A social engineering bill to restrict residence in the suburbs and rural areas and force Americans into city centers has passed the United States Senate Banking Committee and is on the fast track to passage in the Senate.
The bill is called the Livable Communities Act (SB 1619) and it was introduced by corruptocrat outgoing Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.). It seeks to fulfill the United Nation’s plan Agenda 21, adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and signed onto by “New World Order” President George H.W. Bush.
In recent months, GDP numbers have rebounded - primarily as a result of record low interest rates reliquifying the credit market and government stimulus jolting consumer spending. Although the "positive growth" has delighted Obama's economic brain trust, it has done little to boost the fortunes of Main Street. As I have said many times, GDP largely measures spending, and spending is not growth.
Last Friday we received the latest indication that the real economy is not recovering in the slightest. The Labor Department reported that non-farm payrolls increased by 431,000 jobs in May. In a press statement, the President himself crowed at the news, noting that the official employment rate fell to 9.7% from 9.9%. However, just inches below the headline, red flags were everywhere. Only 41,000 of those jobs were generated in the private sector - far below the median forecast of 180,000. Even more troubling was the fact that the Census Bureau alone accounted for 411,000 new jobs, which were almost exclusively temporary positions.
Rather than a recovery, the jobs data seems to indicate that we are still mired in the first economic depression since the 1930s. Back in 1931, two full years after the Crash of 1929, there were still very few people who thought that the recession then underway would one day be called the Great Depression. (See my commentary from March 1st "Don't Bet on a Recovery)
Increased spending, financed by unprecedented borrowing, will prove to be just as temporary as a US census job (unless, in the name of stimulus, Obama decides to make "people counting" a permanent function of the US government.). When the bills come due, the next leg down will be even more severe than the last.
The swelling ranks of the government payroll, and the shrinking number of private taxpayers footing the bill, will guarantee larger deficits and a weaker economy for years to come. In addition, the artificial spending has prevented a much-needed restructuring from taking place, leaving our economy far less efficient than before the crisis began. In other words, we have dug ourselves into a much deeper hole while failing utterly to build any means to climb out.
One reason that we have thus far been spared the full wrath of Washington's poor decisions is that we are still benefiting from problems abroad, particularly in the eurozone. As sovereign debt issues have temporarily caused a flight to the dollar, our economy has benefited from lower interest rates and restrained consumer prices.
However, EU member-states have shown some willingness to confront their problems by cutting government spending - correctly ignoring US government suggestions that they do the opposite.
Just today, newly elected UK Prime Minister David Cameron prepared his constituents for austerity. Citing a budget deficit that is currently running at 11 percent of GDP, Cameron indicated that government spending would have to fall in order to maintain solvency and a high standard of living.
Cameron went on to say, "Greece stands as a warning of what happens to countries that lose their credibility, or whose governments pretend that difficult decisions can somehow be avoided." This type of realistic sentiment is completely absent in our current leadership in Washington, even though the US deficit is 9.9 percent of GDP and mounting. Meanwhile, the tough decisions being made by European governments will start to rebuild investor confidence in the euro.
Once the euro finally stabilizes against the dollar, I expect commodity prices to resume their rise, especially oil. Normally, the uncertainty created by the disastrous oil spill in the gulf, and the resulting moratorium on deep-water drilling, would have sent crude oil prices skyrocketing. However, fears of a global slowdown, euro weakness, and general risk aversion have held prices in check. As Asia continues its growth and Europe regains its footing, I expect a delayed surge in oil prices, which will put yet another obstacle on the road to US recovery.
Our last remaining leg of support has been the activity of Asian central banks, who have continued in their herculean efforts to prop up the dollar and bail out Americans with low interest rates and cheap imports. However, when sovereign credit risk eventually rears its head in America, look for Asian policymakers to finally wise up. Once that prop is removed, there will be no questions about the gravity of our situation - and little dispute that it amounts to a depression.
The real danger will be if we follow our own foolish advice that Europe appears to have rejected. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has bluntly suggested that European governments should print and spend money in order to keep their economies out of recession. In reality, cutting government spending is a far better stimulus. Maintaining lavish budgets through the use of the printing press will only result in disaster. Not only will such action fail to avert a double-dip recession, but it will practically ensure an inflationary depression.
