Summary Of Key Provisions Of Senate Financial Overhaul Bill

I wanted restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act. It was the most far reaching of any financial control law in American History. The new law may be an improvement but I fear the details will provide loopholes that will not fulfill American needs.

Following is a an abridged summary found on Morningstar.

-NEW REGULATORY AUTHORITY: Gives federal regulators new authority to seize and break up large troubled financial firms without taxpayers bailouts in cases where the firm’s collapse could destabilize the financial system.

-CONSUMER AGENCY: Would create a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau within the Federal Reserve, with rulemaking and some enforcement power over banks and non-banks that offer consumer financial products or services such as credit cards, mortgages and other loans.

-DERIVATIVES: Would require the vast majority of all derivatives trading be executed on a public exchange as opposed to between banks and their customers as many contracts are currently written.

-FINANCIAL STABILITY COUNCIL: Would establish a new, nine-member Financial Stability Oversight Council, comprising existing regulators charged with monitoring and addressing system-wide risks to the nation’s financial stability.

-OVERSIGHT CHANGES: Would eliminate the Office of Thrift Supervision, but an attempt to strip the Fed of its oversight of thousands of community banks in the bill was reversed with an amendment.

-FEDERAL RESERVE OVERSIGHT: Calls for a one-time government audit of all of the Fed’s emergency lending programs from Dec. 2007 onward, including facilities used to help deal with the collapse of Bear Stearns & Co. and the program to stabilize asset-backed securities markets.

-BANK CAPITAL STANDARDS: Under an amendment adopted unanimously with little fanfare, the bill would force banks with more than $250 billion in assets to meet higher risk- and size-based capital standards.

-CREDIT RATING AGENCIES: The bill will establish a new self-regulatory organization for credit rating agencies designed to eliminate a conflict in the current system where an institution pays for its rating and, at times, shops for the best rating it can get for the lowest price.

-INVESTMENT ADVICE: Several Democrats had hoped to tighten regulations for broker-dealers who give investment advice, but they weren’t given a floor vote on their amendment despite near constant lobbying from consumer groups.

-MORTGAGE RISK: Would require firms that securitize mortgages and other loans to hold a portion of the risk on their own balance sheets, but–under an amendment added on the floor–also would direct regulators to establish a category of less-risky mortgage products– primarily fixed-rate, fully amortizing loans–that would be exempt from the risk-retention rule.

-HEDGE FUNDS: Would require hedge funds that manage more than $100 million to register with the SEC as investment advisors and disclose to the agency information about their trades and portfolios.

-CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: Would give shareholders of public corporations a non-binding vote on executive pay, and would give the SEC the authority to grant shareholders proxy access to nominate directors.

-INSURANCE: Would create a new Office of National Insurance within Treasury to monitor the industry, recommending to the systemic risk council insurers that should be treated as systemically important, as well as coordinate international insurance issues.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Just two months ago (March 22) Republicans, especially talk radio and cable TV commentators, were banging the drum calling for repeal of the new health care plan. It seemed that they had their cause for the November election. As we move away from the passage of health care the focus has changed. No wonder. We have had the scare of the Times Square bomber, the BP oil spill, and the Greek financial crises to occupy our time along with a few other unusual occurrences.

Predicting the outcome of the November congressional elections would not be a worthwhile endeavor. Yet, I must point out that there has been a lack of focus on the state of this economy. The words “jobs, jobs, jobs” rings in my ears. “It’s the economy, stupid” was a phrase in American politics widely used during Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign against President George H. W. Bush. The words were coined by Clinton campaign strategist James Carville refers to the notion that Clinton was a better choice because Bush had not adequately addressed the economy, which had recently undergone a recession.

There has not been one plan enunciated by either political party offering a solution to our on going 10% unemployment situation. We all know that the unspoken real number is 15%. It has not been addressed. Incentives to bring jobs back to this country are all mediocre.

Government’s failure to do its job is going to result in many incumbents in both political parties finding new jobs.

Israel is a Fact, Now Let’s Find Peace

Israel Independence Day is celebrated annually on 5 Iyar, the anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel (May 14, 1948).

Today the Associated Press reported the following:

Bitter Palestinian rivals marched together Saturday in a rare show of unity as they marked 62 years of displacement in the war surrounding Israel’s creation.

