congress, a politically acceptable default position that they could have used to turn aside the entreaties of local bankers and campaign contributors when they came knocking.

Instead, the Obama team, hoping to ride the wave of public outrage before it crested, determined to fashion a reform proposal even before a thorough analysis could be completed. And by deciding to contort and trim their proposal to accommodate the objections from powerful interest groups and key members of Congress, members of the Obama team have now made it politically acceptable for everyone to treat this as just another special-interest free-for-all of the sort that helped cause the crisis in the first place.

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Various news updates

Politico details how messed up the health care reform battle has gotten.

Another Bill Clinton blogger meeting.

Andrew on "Obama's gay clusterf*ck".

FDL: Ensign’s Senate Colleagues Confronted Him about His Affair in February 2008

CBSNews: Angry Gay Democrats Pull Support For DNC.

Che Guevara's Granddaughter Poses Half Naked for PETA

Ezra: "76 percent of Americans believe it's either "extremely important" or "quite important" to "give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance."

ABC's Tapper: More Gay Donors Drop Out of DNC Fundraiser, Protesting Justice Department Brief

Financial Times: China tells Google to end foreign site access

Newsweek: More Fallout Over the Obama Admin's Pro-DOMA Brief

WSJ: White House Looks to Include Same-Sex Unions in Census Count. That's nice. We raised the issue months ago, and it went nowhere. And it's not like this is one of Obama's 8 campaign promises to the community, none of which he has acted on. It would be nice if, rather than scraping around the barrel, desperately looking for tidbits to throw us, the Obama administration instead chose to actually follow through on a campaign promise or two. And still no word on the presidential apology for comparing us to incest pedophilia. Read More......

Nestle recalls Toll House cookie dough

I have some in my fridge. This is just getting creepier and creepier. Now we have E. coli in cookies. Read More......

Some people don't get it and never will

For years the Republicans have told Americans how well self-regulation works. The theory was that business would always do the right thing to help promote business and profits. It didn't work out that way, of course. For normal people the recession is abundantly clear. People are worried about their jobs, their retirement, their friends and family because we all know someone who has been impacted by the recession. Because of this awareness, people are more cautious with spending which of course has impacted the economy as well. Unless you live in a cave it's difficult to miss the seriousness of the recession. Unless you are a banking executive who was bailed out by those same taxpayers who are concerned about the recession.

This is inexcusable yet again, it highlights why it's important for Treasury and Congress to take a hard line against this bunch of gamblers. They never know when to say when. Is this what the American public deserves after saving them from ruin?Reuters:

Flight records showed many occasions when banks receiving federal money flew their planes to destinations near resorts or executives' vacation homes in Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, south Florida and Aspen, according to the paper.

"We are implementing a new policy in 2009, under which personal use of aircraft will not be permitted," a Bank of America spokesman told the paper, but declined to comment on specific trips.

In some cases, it was clear that bank executives were traveling for personal reasons; for other flights, many of which were over weekends or holidays, the passengers and purpose couldn't be established, the paper added.

If they want to act like spoiled children, treat them like spoiled children. Read More......

Obama admin refused to work with gay lawyers to solve supposed DOMA health benefits problem

UPDATE: Surprise! Suddenly the administration is now interested in talking to gay groups about DOMA. Yeah, I bet. (And DOJ is, of course, denying the Washington Post's original story - below.) Let the President publicly apologize for invoking incest and pedophilia, for suggesting that gay people aren't denied benefits under DOMA since all they have to do is marry straight people, then we'll talk about how serious the administration is about trying to make amends. And another thing: Why shouldn't we believe this isn't another PR photo opp with "the gays" to show how much Obama really likes us? If the administration is going to meet with gay leaders, then they'd be offering something big. Otherwise, our leaders are being used just like they let themselves be used at the White House for the "benefits" signing.

If President Obama really wanted to give the partners of gay federal employees health benefits the other day, but truly couldn't because the administration thought DOMA precluded the provision of such benefits, then why are two different gay legal groups claiming that the Obama administration outright refused to even talk to them about ways in which the benefits could perhaps be provided under existing law?

A very disturbing new article from Greg Sargent over at the Washington Post's Plum Line blog:

Two prominent gay rights lawyers litigating high-profile cases against the Obama administration tell me that their requests to meet with administration lawyers to discuss the cases were rebuffed — something that will further anger gay rights activists who feel badly stiff-armed by Obama on gay rights issues.