As I have said before, we can't simultaneously grow the economy and grow government. The latest jobs report shows that we are just growing government. If that trend doesn't soon reverse, investors will start betting on the collapse of the dollarzone.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd opposes including a provision to audit the Federal Reserve in the Senate’s regulatory reform package, the retiring Connecticut Democrat told the Huffington Post Thursday.
The measure made it into the House bill in November after an unusual insurgency led by Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) beat back a concerted effort by the Fed to kill the provision, and won an overwhelming and bipartisan vote in the House Financial Services Committee. It was an unprecedented legislative defeat for the Federal Reserve, which has never had a real audit in its history. Little is known of what it does with the trillions of dollars at its disposal.
There certainly was much sadness and excitement this morning when Chris Dodd took Michael Moore's advice and decided to resign for the "good of his party." Dodd's resignation comes during a tumoltous period, one marked with tea party protesters, and scandals that included "sweet heart" deals on mortgages, and AIG bonuses.
Dodd stepping aside will certainly be "bitter sweet" for the Democratic party, but just as soon as he resigned Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal expresed interest in a run for the Senate.
Dodd is expected to make an announcement to the media soon, and give more details surrounding his decision not to sek re-election. Most onlookers this year are of the opinion that Dodd's record low poll numbers, and pressure from within his own ranks are behind the Senators decision.
Sometime ago Dodd was diagnosed and succesfully treated for prostate cancer, and health concerns are not expected to be an issue that has led to his decision.
Keep tuned in to the major news networks this evening, as more news is to follow on the race for senate Christine Stuart of Connecticut News Junkie has also extensively covered the Blumenthal bid. To read more, click HERE to access her article today.
Chris Dodd is certainly a desperate man these days, aside from his slumping approval rating and sleuth of corrupt banking friends, Dodd is got the Tea Party Patriots protesting just about every event he goes to.
His candidacy was also complicated with health issues he developed, but after a protracted prostate surgery Dodd says he will march on in good health. For a short while things seemed to improve for Dodd, than Film Maker Michael Moore came along and created a new documentary called "Capitalism A Love Story." Moore characterized Dodd as being "bought and paid for" by America's big banks, with Countrywide and Goldman Sachs at the root of the nations monetary problems and the banking committee that he chairs.
Last week I saw the Moore Documentary in Bridgeport because the Milford Theater only ran it for three weeks. The showings were late at night and eventually the manager of the theater said that "due to a lack of interest in the film" it was "removed" from the theater. For this reason I traveled to the Fairfield Theater and saw it there.
This movie made it clear that there is more than one Bernie Madoff out there, there are bankers far more dangerous and in higher places than we can imagine. Instead of Ponzi schemes, we have the Federal Reserve hiding under the legitimacy of the color of law. They are printing money and issuing debt deep into the future and its costing us Trillions of Dollars. Incredibly no one seems to have any oversight or accountability for the Federal Reserve and its renegade practices.
Congress has become very frustrated with the Federal Reserve, who since 1913 inflated the dollar down to about Two Cents. Amazing? Yes what Two Cents bought in 1913 you need a Dollar for today. The Fed was created on the very premise that our undisciplined Congress would destroy our currency value, and therefore the expertise of the worlds bankers and their connections were important to secure Capitalism and avert a catastrophe.
Rep. Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders, introduced two bills to audit the Federal Reserve. Paul's Bill H.R. 1207 has 305 Co Sponsors or more than two thirds of the U.S. House of Representatives. S 604 introduced by Saunders is the companion Bill to H.R. 1207. The Senate has a paltry 31 Senators in favor of it and the Goldman Sachs boys (lobbyists) running the Federal Reserve recently hired Enron's (former) P.R. firm to pressure congress and the President not to audit the Fed.
There is a clear indication of fear from the Wall Street lobbyists in charge of the Federal Reserve. These people know that once the "curtain comes down" and the GAO audits the Fed and reports those numbers to Congress that the greatest swindle in history will be unveiled.
Congress knows this to be true, but Senators like Joe Lieberman and Chris Dodd continue to attack the banks on penny practices while blocking the legislation that will take down the Wall Street "Bernie Madoff's" that are swindling the taxpayers of America.
For those of you who are not certain how any of this affects you, well think again because inflation affects everybody. Many people today are forced to make due with less because as prices rise, wages usually do not keep up and unemployment and worker productivity also increases. This means workers, that still have jobs, must work harder for less money. Ron Paul called inflation the "cruelest form of taxation" because it is done without your consent, your knowledge, or a vote from Congress.
