"Are we listening? And if we are, what are we going to do about it?"
Congressman Alan Grayson
________________________________
The DN's Bramhall's World this morning has a good cartoon...Obama is pulling the ears of a Wall Street tycoon, and in the next room SEC staffers are watching net porn.
There will be some sort of financial reform bill voted out of the Senate.
But it will not deal with the most important issue..breaking up the TBTF (too big to fail)financial giants.
In the good read, 13 Bankers, Simon Johnson and James Kwak argue that if the 6 megabanks are not broken up, the next financial crisis, which will happen, will destroy the entire world's finance.
The big six( Bank of America,JP Morgan,Chase,Citicorp,Wells Fargo, Goldman-Sachs, and Morgan Stanley), have a total wealth equal to 60% of the US GDP.
They want to "reconfigure the megas to be small enough to fail."
How small? Well, NO bank should have wealth that is larger than 4% of the US GDP. The goal should be 2-4% of GDP as the maximum size.
And we, on main street, should move our money into the community banks and local credit unions.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Rocky Mountain High, Leaving Albany and the old Albany handshake
Rocky Mountain High, Leaving Albany and the old Albany handshake.
______________________
(I hate to wake you up to say goodbye.
But the dawn is breaking, it’s early morn.
The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowing his horn,
Already I’m so lonesome I could cry.
.
‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again -
Oh Babe, I hate to go.
There’s so many times I’ve let you down,
So many times I’ve played around,
I tell you now, they don’t mean a thing.
Every place I go, I’ll think of Albany
Every song I sing, I’ll sing for Albany)
(Adopted from John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane)
He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below,
saw everything as far as you can see.
And they say that he got crazy once and that he
tried to touch the sun,
And the Colorado Rocky Mountain High,
I’ve seen it raining fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply.
Rocky Mountain High, ….in Colorado….
Rocky Mountain High.
(John Denver)
__________
The Colorado legislature had to debate whether to make Rocky Mountain High the state
song. The politicos thought Denver was celebrating a drug high.
At least the Colorado legislature appeared to be working.
Our state legislature appears to be mummified.
In May’s Harper’s, Chrisopher Ketchum describes the Albany handshake: “the laziness, the corruption, the shameless posturing…”
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2010/05/0082944
Liz Benjamin asked Assembley majority leader Ron Canestrari when there will be a budget; and he said ,without smiling, probably never.
Ketchum says a radical solution is needed..abolish the legislature.
That’s not going to happen.
What can, and should, happen is Pedro Espada should leave Albany on a jet plane,asap.
State budgets should be two years, off-election years.
And perhaps the next governor should adopt emergency-like dictatorial power.
.
.
______________________
(I hate to wake you up to say goodbye.
But the dawn is breaking, it’s early morn.
The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowing his horn,
Already I’m so lonesome I could cry.
.
‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again -
Oh Babe, I hate to go.
There’s so many times I’ve let you down,
So many times I’ve played around,
I tell you now, they don’t mean a thing.
Every place I go, I’ll think of Albany
Every song I sing, I’ll sing for Albany)
(Adopted from John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane)
He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below,
saw everything as far as you can see.
And they say that he got crazy once and that he
tried to touch the sun,
And the Colorado Rocky Mountain High,
I’ve seen it raining fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply.
Rocky Mountain High, ….in Colorado….
Rocky Mountain High.
(John Denver)
__________
The Colorado legislature had to debate whether to make Rocky Mountain High the state
song. The politicos thought Denver was celebrating a drug high.
At least the Colorado legislature appeared to be working.
Our state legislature appears to be mummified.
In May’s Harper’s, Chrisopher Ketchum describes the Albany handshake: “the laziness, the corruption, the shameless posturing…”
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2010/05/0082944
Liz Benjamin asked Assembley majority leader Ron Canestrari when there will be a budget; and he said ,without smiling, probably never.
Ketchum says a radical solution is needed..abolish the legislature.
That’s not going to happen.
What can, and should, happen is Pedro Espada should leave Albany on a jet plane,asap.
State budgets should be two years, off-election years.
And perhaps the next governor should adopt emergency-like dictatorial power.
.
.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The smart car,electric cigaratte,iphone,earth day, and stuff
Earth Day was celebrated this week.
And, one thing is for sure, we have too much stuff.