In both cases, the lawyers are representing Federal employees whose spouses are being denied protections or benefits under the Defense of Marriage Act. The Obama administration, which is officially opposed to DOMA, is defending the act in court and claiming it precludes the granting of some benefits (like health care) to same-sex spouses of Federal employees — the topic of so much controversy this week surrounding a case in California....

Gary Buseck, the legal director for the gay rights group GLAD, tells me that he was rebuffed after asking Justice Department lawyers earlier this spring to discuss a big case he’s working on: A lawsuit in Boston on behalf of eight married couples and three surviving spouses who have been denied federal legal protections available to spouses under DOMA.

“We thought it would be a good idea to sit down with top folks at Justice to talk about this lawsuit and what it meant and to engage in more cooperative lawyering,” Busic tells me. “They told us that they didn’t want to meet with us.” The government’s response in the case is due later this month, and gay rights activists are watching closely to see if it’s similar to the one in the California case that’s generating so much controversy.

Jennifer Pizer, the marriage project director for Lambda Legal, had a similar experience on another high-profile case, also in California. She’s representing a U.S. Court of Appeals lawyer who’s fighting the federal Office of Personnel Management. The OPM is refusing benefits to her spouse under DOMA — even though two Federal appeals court judges have said employees of their court are entitled to health benefits for same-sex partners.

“We have communicated through a couple of different channels asking [OPM] to provide legal analysis to support their position,” Ms. Pizer told me. “We said, `At a minimum, give us your legal analysis so we can engage with you.’ The response was, `No, we’re not changing our position.’ That’s not what we expect from an administration whose leader speaks so emphatically about thinking discrimination is wrong.”

More on GLAD's case and Lambda's case.

Again, let me reiterate. Top gay lawyers simply wanted to talk with the Obama administration's representatives at the Department of Justice and the Office of Personnel Management (which is not only run by an openly gay man, but has an openly gay general counsel). The gay lawyers wanted to know the details of the administration's reasoning that DOMA precluded health care benefits, among other benefits, to the partners of gay employees. The Obama administration refused.

If the Obama administration were truly interested in helping the gay community get these benefits, they would gladly tell their gay friends what the details of the legal problem is, in hopes that we can all figure out a legal way around it.

But there was no such interest from Team Obama. Either the argument that DOMA precludes these benefits is a lie. Or it's true and for some reason the Obama administration doesn't want to give us these benefits.

Is the pattern becoming clear? It's high time the posh $1,000 a head DNC's gay fundraiser were canceled. Read More......

Supreme Court denies due process to prisoners, Obama sides with Bush & court's conservative majority

NYT editorial:

In an appalling 5-to-4 ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority tossed aside compelling due process claims, the demands of justice and a considered decision by a lower federal appeals court to deny the right of prisoners to obtain post-conviction DNA testing that might prove their innocence....

We are also puzzled and disturbed by the Obama administration’s decision to side with Alaska in this case — continuing the Bush administration’s opposition to recognizing a right to access physical evidence for post-conviction DNA testing.

Thursday’s ruling will inevitably allow some innocent people to languish in prison without having the chance to definitively prove their innocence and with the state never being completely certain of their guilt.

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UPDATED AGAIN: More drop out of DNC fundraiser over DOMA brief: VT's State Senate Pres., donor Bruce Bastian, NGLTF and now GLAD. Where's NBJC, GMHC?

UDPATED and bumped @ 9:44 AM: GLAD's Mary Bonauto isn't going next week.

Stonewall Democrats and Stampp Corbin, one of Obama's top LGBT supporters, dropped out yesterday today.
________________________
UPDATED: Corey Johnson is out too.

UPDATED and bumped @ 12:49 PM: We just got word that Rea Carey from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has pulled out of the DNC fundraiser next week.
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Two more defections from the $1,000 a head DNC fundraiser. (That's seven people on the initial "superstar" list that the DNC was using to drum up more attendees, now gone.) And, both are significant.

As an aside, why is NGLTF still going? After HRC's Marty Rouse already pulled out - we're to believe that NGLTF is to the right of HRC? And GLAD? They're the plaintiffs in the DOMA lawsuit coming up next week - GLAD doesn't see a problem with paying $1000 (or more) to go to a fundraiser for the folks who just defended DOMA and invoked incest and pedophilia while doing it? And NBJC and GMHC - again, to the right of HRC's staff?

