Recently in Politics Category

On ABC's This Week yesterday former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan once again pulled out the "nobody saw it coming" excuse for missing the conditions which led to the financial meltdown in 2008:"...the reason it was missed is we have had no experience of the type of risks that arose following the default of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.That's the critical mistake. And I made it. Everybody that I know who works in this business made...

In a March 26 letter to shareholders Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, wrote:"The crisis of the past couple of years has had far-reaching consequences, among them the declining public image of banks and bankers...[W]hen we vilify whole industries...we are denigrating ourselves and much of what made this country successful...We also should refrain from indiscriminate blame of any whole group of people...While JPMorgan Chase certainly made its share of mistakes in this tumultuous time, our...

I know today is April 1st, but this is no April Fool's joke:"Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) is afraid that the U.S. Territory of Guam is going to "tip over and capsize" due to overpopulation.Johnson expressed his worries during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the defense budget Friday.Addressing Adm. Robert Willard, who commands the Navy's Pacific Fleet, Johnson made a tippy motion with his hands and said sternly, "My fear is that the whole...

It has been almost a week since I wrote last and I have a pretty good excuse. A relative of my wife's passed away over the weekend. I wasn't going to bring my computer and my Iphone ended up going on the fritz on the way back home. My customer service experience with Apple will be the subject of another column soon. Suffice it to say, everything is almost back to normal after the ten...

There's just no pleasing some people. President Obama proposes to open up much of the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the North coast of Alaska to offshore oil and gas drilling and what is the response of Rep. John Boehner (R-Darque Tan)? It's not enough: "President Barack Obama's plan to allow expanded offshore oil and gas exploration won rebuke from the top House Republican on Wednesday. House Minority Leader John Boehner...

The chorus of those calling for breaking up the big banks is growing larger and louder by the day. Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) in a speech on the floor of the Senate last Friday:"These mega-banks are too big to manage, too big to regulate, too big to fail and too interconnected to resolve when the next crisis hits.  We must break up these banks and separate again those commercial banking activities that are guaranteed by...

Regulatory capture: a term used to refer to situations in which a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead acts in favor of the commercial or special interests that dominate in the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. See also John C. Dugan, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Related subject: Washington/Wall Street revolving door. From today's New York Times:Houston"For now at least, the nation's front line for...

Now that health care reform, such as it is, has been signed, sealed, and set to be delivered in varying stages between now and 2014, can we please move on to other things. Believe it or not there are some significant storm clouds on the horizon which have the potential to come on shore sooner than 4 years from now, and which might merit some attention from policymakers in Washington, D.C. Such as:The next wave...

Every time I watch Meet the Press I'm reminded of the magnitude of the loss of Tim Russert. Yesterday's program only reinforced that as an unprepared Tom Brokaw allowed Karl Rove's claim that it was not the policy of the Bush administration to use Iraqi oil revenues to offset the cost of the war to go unchallenged: Here's the exchange:  <br />Brokaw's next statement was, "Well, let's talk about the insurgency." Here's what Russert would...

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Texans. Unless you want them to be taught that: * Latinos were put on earth for the sole purpose of mowing their lawns and bussing their tables. * Thomas Jefferson was a God-hating subversive. The time wasted studying the 3rd president of the U.S. would be better spent learning about Phyllis Schlafly, the Moral Majority, and NRA. * Republicans are responsible for passing civil rights legislation....