Loyalists of rival groups Hamas and Fatah held Palestinian flags and a giant key symbolic of their hoped-for return as part of annual commemorations of what they call the “catastrophe,” or “nakba” in Arabic. The names of the villages and towns emptied during the war were written across the key, alongside the slogan “We will return.”

The plight of the refugees — who fled or were driven from their homes during the 1948 Israeli-Arab war — is one of the most emotionally charged issues for Palestinians and Israel to resolve.

From Wikipedia is this account of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. My personal knowledge confirms much of the information. More in depth information here.

Fighting between the Arab and Jewish communities of Palestine began in November 1947, immediately after the UN decision to create a Jewish state. The Arab States declared they would greet any attempt to form a Jewish state with war.[46] Dr Izzat Tannous, the Palestinian Arab representative to the UN declared that

“We are now at war, a war in which no quarter will be asked and none will be given. It will be a battle of life and death and woe to the vanquished.”^[47]

Fighting spread as the British gradually withdrew (the area had been a British Protectorate since the end of World War I). The Arab League could not invade until the British completed their withdrawal, and planned an invasion for the day after. In this phase, before the British departure, the struggle was a civil war. Arab forces consisted of village militias buttressed by the Arab Liberation Army, a force composed largely of Arab volunteers from across the Middle-East but which included European mercenaries including British deserters, German Nazis[48] and veterans of the (Bosnian Moslem) Croatian Waffen SS (whose commander had been the Palestinian Mufti of Jerusalem). The Jews had their militias (including many World War II veterans) and a several thousand strong professional force called the Palmach.

Initially the Arabs had the advantage as the British maintained an embargo on Palestine’s seas preventing the Jews from importing arms or manpower while Arab states could supply local Arabs who also occupied more strategic areas and outnumbered the Jews. The Jews, however, were better organized and believed themselves to be fighting for their lives. Jewish taxes had funded both the British army in Palestine and British support for the Arab population so the Jewish economy benefited from the British departure while the Arab economy collapsed as the war expanded. The Jews had an elected government (the Va’ad Leumi) already in place with an independent taxation system.

In the early stages 100,000 Palestinian Arabs, mainly the upper classes and the better off fled to neighbouring states.[49] Before May 1948, 150,000 more fled or were evicted during fighting as the Jews slowly overpowered the Arab forces. Jewish preparation for the Arab invasion led to the eviction of hostile Arab communities who controlled access routes. In Haifa the Arab Higher Committee (who were based in Syria) refused to allow a negotiated cease fire with the Jews or allow the Arab population to remain under Jewish control thus contributing to the departure of the city’s Arab population.[50] There was particularly heavy fighting on the road to Jerusalem, whose 100,000 strong Jewish community was cut off from the rest of the country, and this led the Jews to destroy most of the Arab villages along the narrow route they eventually established between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

In March 1949, after many months of battle, a permanent ceasefire went into effect and Israel’s interim borders, later known as the Green Line, were established.

The current population of Israel is 7.5 million people, of whom 5.7 million are Jewish.

Comparing Individual State Debt to Greek Debt

Reuters reports that California’s long term debt is over $159 billion. New York state debt is $120 billion. The amount all 50 U.S. states owe in debt and benefits for public workers is $1.026 trillion. This data provided according to the analysis by the Citizens Budget Commission.

New York’s ability to pay its bills was estimated at a ratio of 1.099, meaning that for every dollar of resources it has, there is $1.099 worth of obligations. By contrast California’s ratio works out to a more affordable 0.599, according to the study by the nonpartisan research group.

Greece’s foreign debt has risen to 300 billion euros ($441 billion), or about 125% of national GDP. The GDP of California in 2008 was $1.5 trillion according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. New York’s GDP was about $1 trillion.

Global comparison

Zimbabwe has the world’s highest public debt as a percentage of the economy. Select examples and overall rank:

Zimbabwe 304% (1)
Japan 192% (2)
Greece 108% (8)
France 80% (15)
Germany 77% (18)
U.K. 69% (22)
U.S. 58%* (42)
Iran 19% (103)
Russia 7% (124)

Source: CIA

* Does not include Treasury debt held by Social Security Administration and the Federal Reserve

Things aren’t so bad after all!

Ethnic Studies Promote Division

The purpose of ethnic studies is murky. I read and hear words like “understanding a person’s family history”, “learning about your family’s ethnic background”, “learning about you ethnic history”, “learning about someone else’s ethnic history”, and similar words. Carried to extreme are the degree programs at my own alma mater, California State University Northridge (CSUN).