The solutions to these problems are not easy ones, they are not simple, but an audit of the Fed is the Right step because it will expose all those criminals in the banking system that have looted the U.S. Treasury through Theft, Racketeering, Cronyism, and corrupt business practices.
Ron Paul, a former Libertarian, and Sen Saunders a Socialist are both a far cry from the two party gang that occupies D.C. and yet these individuals are the ones pushing to end the looting in D.C. Why any of our congressional leaders would object to supporting the bill that roots out corruption in Washington is a mystery to me, but what it does imply is that many of our Congressional leaders are buying into the ruse that an audit will somehow interfere with the "neutrality and independence" of the Fed.
Many fear that the Federal Reserve is bailing out nations all across the world, on the backs of our children's and grandchildren's futures. While many are carrying their legacy by leaving a marred future on our kids backs. The next generation will have to deal with ever present crumbling cities that increasingly represent the failure of our nation. Moore represents Flint Michigan, and the tent cities in California as examples, and Bernake admits to giving other nations our tax dollars by way of central and global banks.
In conclusion to this post today, I would highly recommend not supporting or voting for any Senator that does not support S 604 The Federal Reserve Sunshine Act. Sadly to say that both of our Senators in Connecticut do not support it. I personally contacted Chris Dodd's office numerous times and basically got ignored and shut out on this very question time and again. I spoke with his media rep, and several of his staffers no one would give me an answer or the courtesy of an explanation.
Anyone who understands this issue will tell you how important it is to have transparency in government, and Dodd appears to be against all transparency at the Federal Reserve. A banker once said in a documentary I saw many years ago, is that all it takes to hijack America is to control 51 people. The President and 50 Senators. Our forefathers said "that banking institutions are more dangerous than standing armies."
As it stands it looks like America's Plutocracy is comprised of perhaps 70 people at the moment. Sadly the people of this nation are still not yet awake enough to use the power we have left... "one vote one person."
Know the truth, stay informed, and use your "one vote" to vote the Plutocracy out. All we have left, is this "our one vote" and it counts just as much as that of a Billionaire so use it wisely.
Michael Moore's latest documentary did not sit well with our controversial Senator Chris Dodd.
Now Filmmaker and Documentary Producer Michael Moore alleges that high level Democrats have telephoned and told him to "Back Off" Dodd or "Else." We soon may see what this "Or Else" is, but in the meantime lets enjoy Moore's latest video excerpt while we still can.
Today we also get to enjoy our First Amendment right "up close and personal." Much to the chagrin of our illustrious Senator Dodd, who most likely will seek to draft/support a new law to silence people like Moore.
If you think the "Fairness Doctrine," "Cyber bullying" and the latest "FTC Sponsorship" laws are tyrannical, than "wait and see" what the Democratic National Socialist agenda has in store for their critics in the future.
The video below is a commentary by Moore, his thoughts on Dodd, and his critique of our educational, monetary and economic system. Enjoy this thought provoking interview while you still can.
************************ Movie Link ************************
At a senior living facility in West Hartford on Saturday morning, six candidates challenging U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd gave what were billed as their first stump speeches.
Hosted by the Federation of Connecticut Taxpayers five Republicans and one candidate seeking the nomination of four minor parties made their pitches, shook some hands, and met each other for the first time.
Former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons said he shook hands with Peter Schiff and said, “I recognize you from TV.” Schiff, the broker and financial pundit who entered the race a few weeks ago after receiving more than $1 million in campaign contributions, said he too recognized Simmons from television.
“He’s a very smart, capable guy with a lot to offer on economic issues,” Simmons said of Schiff.
Schiff, who was the first candidate to speak Saturday, talked about why he entered the race. Having admittedly advised his clients for years to invest their money abroad, Schiff said he’s concerned about what Washington has been doing to the American dollar.
Rather than simply observing as a spectator and trying to protect his 15,000 clients from what’s happening in Washington, Schiff said he decided maybe it was time for him to go to Washington.
“Instead of trying to protect them from the misguided policies in Washington, maybe it’s time I actually went to Washington and tried to do something about it,” Schiff said.
When speaking about the current economic crisis and the housing bubble that burst, Schiff said, “all of this is the consequence of the stimulus under Bush.” He said the only difference between President George W. Bush’s stimulus and President Barack Obama’s stimulus is that Obama’s “is bigger and is going to do more damage.”