Stuff here, stuff there, stuff everywhere.
I strolled through Crossgates Mall, up here in the Albany region.
I stroll through a mall now, in my early winter of life, about once a decade.
I believe, like others, that our shopping malls will evolve into religious meeting halls in the near future.
During my stroll, I saw a display for the electric cigarette and the Smart car.
The Smart car is smaller than a volks, and can get 50-60 mpg. The mall had a super yellow model. I would consider it, if I had any money.
The electric cigarette ” gives a nicotine hit while still managing to avoid the smoking ban.
The small white stick, which looks just like a proper cigarette, contains a chamber that vapourises pure liquid nicotine into a puff of steam.
Smokers can inhale the vapours as they would a cigarette smoke..”
And they can be recharged.
I saw a recent poll that found that females are more likely to date men that have an IPhone.
Since I’m 150 yrs. old, but dateable, I wonder if I drove to a speed dating meet in a Smart car, and used the electric cigarette,and held up an IPhone during the meet and greet, I could get at least one email or phone number
And, one thing is for sure, we have too much stuff.
Stuff here, stuff there, stuff everywhere.
I strolled through Crossgates Mall, up here in the Albany region.
I stroll through a mall now, in my early winter of life, about once a decade.
I believe, like others, that our shopping malls will evolve into religious meeting halls in the near future.
During my stroll, I saw a display for the electric cigarette and the Smart car.
The Smart car is smaller than a volks, and can get 50-60 mpg. The mall had a super yellow model. I would consider it, if I had any money.
The electric cigarette ” gives a nicotine hit while still managing to avoid the smoking ban.
The small white stick, which looks just like a proper cigarette, contains a chamber that vapourises pure liquid nicotine into a puff of steam.
Smokers can inhale the vapours as they would a cigarette smoke..”
And they can be recharged.
I saw a recent poll that found that females are more likely to date men that have an IPhone.
Since I’m 150 yrs. old, but dateable, I wonder if I drove to a speed dating meet in a Smart car, and used the electric cigarette,and held up an IPhone during the meet and greet, I could get at least one email or phone number
Marriage between a socialist and liberatarian
Would a marriage between a libertarian and a socialist work?
Not likely.
But Vermont Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders has an amendment prepared for the finance reform bill debate...he wants to have the Federal Reserve audited.
This proposal began in the House, with libertarian Ron Paul, and actually passed in Dec.
The Federal Reserve's money movements are opaque, rather than transparent.
JFK was a radical in many ways..too bad we lost him too early.
He issued Executive Order 11110, which allowed the Treasury to issue its' own currency, without going through the Federal Reserve.
Under this order,there were $4.3 billion US notes backed by silver certificates issued.
In short, the Federal Reserve could have been eliminated.
Dallas stopped that from happening.
Not likely.
But Vermont Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders has an amendment prepared for the finance reform bill debate...he wants to have the Federal Reserve audited.
This proposal began in the House, with libertarian Ron Paul, and actually passed in Dec.
The Federal Reserve's money movements are opaque, rather than transparent.
JFK was a radical in many ways..too bad we lost him too early.
He issued Executive Order 11110, which allowed the Treasury to issue its' own currency, without going through the Federal Reserve.
Under this order,there were $4.3 billion US notes backed by silver certificates issued.
In short, the Federal Reserve could have been eliminated.
Dallas stopped that from happening.
Andrew Cuomo,Rick Lazio and Wall Street
(Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. called AG Andrew Cuomo the “prince of darkness” during a TV interview.
Cuomo is the subject of an Esquire profile.)
__________________________________________
Pedro is spinning gossamer..and will be tangled into a unbreakable web .
Actually, Rick Lazio, the expected GOP governor candidate, is really the prince of darkness.
Wayne Barrett,Village Voice, looked into Lazio’s public papers that he (Lazio) donated to this alma mater, Vassar.
The papers include those from his House years, and his years on Wall Street.
Lazio served the interests of Wall Street in the House, and through the revolving door rubric, got wealthy going to Wall Street.
Professor Bill Black, on Moyers Reports last night, called the Wall Streeters criminals and if a ceo on the street has 3 strikes, s(he) should be given life.
See Barrett at http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-04-13/news/rick-lazio-s-fingerprints-are-all-over-the-recent-economic-collapse/
Cuomo is the subject of an Esquire profile.)
