Now, let’s talk about consequences. |
The American public was at first peeved about this government power grab, leading to wildly entertaining August recesses for congressional Democrats. As the Dems shoved non-matching bills through House and Senate, America got positively miffed. Witness McDonnell, Christie, and Brown. |
Now America is flat irritated. And if the Dems try sporting this blatant middle finger at the Constitution and America, we will all see what happens when America is finally angry. Like Dan Perrin, I think Democrats will back down before doing this. But we’ve both underestimated their stupidity several times in this process. Nothing’s a safe bet anymore. |
| Before this, Democrats were already going to lose HUGE in November. There are more House Democrats retiring in “safe” districts than there are Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys in prison.Read more at www.redstate.com |
A new report is out by the bank examiner hired by Lehman Brothers to assess the reasons for the financial company’s collapse and the final product is not pretty. |
“But the examiner, Anton R. Valukas, also for the first time, laid out what the report characterized as “materially misleading” accounting gimmicks that Lehman used to mask the perilous state of its finances. The bank’s bankruptcy, the largest in American history, shook the financial world. Fears that other banks might topple in a cascade of failures eventually led Washington to arrange a sweeping rescue for the nation’s financial system. |
| According to the report, Lehman used what amounted to financial engineering to temporarily shuffle $50 billion of troubled assets off its books in the months before its collapse in September 2008 to conceal its dependence on leverage, or borrowed money. Senior Lehman executives, as well as the bank’s accountants at Ernst & Young, were aware of the moves,Read more at dailycaller.com |
We will bring to you this monstrosity as soon as it is released, as we are confident it will be a far more enthralling read that most of the books discussing the financial crisis written to date. The 2,200 page report prepared by examiner Anton Valukas detailing the collapse of Lehman Brothers, will be declassified, as, according to wifebeater Judge Peck, it reads like a “bestseller”, and is “one of the most extraordinary pieces of work product I have ever encountered.” Now, for the first time, we will get an objective analysis into Dick Fuld’s allegations that short sellers were responsible for the death of his firm, and just how it is that Barclays managed to (metaphorically) steal the perfectly solvent North American brokerage division for pennies on the dollar (with the Judge’s blessing in the first place). |
Valukas said in court he expected the report
would be made publicly available within the next few hours, and before
the close of business. The 2,200
page report was filed under seal with the court in February, and has
been withheld from public view because the examiner obtained much of
the information subject to confidentiality agreements.
Read more at www.zerohedge.com |
The financial crisis was Manna from Heaven for this lot; Anglo-Saxon market practices discredited and made to sit in the corner facing the wall; ‘bankers’ under suspicion, complex credit derivatives unmasked as charlatanry. Wonderful. Shackle the markets and fetch the keys to the treasury, would you? |
The echoes of this victory cry have been heard again recently. First Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the euro group of finance ministers, then Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and now the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, is joining the chorus: Greek fiscal and economic policies are not the problem. No, it’s those “unprincipled speculators” (Papandreou), whose evil games must apparently be stopped (Merkel) with the “[regulatory] instruments of torture” (Juncker). |
OK, I know Barack “Nose Picker” Obama, “Dingy” Harry Reid, Janet “Incompetano” Napolitano, Nancy “Where’s My Scepter” Pelosi, and the rest of the Democrats in Washington, DC aren’t inherently funny, but some of these tweets from National Review Online journalist Jim Geraghty are hilarious, almost knee slappers. Here are a handful of my favorite Twitter releases from him this past week. |
After acknowledging receipt of the Judicial Watch FOIA and giving notice of its intent to take an additional 10 days beyond the 20 permitted by the law to respond, Treasury Department officials have provided nothing to the organization.
Read more at the Washington Examiner:
Judicial Watch Sues Geithner and Treasury
http://bit.ly/a3dfTd
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and his department have been sued by Judicial Watch as a result of the government’s abject failure to abide by the law, specifically the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), concerning the Toxic Assets Relief Program and Obama administration “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg. |
Last November, Judidial Watch submitted an FOIA request multiple documents concerning meetings involving Feinberg, special master for executive compensation under TARP; AIG Chairman Robert Benmosche, and New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley. As the Obama administration’s “pay czar,” Feinberg is responsible for setting compensation guidelines for the seven largest firms, including AIG, using funds from TARP. |
Judicial Watch’s request covered meetings among the three officials that took place Nov. 4, 12th and 17th last year. |
WASHINGTON—Billionaire investor George Soros, who helped U.S. President Barack Obama raise money for his presidential campaign in 2008, said Sunday he wasn’t happy with Mr. Obama’s handling of the financial crisis. |
Mr. Soros said the government should have taken over U.S. banks instead of bailing them out, a move he suggested would have been more popular with Americans. |
“The solution that he found to the financial crisis, which was to effectively bail out the banks and allow them to earn their way out of the hole, was, in my opinion, not the right solution,” Mr. Soros said in an interview with CNN. “He should have compulsorily replaced the capital that was lost.” |
After taking office at the start of 2009, Mr. Obama stuck to plans implemented by his predecessor George W. Bush to rescue banks by buying toxic assets from them and injecting capital into struggling lenders. Read more at sayanythingblog.com |
| This was a surprising much talked about review from David Gergen |
Tom Coburn: The Oklahoma senator is among the most conservative voices in Congress but his remarks emerged as a — rare — rallying point during the day. Coburn’s comments on the necessity of eliminating waste and fraud from the health care system drew nods from the president and kudos from a handful of Democratic and Republican politicians gathered at Blair House. In a room dominated by politicians trying to score political points or vamp for the cameras, Coburn stood out. |
| I’ve already mentioned Paul Ryan but here is a bit more: |
Paul Ryan: Speaking of the Wisconsin Republican, it was clear that the president regards him as a serious thinker and adversary while his GOP colleagues often deferred to him on matters of health care and budget policy. Ryan helped burnish his credentials a rising star within the Republican party; he was partisan but drove his attacks using data rather than pure political rhetoric. |
| Bill O’Reilly and Progressive talking head Alan Colmes discuss the inevitable tax increases which will be caused by Obamacare |
| “Some of the things you said are state taxes, are local taxes. Some of the things you cited have nothing to do with the President’s doing and that’s because there is not enough money coming from the federal government, so the states have to do certain things.” |
| Colmes then repeated the misleading talking point that only the taxes on those making more than $250k. |
| The reality is that raising taxes on business owners leads to higher prices on goods and services, less money to pay employees, which leads to unemployment and under-employment. |
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Ronald Reagan billboard pops up in Minnesota