Schiff said Bush embraced the rhetoric of a free market system, but in reality was “the Herbert Hoover of our generation.”
While Schiff played up his financial expertise and downplayed partisan politics, Simmons talked about his military experience, his opposition to taxes, and his disdain for the policies of the current administration.
“I didn’t spend 20 months in Vietnam and I didn’t spend 10 years in the CIA fighting communism during the Cold War to come back home to my country, to come back home to my home state, to see the principles and the values for which we fought now put aside,” Simmons said.
Simmons, who has embraced the tea party movement, said he added a tea bag April 15 to the copy of the U.S. Constitution he carries around in his pocket. He said one of the biggest problems the country faces is apathy and now with the tea parties and town halls people are engaged in the political process.
“I’ve have done my best to oppose higher taxes, which I say take away our freedom,” Simmons said.
John Mertens, the Trinity College engineering professor who is seeking the nomination of the Green, Libertarian, Independent and Connecticut for Lieberman Party nominations spoke about how sending candidates from the two major parties has not solved “our huge, long-term” problems.
“I offer you calm, intelligent, nonpartisan problem solving,” Mertens told the crowd. He went on to talk about his solutions for Medicare, Social Security, and the national debt.
He advocated for getting rid of the alternative minimum tax and increasing the top tax rate as the only way to deal with the national debt.
None of the first three candidates even uttered Dodd’s name until state Sen. Sam Caligiuri spoke.
Caligiuri, the youngest of the candidates and perhaps the underdog on the Republican side, received several bursts of applause during his speech.
He talked about his career in politics in Waterbury and Hartford, his family, his desire to push for Congressional term limits, and the need to defeat Dodd.
“I believe Chris Dodd has failed us by not doing his job,” Caligiuri said, adding that when Obama was asked the reason for the economic crisis during his first few weeks in office, the president cited the housing bubble and the credit crisis.
“He’s right,” Caligiuri said, “but when he said what he said, he was indicting Chris Dodd’s failed leadership as chairman of the Senate Banks Committee.”
He said Dodd stopped doing his job because “he came to take our vote for granted a long, long time ago.”
“We’re not just going to hit Chris Dodd hard and on the issues, but I’m willing to take us into the future and away from what Chris Dodd has come to represent, which is career politicians that have been in power for so long and with so little accountability that they literally think they can do and say anything they want and still get themselves re-elected,” Caligiuri said. “I’m telling you, my friends, as sure as I’m standing before you this morning, that I am committed to changing Washington in ways career politicians simply cannot do.”
Caligiuri who said he has refused to take campaign contributions from political action committees, said he knows he is looking at a huge fundraising disadvantage. However, he said the power of his message ultimately will win him the Republican nomination. He said he knows he needs money to get his message out to voters, but also that the positive response he received Saturday from the breakfast crowd was “not the exception, it was the rule” thus far in his travels across Connecticut.
Both Simmons and Caligiuri said they understand the political process better than the other GOP candidates and have been seeking delegate support to win the Republican primary, while self-funded candidates like Linda McMahon have been blanketed the state with advertising.
McMahon was accompanied Saturday by lobbyist and campaign strategist Patrick Sullivan of Sullivan and LeShane.
McMahon spoke mostly about what motivated her to get into the race and she didn’t appear to stray far from the dialogue in her campaign commercials where she talks about going through a bankruptcy and rebuilding her company.
McMahon, the World Wrestling Entertainment CEO who stepped down from her post last week to focus on the race, said, “I’m running because I think our country is at a point of crisis.” She talked about the mounting national debt, how difficult it is for businesses to get credit, and the recent headlines about a New York terrorism plot.
“I can’t sit on the sidelines. I’ve got to jump into the fray. I’m not a career politician, I’m a business woman,” McMahon said. “I built a company from the ground up, from sharing a desk in the basement to having a company now that’s traded on the New York Stock Exchange. I know what it’s like being a young entrepreneur who can’t get credit. I’ve been there when your house gets auctioned off.”
In closing her speech Saturday, McMahon — who decided to spend her own money to fund her campaign — said she will accept donations from supporters of $100 or less, and that she will not accept money from political action committees.
