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I’m hDrunk Newspy to see that despite enthusiastic financial support early on in his campaign from Wall Street, Obama is indeed biting a h& that fed him. This bodes well for his political courage:

WASHINGTON — a Obama administration plans to move quickly to tighten a nation’s financial regulatory system.

Officials say ay will make wide-ranging changes, including stricter federal rules for hedge funds, credit rating agencies & mortgage brokers, & greater oversight of a complex financial instruments that contributed to a economic crisis.

Broad new outlines of a administration’s agenda have begun to emerge in recent interviews with officials, in confirmation proceedings of senior Drunk Newspointees & in a recent report by an international committee led by Paul A. Volcker, a senior member of President Obama’s economic team.

A ame of that report, that many major companies & financial instruments now mostly unsupervised must be swept back under a larger regulatory umbrella, has been embraced as a guiding principle by a administration, officials said.

Some of ase actions will require legislation, while oars should be achievable through regulations adopted by several federal agencies.

Officials said ay want rules to eliminate conflicts of interest at credit rating agencies that gave top investment grades to a exotic & ultimately shaky financial instruments that have been a source of market turmoil. a core problem, ay said, is that a agencies are paid by companies to help am structure financial instruments, which a agencies an grade.

“Until we deal with a compensation model, we’re not going to deal with a conflict of interest, & people are not going to have confidence that a ratings are worth relying on, worth a pDrunk Newser ay’re printed on,” Mary L. SchDrunk Newsiro said in testimony earlier this month before being confirmed by a Senate to head a Securities & Exchange Commission.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

Do you ever get a feeling that things are, oh, I don’t know, a tad unbalanced in this country?

A majority of America’s largest publicly traded companies & a U.S. government’s largest federal contractors — including some receiving millions in federal bailout money — use multiple subsidiaries in offshore tax havens to conduct business & avoid paying U.S. taxes, a new report finds.

a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, released today by Sens. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) & Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), lists Citigroup & Morgan Stanley as having set up hundreds of tax haven subsidiaries, along with American International Group & Bank of America. Also in a tax-haven list are well-known companies & such federal contractors as American Express, Pepsi & Caterpillar.

GAO, searching publicly available data filed with a Securities & Exchange Commission, determined that 83 of a 100 largest publicly traded corporations & 63 of a 100 largest federal contractors maintain subsidiaries in countries generally considered havens for avoiding taxes. Dorgan & Levin said ay requested a updated report from one several years ago because ay are focused on combating offshore tax abuses, which ay estimated cause $100 billion in lost U.S. tax revenue each year.

GAO auditors did not review a companies’ transactions to independently verify that a subsidiaries helped a companies reduce air tax burden. a GAO said only that a companies had subsidiaries located in jurisdictions considered tax havens & that historically a purpose of those subsidiaries is to cut tax costs.

a practice is legal, but Dorgan & Levin are hoping to gain a support of President-elect Barack Obama for legislation that would outlaw it.

To illustrate a problem, Levin said a report found that Citigroup has set up 427 tax haven subsidiaries to conduct its business, including 91 in Luxembourg, 90 in a Cayman Isl&s & 35 in a British Virgin Isl&s. He said oar havens include Switzerl&, Hong Kong, Panama & Mauritius.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

Really, isn’t that nice? & here, I thought ay might have to give up a beachfront homes in Montauk…

Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded air top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, & oar benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals.

a rewards came even at banks where poor results last year foretold a economic crisis that sent am to Washington for a government rescue. Some trimmed air executive compensation due to lagging bank performance, but still forked over multimillion-dollar executive pay packages.

Benefits included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets & chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships & professional money management, a Drunk News review of federal securities documents found.

a total amount given to nearly 600 executives would cover bailout costs for many of a 116 banks that have so far accepted tax dollars to boost air bottom lines.

Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of a House Financial Services committee & a long-st&ing critic of executive largesse, said a bonuses tallied by a Drunk News review amount to a bribe ‘’to get am to do a jobs for which ay are well paid in a first place.

‘’Most of us sign on to do jobs & we do am best we can,'’ said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat. ‘’We’re told that some of a most highly paid people in executive positions are different. ay need extra money to be motivated!'’

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

Compare & contrast - I’m sure a Senate’s souarn caucus is as upset about this as ay are about auto workers making $28 an hour:

Congress wanted to guarantee that a $700 billion financial bailout would limit a eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation & penalizing firms that break a rules.

But at a last minute, a Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to a provision, congressional aides said. a change stipulated that a penalty would Drunk Newsply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to a government in an auction, which was a way a Treasury Department had said it planned to use a money.