The president of the Vermont State Senate, who helped secure marriage equality and was supposed to be an honored guest, dropped out yesterday:

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin has decided not to go to a large Democratic National Committee fundraiser next week to protest a U.S. Justice Department memo related to gay marriage.

"One thing I have learned dealing with marriage equality in Vermont is that we all have a responsibility to stand up for the civil rights of all Americans," Shumlin said Wednesday.

"This memo from the Justice Department is more Bush than Bush," he added. "It takes the only minority group left in America that nationalpoliticians can publicly discriminate against and still see their numbers go up in the polls and it reinforces the horrible stereotypes about our friends and neighbors."

More Bush than Bush. Couldn't agree more. (And, don't get why some gays are still actually defending that brief. It's beyond pathetic, but one way to get attention.)

Bruce Bastian, the gay philanthropist and major Democratic donor is also out according to Southern Voice:

Bruce Bastian, a gay businessman and prominent donor who lives in Utah and is on the list of special invitees, not only said he no longer plans to attend the fundraiser, but also that he no longer plans to donate to the Democratic Party as a whole.

"I will continue to support certain congressmen, congresswomen and senators whom I believe will continue to fight for our rights, but I don't think blanket donations to the Democratic Party right now are justified, at least not in my book," he said.

Bastian, a major donor to many LGBT groups, said he sent an e-mail to the DNC on Wednesday saying he wouldn't attend the event "because of the remarks on DOMA." He found the filing "very offensive."

"The administration has said they have to support the federal government's stance," he said. "But in the brief, they go way beyond where they need to go to just defend DOMA. They basically go to terminology and language that you would expect from the Bush administration, not the Obama administration."

Bastian said the brief was the "tipping point" for him in his perception for how the Democratic Party supports LGBT issues.

Here is who else who has signed on - I've crossed out the names of those who won't be attending - feel free to weigh in with the rest (Suze Orman?):

If you can't make the date, take a rain check and help anyway? SUZE ORMAN just signed on that way. ELIZABETH BIRCH signed on that way. Lots of others.

If you CAN make the date, you'll be joining the Vice President of the United States . . .

. . . along with Virginia Governor / DNC Chair Tim Kaine . . . immediate past DNC Chair Howard Dean . . . Chairman Barney Frank . . . Representatives Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis . . . Vermont Senate President Pete Shumlin . . . District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty . . . David Mixner . . . Richard Socarides . . . The Task Force's Rea Carey . . . HRC's Marty Rouse . . . ESPA's Alan Van Capelle . . . GLAD's Mary Bonauto . . . NBJC's Alexander Robinson . . . GMHC's Marjorie Hill . . . The Victory Fund's Chuck Wolfe . . . Towle Road's Andy Towle . . . Iraq Marine vet Brian Fricke (whom you may have seen on 60 Minutes) . . . Billy Bean . . . Joan Garry . . . Keith Boykin . . . Ray Buckley . . . Brian Johnson . . . Corey Johnson . . . Dixon Osburn . . . Paul Smith . . . Bruce Bastian . . . Mitchell Gold . . . Krystal Ball . . . and so many others, like YOU, who have been pushing the ball down the field for so long. (Well, Krystal is fairly new to this, but what a kick to have a pro-marriage CPA triathlete young mom running to unseat a conservative Republican in Virginia.)

By next week, the DNC LGBT fundraiser is going to be end up being Joe Biden, Andy Tobias, a few Obama appointees, the staff of Barney, Tammy and Jared and those gay lobbyists who need to suck up to the Obama administration or want jobs. And, of course, the gays who have no self-respect and don't think we're worthy of full equality.

Oh yeah, and the Washington Blade will be there too, with cameras and video, recording every single gay turncoat who shows up. Perhaps someone should build a Web site where we can post all of their photos... Read More......

Pam Spaulding wins an award and blasts the Obama admin. over the DOMA brief

Our friend, Pam Spaulding, was honored last night by the Women's Media Center for her work in the new media. Describing the event, where she was introduced by Gloria Steinem, Pam wrote:

Oh, and I eviscerated the Obama administration re: the heinous DOMA brief as well -- when you see the video, people responded to that. Everyone I spoke to in the room was PISSED about the arguments and hateful language in the brief -- White House, DNC, are you listening?