__________________________________________
Pedro is spinning gossamer..and will be tangled into a unbreakable web .
Actually, Rick Lazio, the expected GOP governor candidate, is really the prince of darkness.
Wayne Barrett,Village Voice, looked into Lazio’s public papers that he (Lazio) donated to this alma mater, Vassar.
The papers include those from his House years, and his years on Wall Street.
Lazio served the interests of Wall Street in the House, and through the revolving door rubric, got wealthy going to Wall Street.
Professor Bill Black, on Moyers Reports last night, called the Wall Streeters criminals and if a ceo on the street has 3 strikes, s(he) should be given life.
See Barrett at http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-04-13/news/rick-lazio-s-fingerprints-are-all-over-the-recent-economic-collapse/
Obama and Goldman Sachs
(Obama’s tone was not that of a sword-wielding avenger—he doesn’t do fire and brimstone—but of a stern parent explaining to party-hearty teenagers why their driving privileges are being curtailed.)
Post's Eugene Robinson on Obama's Wall Street speech.
_____________
(The story of the financial debacle will end the way it began, with the super-hustlers from Goldman Sachs at the center of the action and profiting wildly. Never in U.S. history has one company wielded such destructive power over our political economy, irrespective of whether a Republican or a Democrat happened to be president...)
Robert Scheer,Truthdig
___________________________________
In 2008, the top three contributors to Obama were 1)University of California;2)Goldman Sachs; and 3)Harvard.
But it is GS that has the highest presence in the White House.
Sen. Branch Lincoln (Ark), in a tough reelection fight, wants to prevent GS from dealing in derivatives. In short, it would make GS a regular commerical bank.
The GS people in the White House oppose Lincoln's move.
Lincoln should be supported in her effort.
Post's Eugene Robinson on Obama's Wall Street speech.
_____________
(The story of the financial debacle will end the way it began, with the super-hustlers from Goldman Sachs at the center of the action and profiting wildly. Never in U.S. history has one company wielded such destructive power over our political economy, irrespective of whether a Republican or a Democrat happened to be president...)
Robert Scheer,Truthdig
___________________________________
In 2008, the top three contributors to Obama were 1)University of California;2)Goldman Sachs; and 3)Harvard.
But it is GS that has the highest presence in the White House.
Sen. Branch Lincoln (Ark), in a tough reelection fight, wants to prevent GS from dealing in derivatives. In short, it would make GS a regular commerical bank.
The GS people in the White House oppose Lincoln's move.
Lincoln should be supported in her effort.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Sen. Espada and the power addiction
The good Sen. Espada is spinning….spinning legal gossamer.
How does Espada’s coup shaniganians help Cuomo?
Is Espada for real, asking the AG for his personal (AG’s) cell phone and email records.
Did the AG use his cell phone to call senators to encourage a coup?
This is silly season.
The coups did show Espada’s drive for power…an obsession if you will.
The added perquistes that came with majority leader allowed him to put many of the Soundview relatives on the Senate payroll.
It’s likely that many of these relatives are no-shows in the Senate.
Espada’s health clinics should be put into receiverships…so that the Bronx residents can continue health care.
Espada should resign, and get help for his power addiction.
Can power be an addiction? Yes, it can provide a high.
As the good Senator resigns, and drives back to a luxurious mansion in Westchester County., he can stop at a Motel 6, and order sushi.
As Tom Boddett says, the Motel 6 will leave a light on for him.
#1
How does Espada’s coup shaniganians help Cuomo?
Is Espada for real, asking the AG for his personal (AG’s) cell phone and email records.
Did the AG use his cell phone to call senators to encourage a coup?
This is silly season.
The coups did show Espada’s drive for power…an obsession if you will.
The added perquistes that came with majority leader allowed him to put many of the Soundview relatives on the Senate payroll.
It’s likely that many of these relatives are no-shows in the Senate.
Espada’s health clinics should be put into receiverships…so that the Bronx residents can continue health care.
Espada should resign, and get help for his power addiction.
Can power be an addiction? Yes, it can provide a high.
As the good Senator resigns, and drives back to a luxurious mansion in Westchester County., he can stop at a Motel 6, and order sushi.
As Tom Boddett says, the Motel 6 will leave a light on for him.
#1
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