Bankers lobby proposed derivatives regulation

Because they've done so well in the past when they've self regulated. I don't blame them for trying though I would blame Obama for changing for them. Heck, even listening to them would be a mistake. Reuters:

A group of banks and money managers plan to release a letter to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and other U.S. and overseas regulators to help fend off some rules proposed by the Obama administration that seek to control trading in the derivatives market, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The letter, which is expected to be released next week, will reiterate a commitment by the banks to meet the government's goal of transparency, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

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Bush and McCain praised the group Tancredo calls the Latino KKK

From Jed Lewison at DailyKosTV, classic:

These days, Tancredo represents the thinking of GOP leadership. Read the rest of this post...

Jury finds man guilty of spreading HIV

Man has sex with lots of women. Doesn't use a condom. Women consent to the sex without a condom. Man knows he has HIV, doesn't tell women, women don't ask. Six of the women become infected with HIV. Jury convicts man of assault.

Did the jury do the right thing? Read the rest of this post...

Keyboard cat welcomes Roland Burris

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Peggy Noonan suggests that Rush, Newt, conservative activists are “idiots” for attacking Sotomayor

She laments the Republican knee-jerk fascination with "exciting the base."

Another told me a [Supreme Court nomination] fight is needed to excite the base.

Excite the base? How about excite a moderate, or interest an independent? How about gain the attention of people who aren't already on your side?

When you're at 20% in the polls, your problem isn't exciting your base. It's how to hide it. Read the rest of this post...

Rush fires back at GOP Senator Cornyn and compares Sotomayor to David Duke

This morning, I wrote about Senator Cornyn's criticism of Rush and Newt. It wasn't a very strong condemnation, but Cornyn ventured into that dangerous territory for Republicans -- criticizing Rush:

How long before Cornyn has to apologize? The new commandment for Republicans is that no one shall ever criticize Rush. And, it's perfect that he complained about Rush and Newt on NPR, a station which most conservatives loathe.

Try as he might, the Texas Senator doesn't deliver the GOP message. Rush and Newt do. And, there's nothing Cornyn can do about it.

No surprise, Rush didn't take it well. He clearly has Cornyn in his sights. Courtesy of Media Matters:


Rush is just playing with Cornyn now. It's going to get uglier. Keep in mind, Cornyn runs the campaign committee for the Senate Republicans. He needs to have a happy base of contributors -- and for most of them, Rush is their one true leader. We all know Cornyn is going to have really get on his knees and beg for Rush's forgiveness. No Republican can ever defy Rush. No Republican ever really will.

Meanwhile, Rush upped the ante of ugliness today, too. He compared Sotomayor to notorious white supremacist and former GOP candidate, David Duke. Seriously.

UPDATE: Noting that Rush compared Sotomayor to David Duke, Eric Kleefeld at TPM asks the right question:

So why isn't he supporting her?

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20,000 civilians dead in final days of Sri Lanka war

Both sides of this ugly war had a complete lack of respect for civilians. Instead of praise, the UN should be leading the way for maintaining the peace, including equality for everyone. Reuters:

More than 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final days of Sri Lanka's military operation to defeat Tamil Tigers rebels, The Times newspaper reported on Friday.

Sri Lanka's authorities say their forces stopped using heavy weapons on April 27 in a no-fire zone where an estimated 100,000 Tamil civilians were sheltered and blame civilian casualties on rebels hiding among the civilians, the paper said.

Citing confidential U.N. documents it acquired, The Times said the civilian death toll in the no-fire zone soared from late April, with around 1,000 civilians killed daily until May 19. That was the day after Vellupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was killed.

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Cornyn criticizes Gingrich … before Gingrich helps him raise money

I guess Cornyn isn't that upset with Gingrich's anti-Latino attacks after all. Bad message for the GOP to be sending to the country's 30 million Latinos.

Lost in the hoopla over NRSC Chairman John Cornyn's (R-Texas) criticism of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh is that fact that one of these men is set to help him raise lots of money.

Speaking on NPR on Thursday, Cornyn called Gingrich's and Limbaugh's labeling of Sotomayor as racist "terrible" and diminished them by noting that they aren't "elected Republican officials."