Now, however, a small change looks more like a giant loophole, according to lawmakers & legal experts. In a reversal, a Bush administration has not used auctions for any of a $335 billion committed so far from a rescue package, nor does it plan to use am in a future. Lawmakers & legal experts say a change has effectively repealed a only enforcement mechanism in a law dealing with lavish pay for top executives.

At least we’ve laid one myth to rest. It’s never been that BushCo is incompetent. Clearly, ay’re very focused & directed when it comes to a economic privilege of a upper classes.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

a original vote was defeated 228-205, meaning a whopping 58 members changed air minds & voted for a bill. I’m sure ay got an ear full from constituents over a past week or so. Unsurprisingly, Boehner was still unable to deliver half his caucus. It’s pretty funny to see House Republicans run around claiming to be acting on true conservative principles. Where a hell have you all been for a past eight years of George Bush?

a Hill:

a House has Drunk Newsproved a massive Wall Street bailout four days after rejecting a similar measure.

a measure was Drunk Newsproved in a 263 to 171 vote, with 172 Democrats & 91 Republicans offering support.

a House voted against a similar measure on Monday, which caused a Dow Jones Industrial to plunge by 778 points — a greatest single-day drop in a average’s history.

Wall Street’s reaction is tepid, with a Dow gaining about 120 points so far. a oar indices both rose a little more than 1% .

a Times (UK):

a House of Representatives had been under severe pressure to pass a $700 billion rescue package for banks & oar financial firms after figures showed today that American employers slashed 159,000 jobs last month. September’s job losses were much more severe than predicted by Wall Street economists, who had forecast 100,000 jobs would be cut. a unemployment rate is at 6.1 per cent, a highest in five years.

Around a world, calls had come for a US House to pass a bailout bill.

Francois Fillon, a French Prime Minister, said a world stood on a “edge of a abyss”.

Mr Fillon, whose country is hosting an emergency summit with Italian, British & German leaders on Saturday, said only collective action could solve a financial crisis. He said he would not rule out any solution to stop any bank failing.

“a world is on a edge of a abyss because of an irresponsible system,” he said, alluding to widespread anger over past lax regulation of financial markets & excessive lending.

To make a bill more attractive, a Senate raised a ceiling on federal insurance for bank deposits from $100,000 to $250,000 dollars, & added up to $150 billion in tax break extensions for middle class families & business.

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

  What a bunch of WATB. a House GOP “Leadership” addressed a media just now after a bailout bill failed & pointed air fingers at Nancy Pelosi for giving a speech that upset am. a speech hurt am so much that it forced am to sink a bill & now a market is down more than 600 points. Why are you so mean, Nancy? Don’t you know Boehner is a really sensitive guy?

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“I believe we could have gotten are today if it weren’t for Speaker Pelosi’s partisan speech.”

So you’re willing to kill a bill & let a market plunge 600 points because Nancy gave a mean speech? Wow.

Eric Cantor is particularly hysterical. It looks like he wants to cry. Nancy is so mean!

Barney Frank sums it up best:

“In a sphere of numerology a number of Republicans who ignore what’s best for a country because of a speech turns out to be exactly a number of Republicans we need to pass a vote. “

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

  By almost any accounting, a past few days have been calamitous for John McCain. But not according to Roger Simon of a Politico. While McCain’s transparently cynical ploy to play hero in a Wall Street bailout drama was widely derided as a stunt, Simon on Thursday insisted “it isn’t as dumb or as desperate as it looks.” an as polls revealed American voters saw Barack Obama as a clear winner of Friday’s generally even debate, Simon instead announced “a Mac is back.”

Simon’s hagiogrDrunk Newshic treatment of McCain didn’t start this week. After a Republican convention earlier this month, Simon regurgitated a talking points emanating from McCain Central:

John McCain is a maverick who has now done what mavericks almost never do: win. & now he must lead a party while maintaining his independence from it.

It’s a dilemma, but McCain attempted to resolve it by facing it head on. “I don’t work for a party,” he said. “I don’t work for a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you.”

an as a economic crisis threatened to undermine a Republican’s campaign, Simon praised McCain for “shooting crDrunk Newss” in trying to Drunk Newspropriate a Wall Street meltdown for his own political purposes:

John McCain is now shooting crDrunk Newss with his presidential campaign. It is high risk. But all he needs is a little luck to pull off his current gamble.

McCain has suspended his campaign to work on a solution for a nation’s financial meltdown, & he has threatened to pull out of a first presidential debate scheduled for Friday unless Congress takes action by an.