Good to know that people get how hateful this brief was. And, Pam didn't hold back. From her remarks:

Obviously, same-sex marriage is in the news, and I'm giving the Obama administration hell right now on my blog. The last week has been exciting, to say the least.

I think that a couple of bloggers and I have made it, alot of pressure on our core advocacy organizations like HRC, to do the right thing and come out strong in making it clear that the brief on DOMA was outrageous.

Excellent. I think Pam would agree, we're not done yet. Read More......

Iran's Supreme Leader stands by Ahmadinejad. Says stop protesting and calm down.

The Supreme Leader spoke today. And, it was an ominous warning to protesters and to Mousavi:

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday demanded an end to street protests that have shaken the country since a disputed presidential election a week ago and said any bloodshed would be their leaders' fault.

(EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.)

He defended Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the rightful winner of the presidential vote and denied any possibility that it had been rigged, as Ahmadinejad's opponents have asserted.

"If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible," Khamenei declared in his first address to the nation since the upheaval began.

"The result of the election comes from the ballot box, not from the street," the white-bearded cleric told huge crowds thronging Tehran University and surrounding streets for Friday prayers. "Today the Iranian nation needs calm."

So how ugly will it get? The Supreme Leader seems to have misread his "flock." Does that matter in a theocracy? It sounds like there will be bloodshed. Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

What a week this has been. It was last Friday, right around now, when we first started reading the Obama administration's brief. What a shocker. Still is. The Obama administration's response has been appalling. But, I think the LGBT community and our allies have learned some valuable lessons (almost all of us, there are still some apologists, but, Washington being Washington, most of them have some kind of vested interest, like wanting a job in the administration or something like that.) I can't help but wonder if there aren't people in the West Wing who really don't mind having the gay community upset with Obama. That's the kind of cynical politics that has been pervasive for 16 years. We were told Obama wasn't that kind of politician. But, this whole thing has had a very craven feel to it. That's the kind of politics that will damage the "change" brand and shows Obama really is just another politician.

Also, many of us were more than willing to cut the new president some slack so he could enact his top priorities, like health care reform. That's turning into a big mess, too. We need the president to lead -- and to remember why people voted for him. And, the clowns on Capitol Hill, especially the Senators-for-Life, need to smarten up, too.

Let's get it started...there's lots to do. Read More......

Bank of England governor calls for end of "too big to fail"

This kind of talk certainly won't endear him to the Obama administration who will have no such talk. Winding down "too big to fail" banks makes much too much sense except to those with political power in London or Washington. How would they make friends if they did this? Timmy Geithner might lose a tennis partner talking this kind of madness. Mervyn King has made mistakes in the past but he's also been one to point out the long term problems of bankers being paid too much and sapping talent from professions that actually add value to the system. And now this.

He voiced opposition to high street banks having taxpayer-funded guarantees for their speculative investment banking activities and expressed scepticism about changes to regulation in the aftermath of the run on Northern Rock that would limit the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street to delivering "sermons".

In a clear divergence with the chancellor, King said: "If some banks are thought to be too big to fail, then, in the words of a distinguished American economist, they are too big. It is not sensible to allow large banks to combine high street retail banking with risky investment banking or funding strategies, and then provide an implicit state guarantee against failure."

The governor argued that "something must give".

"Either those guarantees to retail depositors should be limited to banks that make a narrower range of investments, or banks which pose greater risks to taxpayers and the economy in the event of failure should face higher capital requirements. Or we must develop resolution powers such that large and complex financial institutions can be wound down in an orderly manner. Or, perhaps, an element of all three," King said.

At least someone is learning from mistakes of the past. Pity we can't say the same in the US yet. When Obama and the Democrats launch their Stimulus Phase 2 effort, Americans are going to look closely at what changes have been made so far. Until there is real reform, it's going to be difficult to gain much enthusiasm for the next stimulus plan no matter how important it may be. Read More......

Why now in Iran?

The Guardian has an article by a reporter who has covered Iran for ten years, living there from 2005-2007. She has some interesting examples of how Ahmadinejad used to be popular but has since lost his luster as he dragged the country even deeper down. This popular movement may not be successful today but Iran has deep problems that will eventually be hard to overcome by the current regime. This movement has been building for years.