At CSUN there are the Chicana and Chicano Studies that is part of the College of Humanities. I admit that I do not appreciate liberal arts degrees. They lead no where. There are no jobs or careers other than teaching that are interested in hiring liberal arts majors. I see even less value in ethnic studies. Here is the stated objective of this program.

1. Demonstrate an ability to think critically, analytically, and creatively about the Chicana/o experience in the local and global society.

2. Demonstrate competency in oral, written, and research skills.

3. Demonstrate an understanding of creative and performance arts.

4. Acquire a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of Chicana/o Studies history, culture, arts, language, and socio-political issues.

5. Acquire the leadership skills that will promote social change in Chicana/o communities and the broader society.

These kinds of studies are all about emphasizing differences between people rather than similarities. Arizona has banned these studies in Tucson because the classes are emphasizing racial separation and the return of the western United States to Mexico. Most Black Americans have ancestry that dates back hundreds of years in the United States. They are African by ancestral birth. We do not identify people with ancestry from Europe as European Americans.

We need more attitude encouraging integration. America’s objective has always been immigration and assimilation. Martin Luther King’s words: I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions.

Supreme Court – the Liberal Wing is Reinforced

When Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the 107th justice to the United States Supreme Court in August, 1993, she became the second woman to sit in this court (Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman) and the first Jewish justice since 1969. She was born on born March 15, 1933. She has survived two cancer illnesses (colon cancer and pancreatic cancer). At 77 years old she will be the oldest justice on the Supreme Court after John Paul Stevens, who is 89, retires. She is part of the liberal side of the court. Have you seen pictures of Ruth Bader Ginsburg? She does not look well. She has said she is healthy and intends to continue her roll on the Supreme Court.

Other older members of the court include: Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia is 74 and is a conservative, Justice Anthony McLeod Kennedy is 73 and is a moderate and has swayed in his decision making, Justice Stephen Gerald Breyer is 71 and is a liberal.

Elena Kagan is Jewish. She was born in New York City on April 28, 1960. She graduated from Hunter College High School in 1977 and earned her B.A. from Princeton University in 1981. She worked for the Michael Dukakis presidential campaign. She was dean of Harvard Law School. On January 5, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated her to be Solicitor General of the United States. Thus, she became the first woman to hold the office responsible for arguing for the Government of the United States in front of the Supreme Court whenever the government is party to a case. Kagan was a law clerk for Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court. She was also an associate at the Washington D.C. law firm Williams & Connolly.

Television news shows are all saying that Kagan is a consensus builder. That was an important part of her role as dean of Harvard Law School. She has been known to face controversy particularly her banning of military recruitment on the Harvard campus because of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Kagan is qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.

Travel Warning

United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520

This information is current as of today, Sun May 09 09:34:01 2010.

MEXICO

May 06, 2010

The Department of State has issued this Travel Warning to inform U.S. citizens traveling to and living in Mexico about the security situation in Mexico, and to advise that the authorized departure of family members of U.S. government personnel from U.S. Consulates in the northern Mexico border cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros has been extended. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Mexico dated April 12, 2010 to note the extension of authorized departure and to update guidance on security conditions and crime.

Millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year. This includes tens of thousands who cross the border every day for study, tourism or business and at least one million U.S. citizens who live in Mexico. The Mexican government makes a considerable effort to protect U.S. citizens and other visitors to major tourist destinations. Resort areas and tourist destinations in Mexico do not see the levels of drug-related violence and crime reported in the border region and in areas along major drug trafficking routes. Nevertheless, crime and violence are serious problems. While most victims of violence are Mexican citizens associated with criminal activity, the security situation poses serious risks for U.S. citizens as well.

It is imperative that U.S. citizens understand the risks involved in travel to Mexico, how best to avoid dangerous situations, and who to contact if one becomes a victim of crime or violence. Common-sense precautions such as visiting only legitimate business and tourist areas during daylight hours, and avoiding areas where criminal activity might occur, can help ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable. U.S. citizen victims of crime in Mexico are urged to contact the consular section of the nearest U.S. Consulate or Embassy for advice and assistance. Contact information is provided at the end of this message.

More details at the United States Department of State web site.

Today’s Los Angeles Times has a front page article assuring everyone that it really is safe to travel to Tijuana. They do have a travel section that takes considerable advertising from agencies promoting travel to Mexico. Could that be their motivation?