Category: Politics

Insider trading ban is almost OK d in ‘House’

The following news item from the Los Angeles Times (dated February 10,  2012) shows how well tied the GOP is to Wall Street.

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LISA MASCARO REPORTING FROM WASHINGTON

The House passed a sweeping new ethics bill that bans lawmakers from using insider information for per­sohal gain, but Republican leaders came under criti­cism for softening the legis­lation in a way that some view as beneficial to Wall street investors.

Both parties gave the bill overwhelming support – it passed 417 to 2 – as lawmak­ers try to show voters they are holding themselves to tough ‘ethical standards. The Senate gave nearly unanimous approval to a version of the bill last week.

The legislation prohibits lawmakers and executive branch officials from using information they learn on the job, if it is not known publicly, in their personal fi­mmcial transactions.

But the decision by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to exclude a provision that sought to monitor the flow of “political intelligence” – a relatively newly defined practice of selling Washington informa­tion largely to financial in­vestors – puts the legisla­tion on an uncertain path. The Senate bill required those who broker in political intelligence to register much the way lobbyists must do.

“What a sorry – but tell­ing – display,” said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Pub­lic Citizen, a government watchdog group. “The Re­publican leadership’s weak­ening of legislation banning congressional insider trad­ing reflects its commitment to the hedge funds and Wall street interests.”

GOP leaders stood by their decision to dash the provision, which had been added to the Senate bill by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-­Iowa). House Republicans instead opted to have the is­sue studied.

Grassley called House GOP leadership’s action “extremely disappointing.” The different versions of the bills must be resolved if they are to become law.

The overwhelming sup­port for the bills came after news reports, including a “60 Minutes” episode, drew at­tention to lawmakers’ per­sonal financial activities.

One addition the GOP leaders made to the House bill stemmed· from the show’s reporting on the dealings of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Fran­cisco), whose husband pur­chased Visa stock before Congress considered legis­lation on credit cards .. Dubbed the “Pelosi Provi­sion,” it would bar lawmak­ers from using insider infor­mation to act on initial pub­lic offerings.

lisa.mascaro @latimes.com

A Society Run by the Rich!

The American system of opportunity is broken.  There is nothing and no one on the horizon that will change our destructive trajectory.

The American model of capitalism and the opportunity to become very wealthy and has become the goal of almost every other nation in the world.  Like so many other successes in this world our leaders attempted to fine tune our system.  That led to our undoing and a focus on the inequities that unlimited capitalism creates.

The Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party groups have highlighted the problems that most of us have known about for decades.  Most of us just chose to ignore the issues.  We took a “don’t rock the boat” attitude.  The obvious condition of our economy, and its bleak future, has forced us to re-examine this situation.  More of us will now be forced to think harder about the choices we make at the ballot box.

The average American family has an income of less than $50,000 per year.  At the same time there are millionaires whose income is so large that they earn an annual income that is 340 times as much and more.  Yes, John Stumpf, CEO of Wells Fargo Bank made $17.6 million in 2010.  Mitt Romney’s income for the past two years has exceeded $20 million per year.  At least Mr. Stumpf had to work for his money.  Mr. Romney has not worked for at least six years and is living off of his investments.

Irking to most of us is that many millionaires have income based upon capital gains and qualified dividends.  Their income tax rate is 15% or less while those drawing a salary are taxed at rates up to 35%.

These are not isolated individuals.  One percent of all Americans equal 3 million people.  They have no concept of living on $50,000 per year.

If you believe that either Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich (holder of a $500,000 revolving account at Tiffany’s) will be interested in improving the opportunities for the average American then you really are delusional.  They will do everything in their power to sustain the system that has made them rich.

Meanwhile the rest of us are fed the line that all of us are owners of American businesses through our 401(k)s and IRAs.  So we dutifully go to work hoping that someone will recognize our talents and give us the promotion we believe we deserve.  For most of us those promotions never materialize and we end up retiring with a savings account of about $100,000 and a reliance on Social Security.

G. William Domhoff, a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, has been conducting an ongoing review of wealth and income in America.  He has posted his study on-line.  Included is this summary of our condition.

“As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.5%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%, leaving only 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers).”

If you think this is just an American problem take a good look at your own country. Canada has high rise condo projects in all of its major cities and lots of well to do people.  That can be extended to the nations of Western Europe,Latin America, and Australia too.

The historic reality is that 20% of the population of any nation owns 80% of the wealth.  It is the Pareto Principle or the 80-20 rule.  This is the out come of a study done by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who in 1906 observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population.  He soon found that the 80-20 ratio applied to many other aspects of society and business..  So no matter how much we try to void this situation it continuously re-appears.

My complaint is that 1% if our population has grown so powerful that most of the rest of us cannot control  our society.  Look at the current Republican campaigning in Florida.  Mitt Romney is leading in the polls but is spending money for negative advertising against Newt Gingrich at a rate of four times as many dollars.  It’s a rich man losing to a very rich man.  Our country is being bought by the rich.

There is little hope that this situation will change any time soon.  Barack Obama chose not to accept federal funding for his campaign (in 2008) and instead raised millions more on his own.  Thus both political parties are being run by the influence peddlers.  A third political party would be faced with the same conditions.

Is there a solution?  None that I know of!

We Need a Third Political Party!