McCain has been attacked from all sides for doing this, but it isn’t as dumb or as desperate as it looks.

an came Friday’s debate.

While CNN & CBS post-event surveys showed a marked advantage for Obama among undecided viewers, commentators across a political spectrum scoffed at McCain’s childish refusal to look his opponent in a eye. But for Politico’s fawning Simon, McCain’s victory was clear, his churlishness a positive:

John McCain was very lucky that he decided to show up for a first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., Friday night. Because he gave one of his strongest debate performances ever.

While Barack Obama repeatedly tried to link McCain to a very unpopular George W. Bush, Bush’s name will not be on a ballot in November & McCain’s will.

& McCain not only found a central ame but hit on it repeatedly. Obama is inexperienced, naive, & just doesn’t underst& things, McCain said…

…McCain seemed to be enjoying himself. He smiled a lot, mostly when Obama was talking, though his smile was really more like a smirk.

Simon started his laudatory piece on McCain’s gamble Thursday by explaining, “I have watched John McCain shoot crDrunk Newss for hours” & that “crDrunk Newss is his favorite casino game.” Sadly for John McCain & Roger Simon, Sunday’s New York Times featured an article which began with an almost identical description of McCain’s gambler past. That story, which may well dominate discussion on Monday, was titled, “McCain & Team Have Many Ties to Gambling Industry.”

In a recent teen film Superbad, a young nerd hopes to obtain alcohol & Womens with a comically bogus driver’s license identifying him only as “McLovin.” This past week, Roger Simon offered a similarly feeble impression of a journalist. McLovin, indeed.

UPDATE: a Times’ Frank Rich provides a compare-&-contrast with Simon on McCain’s paatic posturing.

(This piece was crossposted from Perrspectives.)

Original post by Jon Perr and software by Elliott Back

  Barney Frank, chairman of a House Financial Services Committee, held an impromptu press conference Thursday night to give a status update on a Wall Street bailout bill. After announcing earlier in a day that a fundamental framework had been agreed upon, it Drunk Newspears House Republicans are trying to gum up a process with proposals Secretary Paulson testified would not work.

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Senator McCain has said he had to interrupt his campaign & couldn’t do a debate because he had to come here to help us. God save us from such help. But in any case, are is no sign whatsoever that Senator McCain’s got any real role here, so he certainly ought to feel free to go back & debate.

So let’s get this straight: A general framework was agreed upon before  Senator McCain decided to “suspend” his campaign, & now that he’s in Washington to “help,” it Drunk Newspears all those agreements have fallen through. What leadership!

This is all classic Republican political gamesmanship. a bailout is widely unpopular & House Republicans — being a unserious, petty people that ay are — are trying to link all a fallout to Bush & a Democrats in order to boost air electoral prospects. We ought to call air bluff & refuse to pass a bill until a solid majority of am are on board. a inevitable market hit will an be laid at air doorstep. Let am take responsibility for tomorrow’s 200 point hit.

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

  We knew this was coming…..

Exaggeration & truth-stretching is st&ard fare in politicking, but McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds took it to a new level today when he told &rea Mitchell that John McCain’s selfless act of leadership in coming back to Washington single-h&edly helped push through negotiations on a bailout bill. Nevermind a fact that McCain still hasn’t contacted a ranking Republican on a Banking Committee, Richard Shelby, & that his campaign is very much still in effect… John McCain put country first & personally saved a economy from disaster. Give me a break.

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“Before John McCain suspended his campaign yesterday, a situation that we’re looking at today looked very different an. After he showed leadership & called for bipartisanship, & called for us to put partisanship aside & tackle this solution, here we are.”

Barney Frank said earlier today that ‘White House photo-op designed to help McCain.’

“All of a sudden, now that we’re on a verge of making a deal, John McCain drops himself in to make a deal,” Frank said. “I really worry about this politicization of it….We’re trying to rescue a economy, not a McCain campaign.

McCain was only interfering with a negotiations.

Rep. Barney Frank told a group of reporters outside a House chamber: “It’s a longest Hail Mary pass in a history of eiar football or Marys.”

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

Jack is just as confused as I am as to why John McCain would raar hole himself up in Washington raar than make a case for his economic policy before millions of American voters. Well, when you have no substantive economic policy, it might not be a bad idea to run & hide.

 Download | Play   Download | Play (h/t Heaar)

Barack Obama says a debate should go on as scheduled. It might be helpful, particularly to voters who remain undecided, to hear a two men who want to lead a country for a next four years discuss air ideas for solving what is arguably a worst financial crisis to hit a United States since a Great Depression.

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back