Congress

Saturday Reads Around the Internets - This Week in the Economic Horror Show

shocknews Welcome to the weekly roundup of great articles, facts and figures. These are the weekly finds that made our eyes pop.

 

Libor Manipulating Banks Want Civil Fine Settlement

As expected, it appears those banks manipulating the LIBOR are after a group settlement. In other words, if you're expecting heads to roll and criminal charges, dream on.

CBO Bombshell - Our Congress Will Cause a Recession in 2013

fiscal cliffThe CBO has issued a new report on what all of those automatic budget cuts are gonna do in 2013. They will cause a recession.

Growth in real (inflation-adjusted) GDP in calendar year 2013 will be just 0.5 percent, CBO expects—with the economy projected to contract at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the first half of the year and expand at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the second half. Given the pattern of past recessions as identified by the National Bureau of Economic Research, such a contraction in output in the first half of 2013 would probably be judged to be a recession.

What the CBO is referring to is the fiscal cliff. Remember when the budget crisis happened, resulting in the United States losing it's AAA credit rating? Then, Congress and this administration just punted, didn't compromise, or better yet, base recommendations on actual economic theory, and allowed automatic spending cuts of $1.2 trillion across the board, to take place instead. These budget cuts will be dramatic and happen in 2012 and 2013.

Do You Know Who Owns Your Congressional Representative?

Bloomberg has yet another stunning revelation that Tea Party Congressional members are being funded heavily by the Banksters.

Tea Party favorites such as Stephen Fincher of Tennessee were swept into Congress on a wave of anger over government-funded bailouts of banks.

Now those incumbents are collecting thousands of dollars for re-election campaigns from the same Wall Street firms whose excesses they criticized. They have taken no significant steps to curb them or prevent future taxpayer-financed rescues.

As GOP Primaries Numb Your Brain, Congress is Up to More Tricks

clockworkorganbraineyedropsWhile inane campaign rhetoric lulls you to sleep, forcing you to watch reruns of shipping wars until your brain melts and flows into that puddle of lost dreams and promises, Congress has been up to some things.

Remember those outrages du jour, such as using Stimulus funds to hire foreign guest workers? Remember your hard earned taxpayer dollars being used to bring in Chinese foreign workers and Chinese steel to build the Oakland Bay Bridge in California?

A very important amendment passed the Senate and was entered into Bill S.1813, MAP-21, alternatively known as the Transportation Bill. The amendment strengths the Buy America provision by closing a loophole.

Senator Sherrod Brown on the Senate Floor:

Hey Geeks - Way To Go! You Just Stopped SOPA & PIPA

stopsopaOn January 18th Internet websites shut down, including this one. The simultaneous black out was in protest of two bills before Congress, SOPA and PIPA. On January 20th, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shelved the Senate version of the bill, PIPA, for a floor vote and House Judiciary Chair Lamar Smith just suspended SOPA in committee. SOPA and PIPA are D.O.A.

I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns,” said Lamar Smith, House judiciary chairman and the sponsor of the Stop Online Piracy Act, as he announced the suspension of work on the bill.

Mr Smith’s retreat followed a similar move in the Senate, where majority leader Harry Reid postponed a scheduled vote on the related Protect Intellectual Property Act “in light of recent events.

Some were not happy, such as Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy:

PIPA/SOPA supporter Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), miffed by this sudden turn of events, offers his own statement. “I understand and respect Majority Leader Reid’s decision ... But the day will come when the Senators who forced this move will look back and realize they made a knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem.”

An Interesting Action Challenging the Census

12010_census_reapportionmentJudicial Watch, a notoriously conservative group, has filed a Amicus Curiae Brief with Supreme Court. This is a opinion on case Louisiana v. Bryson What's it all about? Counting illegal immigrants in the 2010 Census.

The state of Louisiana, in a broad new challenge to the role of undocumented immigrants in American society, asked the Supreme Court on Monday to rule that those who are in the country illegally should not be counted in the ten-year national census, at least for purposes of deciding how to divide up seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In a lawsuit filed directly in the Court, without prior action in lower courts, the state contended that it has been denied one potential seat in the House because illegal immigrants are counted in census totals, putting Louisiana at a disadvantage in House apportionment. The first step in the case of Louisiana v. Bryson (140 Original) is for the Court to decide whether to allow the lawsuit to go forward in the Court, presumably after hearing from the federal government.

Legal Congressional Bribery Exposed by 60 Minutes

CBS 60 Minutes has another bombshell report. It seems while handing cash under the table to members of Congress is graft, offering pre-IPO stock, guaranteed to make a profit for an elected representative...isn't. In Congress: Trading stock on inside information, we have yet another blow by blow playbook on how to use your elected public office to get rich quick.

Elected Officials Pass More Trade Agreements Most of America Doesn't Want

Another Sad Day for American Labor.  Rhetoric, campaigns, protests and op-eds, all promising to listen to the American people and most of all create jobs.  In the streets there are millions of voices demanding an economy for Americans, U.S. workers and what does Congress do?  Why pass more glorified offshore outsourcing and corporate tax haven deals under the guise of NAFTA like trade agreements.  I kid you not.  Congress passed trade treaties with South Korea, Panama and Columbia.

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