The final candidate to speak Saturday was Tom Foley, the Bush administration’s former ambassador to Ireland who also was one of Bush’s top fundraisers. According to his bio, Foley also served in Iraq as director of private-sector development for the coalition provisional authority. He oversaw state-owned businesses and developed a plan to re-establish a private-sector economy.
Foley walked through the doors Saturday just in time to hear McMahon before he spoke about getting his son ready to go to college. As his son was filling out college applications last winter, Foley said it occurred to him that his son may not have the same opportunities that were available to prior generations.
“That got me thinking about making sure our government gets this right,” Foley said. A Greenwich businessman with a degree in economics, Foley jumped into the race in June.
He said he’s not as worried that the “wheels are going to come completely off” the financial and economic system, but is more concerned that the current administration thinks last November’s election was a mandate to push through its policies.
“There’s a movement toward a Europeanization, if you will, of this country, which I don’t think the voters support and I certainly don’t support,” said Foley, who served as ambassador to Ireland from 2006 until January of this year.
He said he’s been traveling all around Connecticut this summer and believes there’s a gathering storm to make change in 2010.
As Foley left the senior living facility Saturday, he turned to Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy and asked if there were anymore candidates getting into the race.
Healy shook his head and said, “Not that I know of.”
Over the weekend, Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi came to Guilford Ct for a Democratic Party Fundraiser. The event was held at a private residence, and was a "Pay Per Seat Meet and Greet" by Connecticut's wealthy Democratic Elite.
The Speakers presence in CT was not without its troubles, because Tea Party Patriots still reeling with anger over health care, deficit spending, and taxes showed up with a contingent of about 50-60 protesters. Some of these protesters came from our community including Robert Birarelli a small business owner fed up with government abuses of taxation and waste.
The photos provided were also courtesy of Robert and depict some of these protesters with their hand made signs bearing their messages to Congress. For those who may have missed the televised tea Party in Washington D.C. it was the largest public event in recent memory with an estimated 1.7 Million attendees.
Another photo below is from the poster now for sale at online auctions and bears the entire brunt of the D.C. crowd. This protest was widely marginalized, under reported and dismissed with a cowardly bigoted homophobic statement comparing Tea Party Patriots to Homosexual "Tea Baggers."
Much to the chagrin of the powers to be the movement is huge, its real and it is not going away. This latest event in Connecticut is one of thousands that are going on all over America and is the "monkey on the back" of our congressional leaders.
Senator Dodd in an effort to recover from the repercussions of the "Dodd Clause" of the AIG contract is still drawing fire. Dodd was accused of allowing AIG executives to pay contractual bonuses with taxpayer bailout money.
For obvious reasons, the general public is outraged over this practice. Had AIG entered bankruptcy protection chances are that none of those bonuses would have ever been paid. Under bankruptcy law AIG could have been forced to restructure itself, and as a result been able to legally not give bonuses to the people responsible for the global economic "Melt Down."
The pandemonium of fear in Washington however, took control of AIG and nearly 3/4 of its stock. AIG was deemed too important of a company, and as such categorized as of "too big to fail." Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernake (A self proclaimed expert on the Great Depression) said the "bailout was the right thing to do because a lack of a bailout during the Great Depression is what induced the economic hardship on Main Street."
Peter Schiff, a potential contender against Chris Dodd and expected to have raised his first One Million Dollars on line, said that "Bernake's actions just put off our economic problems to a later date and more severe consequences are later expected." Schiff suggested the Federal Reserves motto ought to be "What America has succeeded in creating is not an economy impervious to shocks, but merely one which enables their consequences to be postponed to a later date." Schiff may be running against a full slate of Republican contenders, including Rob Simmons, Linda McMahon (Owner of the WWF), and others who have yet to formally announced.
The Connecticut waters are certainly filled with sharks, and a wounded Chris Dodd is entrenched in a moat as he is under fire from his many critics. One such critic Senator John Cornin put this advertisement on Google titled "Dump Dodd." These public criticisms in tandem with the public view are responsible for eroding his approval rating to a record low of under 41%. and many political science experts are of the opinion this very well could be his last term.
Dodd has also announced that he is ill with prostate cancer, and as such earned the kind supportive words of many local leaders including Gubernatorial candidate Jim Amann and all who wish him well. Some are concerned that Dodd may have an epiphany and realize his re-election is futile. He may ultimately decide to retire on his own terms. However honorable this may be, (especially in lieu of the acrimonious nature of the general public and their sentiments toward is work in the last few years) it is not likely to happen.