The GOP conundrum in selecting their candidate will soon be one for all Americans. We have a choice of

A. Sticking with Barack Obama who has been a divider rather than a uniter. The president now has the experience but the government is in grid lock.

B. Selecting the GOP contender. The leading contenders are 1) an insider who left the House of Representatives in disgrace, has worked for lobbyist groups and has a $500,000 revolving credit account at Tiffany’s or 2) a man who has an annual income of over $20 million and is in the 15% tax bracket.

In other words we stick with a failed president or choose one that has no idea how the average American family lives on less than $50,000 per year.

I am ready for a third political party.

Debate About Everything Except the Economy & Jobs

 I do not know if CNN agreed to avoid talking about the number one issue in America or if it just turned out that way.  Wolf Blitzer certainly knows what is the number one issue on the minds of most Americans.  At least one of the candidates in tonight’s debate pointed out that the unemployment rate for Florida is an official 9.9% and most likely is closer to 18%.  Despite those facts there was no discussion about creating jobs in Florida or anywhere else in the United States.

It was most opportune that Cisco had a cartoon ad showing a factory that had no human beings. The robots were so smart that one was able to repair the other without any human interaction.  Is this really possible?  Today’s Los Angeles Times had a report on drones that are smart enough to land on an aircraft carrier.  Those drones are so smart they can select their targets without human participation.

 The candidates spent 15 minutes talking about illegal immigration.  Thanks to the high Latino population of Florida there was discussion about Latin America,Cuba, and Puerto Rican statehood.  Of course “who can claim the Reagan mantle?” was time-wasting exercise.  The question of “why your wife would make a great first lady” was another time waster.

 Issues that should have been discussed are America’s AA+ credit rating, the lack of decent paying jobs, the deterioration of our industrial base, the state of America’s infrastructure, and Iranian nuclear ambitions.  Those are real issues that require real thought not sound bites.

All the candidates want to become president but none were acting presidential.

State of the Union Address is just Words

President Obama is an outstanding speaker.  Tonight’s State of the Union speech was no exception.  His presentation was flawless.  Since this speech was the start of the campaign season it will be difficult but not impossible for the Republican nominee to win November’s election.  After all, the economy is in terrible distress.  We need to blame someone and that person is almost always the president.

Because Mr. Obama is such an excellent speaker the GOP will need someone with outstanding debating skills.  That person is Newt Gingrich.  He is able to duck the questions reporters ask and turn the question into an attack on his opponent.  Mr. Romney lacks that skill.

The United States is in serious economic trouble.  Words alone will not be enough.  Obama has not delivered results.  If the Republican nominee can convince a majority of us that he has a workable plan there will be a new president in the White House on January 20, 2013.

Presidential Race = Reality Show

 

Did anyone really take Herman Cain as a serious candidate for president?  His 9-9-9 plan for taxation was a perfect take off of the pizza for $9.99.  His appearance with Stephen Colbert confirms what we all knew.  He is the text book example of self promotion.

Mr. Cain has been reported to be the person who will offer a Tea Party response to the president’s State of the Union address.  Are Tea Party leaders serious or are they also part of a self promotion agenda?

When Newt Gingrich attacked CNN’s John King and the entire media for his second wife’s interview with ABC it was a perfect example of utter nonsense.  Neither ABC nor other media outlets put the words into his second ex-wife.

“Oops” it has all been great fun.  $10,000 bets that only a multi-millionaire could really afford tells us that few people really take the race for president seriously.

Seriously, does anyone believe that the next four years will be any better no matter who wins the election?  I don’t!

Politics Above Jobs

Today’s Associated Press headline reads “Obama rejects Canada-Texas oil pipeline -for now.” It’s all about politics not about what is the right thing to do.

Barack Obama has made the environmentalists happy but not the country.  Those environmentalists are viewed as an important support group for re-election.  So the gamble is we will all forget about this issue by next November.

However, if the number of unemployed Americans is still high in November the GOP won’t let us forget.  Those supporting the pipeline are furious and they should be.

 A $7 billion pipeline from Canada to our gulf coast will result in thousands of jobs.  That pipeline will help reduce our dependency on Arab oil.  Concerns about water pollution can be over come with some re-routing of the pipe.

This project was originally proposed when George W. Bush was president.  To contend now that the government has not had sufficient time to review possible side effects is ludicrous. Barack Obama is on the wrong side of an important issue.  He deserves to be attacked for this decision.

Jobs Should Be Job One!

Neither the president nor the ambitious GOP candidates know how to fix the American economy.

Happily the total unemployment number improved in December bringing down the percentage of those still looking to 8.5%

The BLS summary included this statement. “The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.6 million and accounted for 42.5 percent of the unemployed. (See table A-12.)”

There is the crux of the problem.  Not one politician talks about this issue.  No wonder.  No one knows how to solve this problem.

Imagine you are 50 years or older and now are part of that 5.6 million people.  Your career is probably over.  If you have not found an alternate career that takes advantage of your prior experience you are most likely looking at low paying jobs in a new profession.  Who is likely to hire you when you are part of the older workers group?

I have been through all of this and understand the pain.  Fortunately I was able to utilize some of my prior experience.  For those who cannot there is no solution.

Hoping that the government will show the way is foolish.  Politics have ground the government to a near stop.

The next national election will be between “the audacity of hope” that failed and a list of GOP candidates that are focused on cultural issues.

Goodbye to America’s Middle Class!