Even before the advent of Ahmadinejad, Iran suffered from one of the world's most sizeable brain drains. Each year, the country's brightest and most talented young people left to work in the west, energising and enriching the technology, medical, and aeronautical sectors of other nations. They left because young people in Iran cannot find jobs suitable to their educations, and most believe that Iran reserves prosperity for the scions of ayatollahs. Even young people without the qualifications desired by immigration officials consider Iran a land barren of opportunity, and have preferred to struggle in the west.

This trend began long before Ahmadinejad's presidency, and it has served to tear apart Iranian families for three decades. If the tremendous diversity of the faces seen protesting in Iran this week underscores anything, it is that people's grievances have deep roots in Iran, and that their anger has been spurred, but not conceived, by this electoral outrage. Today, Iranians are registering their discontent with the system of Islamic government as a whole. They do not necessarily want to overthrow their regime, but to express the depths of their frustration with its inadequacy.

Of all the images I've seen emerging from Iran this week, those of fiery women beating policemen and leading protests have moved me the most. Throughout the past decade, Iran's extraordinarily sophisticated and well-educated women have sought for peaceful change through the existing system. Accounting for 60% of university students, Iranian women emerge from university armed with career expectations and modern attitudes toward their role in family and society. They have patiently petitioned the state to grant them more equitable rights before the law. But at each opportunity, they have been treated with contempt. Their vibrant presence in these protests is signalling to the government that they will not tolerate its discrimination and disdain any longer.

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Fred 'the shred' of failed RBS bank agrees to trim retirement

It's not much - for him, at least - but it's something. When you look at the more than $30 billion in taxpayer money required to rescue the banking house of cards Goodwin created, it's no wonder many are still upset with what the government probably thinks is a good deal. This is yet another example of why Obama's "say on pay" is a waste of time and energy. This RBS example has been one of the worst, most extreme cases of executive abuse in the UK. It's had the full focus of the government who has been desperate for a win and even after all of that attention on *one* case, this is all they can get.

If Obama or any other government wants to get serious about "say on pay" they should forget about non-binding votes. Give investors normal votes and start from there. That won't be perfect either but it's much significant than a non-binding vote. The Guardian:

Former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin has bowed to public anger over the size of his pension by agreeing to give up more than £200,000 a year of the controversial reward.

Goodwin, who left the bank in October when RBS had to be bailed out with £20bn of taxpayers' money, was originally awarded £703,000 a year when the bank was rescued by the government last year.

Despite coming under strong pressure to give up some of his retirement benefits, Goodwin defied the outrage over what was seen as a reward for failure, insisting he was entitled to take early retirement under an agreement with the previous RBS board.

RBS said he would be paid £342,500 a year, down from the £555,000 set in February after he took out an estimated £2.7m tax-free lump sum.

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Spitzer may have been on to something at AIG

What a stunning disclosure of arrogance. I remember having a healthy discussion with a former employee of that company who was defending him against Eliot Spitzers charges when he was the NY AG. The AIG spinmeister gave a great story about how former CEO Hank Greenberg built the company and deserved all of the luxuries that he wanted. Heaven forbid a CEO of a public company acted like it was a public company with shareholders. If someone wants a little kingdom, fine, buy all of the shares and go private so you don't have to deal with SEC rules. That also means the big money may not be there since you no longer have shareholders pumping up the value.

Reading this story is eye opening but hardly shocking. Spitzer made a mess of many things but when it came to Wall Street he was and is absolutely right. What the heck is this?

The former head of ailing U.S. insurance giant AIG told a court on Wednesday that he had a private jet fly a large block of the company's stock to Bermuda from New York to prevent AIG from seizing it.

"It was a reaction to the entire environment that was emerging between AIG and Starr International," Maurice "Hank" Greenberg told U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. "It was starting to get very ugly."

A key witness in the dispute between Starr International and American International Group, Greenberg appeared peevish under questioning by the lawyer for his former company, Ted Wells.

People like this are the kind Obama thinks can be pressured by the public to do the right thing. Meanwhile, Eliot Spitzer did another good interview today where he discussed the current "reform" by the White House and Congress, comparing it to rearranging the deck chairs. Think what you want to think about Spitzer but when he talks about Wall Street problems, he tends to be a lot more right than wrong.

Obama really needs someone tough to rise to the occasion but it increasingly looks like another photo up, hand slap and little action. The media appearances are working for Obama now but maybe he ought to get a bit more serious about addressing problems instead of time wasting change that is anything but change. Read More......