Well all that is left to say is that Dodd's ego is even bigger than his Prostate. Read the story below...
Blumenthal, our beloved Attorney General and Hamden's own Glenn Beck go head to head in the video below. The subject AIG bonuses, CT Senator Chris Dodd (who wrote the AIG bonus loophole)and the logic of the fiasco. This is a very heated and opinionated debate that promises the invocation of passionate and yet serious issues stemming from CT.
I attended the Health Care Forum down at the Coast Guard Academy today. Overall it was about what I expected, much hot gas was released but no cogent ideas were formed.
While I didn’t get the opportunity to unleash my health question trifecta on Dodd during the forum I did catch up with him afterward. I asked Mr. Dodd when Congress authorized Senator Kennedy to receive his honorary knighthood from England. He honestly enough told me that no such authorization came out of congress. When I then informed him that Senator Kennedy is in violation of Article I section 9 of the Constitution and asked when the Senate intended to remove Kennedy he had only laughter.
It is clear that Senator Dodd has no interest in upholding his own oath to defend the Constitution in response to Senator Kennedy’s violation of his oath of office and the Constitution.
It is obvious that we need to get rid of this clown because he has no intention of ever doing what he was elected to do, uphold the constitution.
From Article I Section 9:
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.
Reports have arrived that Milford's Congresswoman Rosa Delauro has voted in favor of the Bush 700 Billion Dollar Economic package aimed at bailing out America's failing banks. While most experts agree that the 700 Billion Dollar package falls far short of the estimated quadrillion in total derivative losses, Ms. Delauro thought it a sound thing to vote in favor of.
While the general public balked at the deal, CT Democrats have ignored those calls. This is due to a clear advantage they currently have, they can afford to go against the public. Republicans on the other hand are struggling to hold on to their seats and cannot afford to lose any desperately needed voters. especially since the Bush record and legacy has marred not only our nation but his party in its entirety. The big picture here is that the FED and the treasury could give as much money as they want to corporations without federal approval. Their concern, marked by the objectionable language in their bill is that they (Bernake & Paulson) seek to be immune from the law and free from court criticism of their continued disposal of these funds to the very private bankers that created this problem. A Congressional vote of approval will ultimately distract the public into believing that this process is democratic when the facts clearly show Congress has no appropriations authority over the FED.
Representative Shays, Larson, and Murphy in Connecticut also agreed that this bailout was good for our economy, but Connecticut did have one sole dissenter Representative Courtney who felt the bankers did not deserve the money, and born again constitutionalists and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd was relieved by the bills defeat!
The people have spoken, and no one in America wishes for taxpayer money to bail out the bankers who brought down Wall Street with their greed. Even as I write this I am receiving calls that enormous sums of money are being pulled off the table by firms taking advantage of the volatility in the markets. The stock market is more predatory than ever as the sharks continue to kick these wounded companies while they are down. Spending good money to save bad money is never a good idea.
Most experts agree that nothing will save America from an impending economic disaster, that they are cyclical and emblematic of all nations who engage in a fiat monetary system, a system that fosters economic growth on debt, a system that pays its bills with worthless paper that is "Legal Tender" and a system that has unbridled access to create money at will to feed its appetite for consumption.
As long as our economy is based on the attributes of men, rather than jobs and the fruits of our collective productivity we will never prevail as a nation. We may just end up disintegrating slowly and in the dark of night. Until those in command (We The People) recognize our constitutional right to a sound currency, and an economic system that rewards those who are productive rather than engaged in the "debt for prosperity" economy, America will never prevail. The time is running out, our Congressmen have en-masse caved in to Fascist America and continue to unwittingly ruin this country and its people with big inflationary give aways to giant corporations. We the huddled masses are sick and tired of the lame excuses and news channels that feed us corporate trite questioning our judgement. People know in their hearts right from wrong, and the people have spoken.
Virtually all of Connecticut's Democrats broke with their party and voted for Bush's bailout, the effort to their chagrin failed and this debacle is far from over. The drama on Wall Street is now headed for Senate vote floor where a YES vote is expected and Emporer Bush's anxiety can be relieved with a "rubber stamp" of Presidential approval.
