Economy

Tell the President to Put Warren to Work!

by Mary Bottari — July 27, 2010 - 6:06pm
  • Topics: BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • Elizabeth Warren
    One of the strongest parts of the Wall Street reform bill that just passed Congress is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). But whether the new bureau delivers on its promise to protect consumers depends in large part on who runs it. The agency was the brain-child of Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren who has championed consumers and taxpayers for decades.

    Apparently, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner would rather see his top aide, Michael Barr, in the position. While Barr has been good on the CFPB, he is off-base when he applauds Treasury's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) as a success.

    Warren on the other hand has been a strong and consistent critic of the failures of HAMP in her position on the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout. Below, you can watch her grill Geithner on this point just a few weeks ago. Unlike Geithner and crew, she has brought a much-needed sense of urgency to the foreclosure crisis that is devastating so many lives and communities.

    Get Serious About The Deficit and Cut Military Spending

    by Maxwell Abbott — July 27, 2010 - 12:09pm
  • Topics: Economy, U.S. Government, War / Peace

    • Democrats and Republicans agree that the federal deficit is a serious problem for the stability of American economy. But over the past few weeks, both parties have fought major battles on how to address this problem. The Democrats won the first round when last week, when President Obama signed a six-month extension of emergency unemployment benefits, surmounting Republican objections that the $34 billion measure would add too much to the deficit. The conflict this week is over the extension of the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire December 31. As expected, Republicans are fighting for extension of the entire package while many Democrats, including President Obama, vowed to keep them for families making less than $250,000 a year. It is estimated that keeping the tax cuts for households that make more than $250 thousand a year will cost about $40 billion a year. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner argued that tax increases on the richest Americans are necessary "to make some progress bringing down our long-term deficits." $34 billion and $40 billion are surely not trivial sums. But if Congress and the Administration are sincere about tackling the deficit, it should confront the biggest expense of federal funds: military spending.

    Taxpayers Owed Big Bucks Under the Bailout, Little Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

    by Mary Bottari — July 20, 2010 - 1:11pm
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • The June update of federal government expenditures in the Wall Street bailout by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the multi-trillion dollar legacy of the financial crisis largely remains on the government's balance sheet. Our calculations put the total bailout expenditure at $4.74 trillion and the total outstanding balance at $2 trillion.

    These numbers are much higher than what is reported in the media because CMD's Wall Street Bailout Cost Table takes into account all 35 government programs, not just the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) managed by the U.S. Treasury Department. Still unpaid: $568 billion in TARP money and $1.4 trillion in Federal Reserve loans and investments.

    Center for Media and Democracy on the National Scene

    by Anne Landman — July 20, 2010 - 11:54am

    Wendell Potter, CMD's Senior Fellow on Health Care, will be a special guest speaker at the conference of Progressive Democrats of America, to be held July 23-25 in Cleveland, Ohio.

    Main Source: 
    Center for Media and Democracy, July 20, 2010

    Wall St. Reform Passes! Reformers Celebrate Rare Victory Over Entrenched Special Interest

    by Mary Bottari — July 16, 2010 - 1:36am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • After a classic David and Goliath showdown between Wall Street might and a small band of reformers, a 2,000 page Wall Street reform bill passed the U.S. Senate Thursday afternoon 60-39. The bill is now final and is headed to the President Obama’s desk for signature.

    “We were outmatched 300-1, but the bill became stronger as it worked its way through the process,” said Heather Booth, director of the national coalition Americans for Financial Reform (AFR). This shows that “with organized people and committed leadership, things can move in the right direction,” said Booth.

    Cutting the Military Budget Has Been Absent From the Debate -- Until Now

    by Anne Landman — July 14, 2010 - 1:48pm

    When legislators talk about cutting the country's deficit, they invariably propose slashing Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as the primary options.

    Main Source: 
    The Hill.com, July 6, 2010

    Senate Bank Reform Bill One Vote Short

    by Mary Bottari — July 8, 2010 - 1:27pm
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • The fate of the Wall Street reform bill is up in the air after the death of Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. The bill is a single confirmed vote short of the 60 votes needed to get past a threatened filibuster by Senate Republicans. From day one, the Bankster team has supported the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and that is still one of the strongest pieces of the bill. It is a great time to send off the last emails to Senators telling them to put a new cop on the block in the form of a CFPB.

    Tell Us What You Think of the Bill

    We want to hear from you about what you think of the bill, and what grade you would give it if you were a kindergarten teacher grading Congress on its performance. Conceptually, the bill breaks down into three main parts.

    Wall Street Reform Bill Yields Big Win for Little Countries

    by Mary Bottari — July 8, 2010 - 9:28am
  • Topics: BanksterUSA, Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • You know that Wall Street reform bill pending in the Senate? Some last minute insertions add up to a surprisingly big win for the developing world.

    Oil Companies Required to Detail the Dough Paid to Foreign Governments

    First, kudos to Senators Dick Lugar (R-Indiana) and Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) for inserting strong provisions that require extractive companies (oil, natural gas, etc.) to detail in their annual Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings the payments they make to foreign governments.

    One would think that oil-rich and mineral-rich countries would be, well, rich. Big international firms move in to extract these resources and pay royalties, fees, taxes, bonuses and other monies to national governments. Unfortunately, too frequently this money is put to work lining the pockets of dictators and warlords, rather than building schools or health clinics.

    Wall Street Reform Bill Could Be a Big Win for the Farm Belt

    by Mary Bottari — June 30, 2010 - 10:22am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • Everyone in America remembers the summer of 2008 when gas prices rose to over $4.00 a gallon. The puzzling price spike caused hardship for many Americans, but it had a disproportionate impact on farmers given that energy costs are one of farmers' biggest costs of doing business. A repeat of this scenario not only threatens consumer pocketbooks and farm livelihoods, but could be a serious setback to an already slow economic recovery.

    That possibility just became much more remote due to some last-minute maneuvers involving the Wall Street reform bill slated to be voted on in Congress this week. The derivatives chapter of the bill specifically cracks down on the energy and food commodity speculation that elevates the cost of farming and socks it to consumers.

    Derivatives Reform Suffers Midnight Mangling

    by Mary Bottari — June 25, 2010 - 12:48pm
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • The last day was a long one in the House-Senate conference committee on financial reform. The conferees had been at it since 9:00 a.m. and were rumpled and weary. Big bank lobbyists packed the conference room and trailed out into the hallways. As the clocked ticked into the wee hours, the chances for meaningful financial reform dimmed. At issue was the strong and controversial crack-down on derivatives trading authored by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas).

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