But on June 8, Gingrich is the headliner for one of the biggest GOP fundraisers of the election cycle, where the NRSC and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) will raise millions.

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Mormon favorability rating drops over last year

I guess grave robbing and hate aren't growth businesses now that the Republicans are out of power.

The Washington Post has a story today about how the Mormons are having a bit of a bad year, after it was revealed that they've been trying to steal Anne Frank's soul, the soul of President Obama's late mother, and then there's that little thing about murdering love in an entire state (which is ironic since a wing of Mormons are still fighting, violently, for their right to polygamy).

I suspect part of the problem is that while every religion has its fantastic tales, Christians probably aren't thrilled when they learn that the Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers, and that Jesus married (and presumably slept with) his mother, Mary. Then there's the magic underwear. And the forced, secret baptism of dead non-Mormons (i.e., your relatives) against the wishes of their families - ostensibly forcibly converting your family to Mormonism, whether you like it or not. I can't think of any religion in America that does that. Even the evangelicals aren't as pushy as the Mormons. Mind you, the evangelicals are pretty pushy in their own right, and will talk your ear off about why you need to convert to their faith. I had one try to start the "have you accepted Jesus into your heart" conversation while I was stuck in a 10 hour layover at NY Kennedy after just arriving from Europe. The conversation didn't go so well.

As much as that pesky evangelical guy ticked me off, he doesn't hold a candle to some sneak trying to steal your mother's soul. Read the rest of this post...

FactCheck.org: Conservative ad against health care reform is "very misleading"

They're at it again. So when exactly will the liberal health care groups get just as aggressive? I'm not talking about lying, which is what conservatives do. I'm talking about kicking them in the gut, hard, which is what liberals never do. Where are our hard-hitting ads? Why, once again, are we in defense mode? Read the rest of this post...

200 US military members have been kicked out under DADT since Obama was sworn in

Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach is about to become of them. Read the rest of this post...

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) makes a feeble attempt to rein in the vicious rhetoric of Rush and Newt

Life is rough for Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). He's in charge of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Things are already looking bad for his Senate caucus, which has seen its numbers drop from 55 in 2006 to 40 now. While Cornyn is supposed to help elect more Republican Senators, he's facing obstacles.

Cornyn's biggest problem is that the leaders of the GOP, like Rush and Newt, are on a rampage. Their attacks on Sotomayor have been appalling and vicious -- and reflect on the entire Republican party. Those guys don't care who they alienate, which is a real political disaster for Cornyn. It shows the haters run the Republican party and that's not a great way to get Republicans elected. So, Cornyn dissed his leaders:

A top Senate Republican is taking aim at recent statements from conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich suggesting Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a "racist."

"I think it's terrible," Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NPR's "All Things Considered" Thursday. "This is not the kind of tone any of us want to set when it comes to performing our constitutional responsibilities of advise and consent.”

Both the popular radio host and former GOP House Speaker have suggested Obama's pick for the high court is a racist while referencing a 2001 speech at Berkeley during which Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

How long before Cornyn has to apologize? The new commandment for Republicans is that no one shall ever criticize Rush. And, it's perfect that he complained about Rush and Newt on NPR, a station which most conservatives loathe.

Try as he might, the Texas Senator doesn't deliver the GOP message. Rush and Newt do. And, there's nothing Cornyn can do about it. But, Cornyn will pay for saying what he said about Rush and Newt. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

This was a pretty intense week -- even for a four-day work week.

The right wingers are in an absolute frenzy over the nomination of Sotomayor. They just can't control themselves. And, as much as the political people in the GOP are trying to prevent further damage to their party, they can't. The extremist wingnuts are running the show. It's just going to get uglier. In the end, Sotomayor will be a Supreme Court Justice -- and the GOP will be in a worse place. That works for me.

Let's get it started... Read the rest of this post...