Chairman Christopher Dodd of the Senate Banking Committee offered an alternative Monday to the financial rescue plan of the administration of President George W. Bush aimed at giving the U.S. Treasury an equity stake when it helps companies burdened by debt.
Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, was circulating a draft of his bill as Congress sought to deal with a financial crisis that has been called the worst for the United States since the Great Depression.
The Bush administration is proposing a $700 billion plan to buy devalued assets from investment firms to keep the financial system from coming to a halt.
Democrats have pledged to act quickly on the measure, even as they seek to create an oversight structure, limit the compensation of executives at the companies benefiting from the rescue and provide mortgage relief for struggling borrowers.
"We cannot just turn over $700 billion in taxpayer money and not insist that that taxpayer is going to be protected in this," Dodd told reporters Sunday.
"We need this to be clean and quick, and we need to get it in place," Paulson said Sunday in an interview with ABC News.
The legislation would require Treasury to take an equity stake equal to the purchase price of the assets being bought. If the company is not publicly traded, the government would take senior debt instead, placing it in the front of the line of debt holders for repayment in the event of a bankruptcy.
Dodd's proposal also would create a five-member oversight board to supervise the Treasury secretary's purchase and sale of distressed mortgage debt.
It would consist of the chairmen of the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as two members from the financial industry designated by congressional leaders.
The board would be authorized to set up a so-called credit review company consisting of Treasury employees to study the soundness of the purchases. Under the plan, the government would be required to obtain an equity stake equal to the value of the debt that is purchased from the companies, including those whose shares are not publicly traded. The Treasury secretary would also be required to issue weekly public reports on the amount of assets bought and sold by the U.S.
Dodd is proposing to penalize executives who take "inappropriate or excessive" risks. The executive compensation and severance packages could be reduced if that is "in the public interest," the proposal says. It would also force executives to give back profits they earned that were based on company accounting measures that are later found to be inaccurate.
The Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain, who has supported giving shareholders a bigger say in executive compensation in the past, said Monday that taxpayers should not pay for "golden parachutes" for officers of companies that have crumbled in upheaval on Wall Street.
"The senior executives of any firm that is bailed out by Treasury should not be making more than the highest paid government official," McCain said at a campaign event in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The president is the highest paid federal official, with a salary of $400,000 a year.
In recent months, GDP numbers have rebounded - primarily as a result of record low interest rates reliquifying the credit market and government stimulus jolting consumer spending. Although the "positive growth" has delighted Obama's economic brain trust, it has done little to boost the fortunes of Main Street. As I have said many times, GDP largely measures spending, and spending is not growth. 
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd opposes including a provision to audit the Federal Reserve in the Senate’s regulatory reform package, the retiring Connecticut Democrat told the Huffington Post Thursday.
There certainly was much sadness and excitement this morning when Chris Dodd took Michael Moore's advice and decided to resign for the "good of his party." Dodd's resignation comes during a tumoltous period, one marked with tea party protesters, and scandals that included "sweet heart" deals on mortgages, and AIG bonuses.
Chris Dodd is certainly a desperate man these days, aside from his slumping approval rating and sleuth of corrupt banking friends, Dodd is got the Tea Party Patriots protesting just about every event he goes to.
Michael Moore's latest documentary did not sit well with our controversial Senator Chris Dodd. 
Over the weekend, Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi came to Guilford Ct for a Democratic Party Fundraiser. The event was held at a private residence, and was a "Pay Per Seat Meet and Greet" by Connecticut's wealthy Democratic Elite.
Senator Dodd in an effort to recover from the repercussions of the "Dodd Clause" of the AIG contract is still drawing fire. Dodd was accused of allowing AIG executives to pay contractual bonuses with taxpayer bailout money. 
I attended the Health Care Forum down at the Coast Guard Academy today. Overall it was about what I expected, much hot gas was released but no cogent ideas were formed.
Reports have arrived that Milford's Congresswoman Rosa Delauro has voted in favor of the Bush 700 Billion Dollar Economic package aimed at bailing out America's failing banks. While most experts agree that the 700 Billion Dollar package falls far short of the estimated quadrillion in total derivative losses, Ms. Delauro thought it a sound thing to vote in favor of.
Chairman Christopher Dodd of the Senate Banking Committee offered an alternative Monday to the financial rescue plan of the administration of President George W. Bush aimed at giving the U.S. Treasury an equity stake when it helps companies burdened by debt.