"Drivers license for bankers" promoted in the Netherlands

It's easy to sympathize with the Dutch government but a few tests aren't going to make an impact on greed, which is the problem. Beyond money there's little else that registers with bankers today. Any sense of moral obligation has been gone for years so it won't register with them. As for tests, the bankers who got us into this crisis are hardly stupid people. Greed has and continues to pay pretty well in banking. When the bankers still get payouts after delivering poor numbers that aren't radically different from pay from big numbers that were false, what do you expect? Cute idea but it completely misses the mark.

The Dutch finance ministry confirmed Thursday that it intends to implement a banking test within the next year that would be a requirement for serving on a board in the sector.

No one will be immune — including the previous finance minister, Gerrit Zalm, who is now running the nationalized operations of ABN Amro.

A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Wouter Bos said the test will be something like "a driver's license for bankers."

But she also said that much is yet to be determined, including who will draft the test and who will administer it.

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People like this are why HIV/AIDS is so high in Swaziland

Swaziland is a country that has rarely had any good ideas related to addressing the serious problem of HIV/AIDS thanks to its dysfunctional government, including MPs like this buffoon. The king sets the example each year when he "chooses" a new wife to add to his existing dozen or so. The HIV/AIDS rate among adults between 15-49 is over 26% with an overall life expectancy of 40 years. It might not be a bad idea to get serious about solving the actual problem instead of labeling victims.

A Swaziland parliamentarian has apologized after calling for HIV-positive people to be branded on the buttocks to stop the spread of the virus ravaging the country.

Timothy Myeni drew widespread criticism after telling a parliamentarians' workshop in Swaziland that the move would enable people to check partners for a warning stamp before sex.

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UN criticized over Sri Lanka

The end of the bloody war in Sri Lanka finally ended after decades and the end was a blood bath. A few weeks before the end I stumbled upon a protest march supporting the Tamil Tigers and saw the protesters camping out at Les Invalides for weeks. They waived signs that included photos of the wounded children and I had no doubt that they were real, as awful as they were. While I sympathized with the children I also remember decades of brutality by the Tamil Tigers. They were never hesitant to kill anyone who stepped in their way and it was the Tamil Tigers who popularized such methods as suicide belts, suicide bombings and using children as soldiers. I didn't recall seeing any photos of this during the protests.

The UN should have gone without praise - it was a bloody war and destructive war - but let's not forget about the horrific policies of the Tamil Tigers. Liberation and equality may have been high ideals but their use of low tactics is not worthy of praise either. What a waste of human life on both sides.

The accusations followed a resolution in the UN human rights council welcoming the Sri Lankan government victory, with no reference to human rights concerns over civilian casualties and the 300,000 Tamils made homeless, many of whom are interned in government camps.

But criticism was also aimed at the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, who ­visited the biggest camp over the weekend and complimented the Sri Lankan government on its humanitarian role, and the security council for not speaking out officially about the human cost of the military victory.

"The human rights council performed abysmally," said Tom Porteous, London director of Human Rights Watch. "It's there to monitor human rights and the laws of war, and it completely failed – and failed to register any concern over the situation."

The UN did indeed perform poorly but that has been going on for decades. Read the rest of this post...

Late payments and foreclosures getting worse

It's difficult to imagine some on the other side still believe the system is fine and that we don't need any regulations. What are they thinking? The important question is whether this increase and the increases that are coming have been reflected in the banking stress tests. History says no but maybe Geithner will have surprised everyone and made sure the banks have enough padding to withstand the bumpy ride ahead. Reuters:

"We clearly haven't hit the top yet in terms of delinquencies or the bottom of the housing market," Jay Brinkmann, the association's chief economist, said in an interview.

Prime fixed-rate loans, made to borrowers with high credit quality, comprise 65 percent of the $9.9 trillion in outstanding first mortgages, according to the industry group.

"The housing market depends on the employment situation," he said, "and we don't expect unemployment to bottom out until the middle of next year, so then normally housing would not recover until after employment recovers."

A record 12.07 percent of loans on one-to-four unit residences were at least one payment past due or in the foreclosure process in the first quarter, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.

Foreclosure actions were started on an all-time high 1.37 percent of first mortgages in the quarter, a record increase from 1.08 percent the prior quarter.

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