congress

The ADP Employment Report Trick or Treat Surprise is 130,000 Jobs

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Happy Halloween!  ADP's proprietary private payrolls jobs report have given us all a fright with a gain of only 130,000 private sector jobs for October 2013.  The scary October surprise continues as ADP revised September's job figures down by 21,000 to 145 thousand jobs.  This report does not include government, or public jobs.

Mint a trillion dollar coin?

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I really don't know why the administration doesn't take the "mint the trillion dollar platinum coin" option seriously. It is, as far as I can tell, perfectly legal. - Eschaton

The quote above is in reference to this Firedog Lake post on the Fiscal cliff and the latest Republican Doomsday plan for dealing with the fiscal cliff:

It’s quite simple: House Republicans would allow a vote on extending the Bush middle class tax cuts (the bill passed in August by the Senate) and offer the president nothing more – no extension of the debt ceiling, nothing on unemployment, nothing on closing loopholes. Congress would recess for the holidays and the president would face a big battle early in the year over the debt ceiling.

FireDog Lake responded to this news of the GOP economic bomb with:

if the vote includes just the Senate bill, where does that leave us? On January 1, taxes go up on not just the top marginal rates, but on every income earner, when the Bush tax cuts expire. Two million people immediately lose their unemployment benefits. Medicare reimbursement rates drop 30%. The sequester on defense and discretionary spending goes into place, and while OMB has the ability to lessen the impact there for several weeks, they can’t hold back the tide forever. And the country will hit the debt limit by the end of February or the beginning of March.

Government Shut Down Kabuki Theatre

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The crisis loams, the doors close shut, people dependent on government paychecks whirl like dervishes in panic wondering how they will pay for food and shelter. An hour before the clock strikes twelve, when all turn into pumpkins, a deal is struck to not shut down the government.

A deal has been reached between U.S. President Barack Obama and congressional leaders on a budget plan for the rest of this fiscal year that would avert a government shutdown, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Friday.

What was thrown to the lobbyists to make it at the last hour? It appears part of the agenda to destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, now known as the Consumer Financial Bureau, was added as a rider to the 2011 budget.

Trust a financial sector lobbyist to bring both sides together. We all know the banks don't want any agency whatsoever trying to enact consumer protections.

Just today Elizabeth Warren said the Republican agenda against the Consumer Financial Bureau was all about benefiting the banks:

Republican lawmakers are doing Wall Street’s bidding by trying to restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding and leadership, Obama administration adviser Elizabeth Warren said today.

Pelosi Endorses Investigative Wall Street Commission

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Maybe Congress is getting just a wee bit of a non-partisan message. House Speaker Pelosi is calling for an investigative commission on Wall Street irregularities (I thought it was business as usual!), due to Populist outrage (Congress hears the people?):

Pelosi, speaking to the Commonwealth Club of California, said she wants the panel to be modeled after the Pecora Commission, a bipartisan investigative body established by the U.S. Senate in 1932 to examine the causes and abuses of the Wall Street crash of 1929 and to prevent a repeat.

Stop The Madness

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Yesterday I put up an Instapopulist post regarding the national demonstrations which will be happening tomorrow. This effort is being organized and coordinated by a new grass roots organization called A New Way Forward.

Today, I want to emphasize the importance of showing up at these demonstrations, in light of the new article from Michael Hirsch of Newsweek. Here's the link to the story.

As Hirsch points out, the administration has received push back from some members of the Senate. And there are some slight indications that there is sentiment within the administration to institute modest to serious regulations. Yet, the NY Fed is currently holding meetings with WS insiders and their traditional regulators, to decide the type of regulation that would work best for them. In other words, regulation lite and no transparency to outside agencies.

Treasury to ask Congress for Sweeping Powers to Seize Non-Bank Financial Institutions

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From the Washington Post:

The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.

The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

Giving the Treasury secretary authority over a broader range of companies would mark a significant shift from the existing model of financial regulation, which relies on independent agencies that are shielded from the political process. The Treasury secretary, a member of the president's Cabinet, would exercise the new powers in consultation with the White House, the Federal Reserve and other regulators, according to the document.

If You Could Ask AIG CEO Edward Libby a Question, What Would it Be?

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If you could ask AIG CEO Edward Libby a question, what would it be? Sound too good to be true? Think again.

Tomorrow, March 18th, 10 am, EST, the House Financial Services Subcommittee, Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, is holding a hearing, American International Group’s Impact on the Global Economy: Before, During, and After Federal Intervention.

Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing to fully examine the American International Group (AIG), how it got into its current situation, why it has received so much federal assistance, and how to move forward.

Video & Quotes from the Bank CEO Congressional Grill

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Who does not enjoy a good barbeque? Today Congress had a very good roast. On the menu were TARP receipient CEOs.

Hopefully these words will turn into action and Congress will demand a better restructuring for the financial sector. I would prefer not blowing $2 trillion dollars ($3 trillion, $4? who's counting these days?) and simply nationalize the banks but hey, that's just me.

In the interim, I think we all can have some fun watching Congress roast these bank CEOs over the coals.

From reuters:

Taxpayers were screwed to the tune of $78 billion, much of it by the the firms represented here - Rep. Brad Sherman

Sherman - "Don't Insult Our Intelligence"

Bail Out Déjà Vu - Experts, Reps Say Stimulus Needs Work, So Why is Congress Ramrodding the Bill?

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It's only $875 billion dollars and counting. But don't stop rushing and ramrodding unread or not thoroughly analyzed bills through Congress!

WaPo has some of the dissent.

In testimony before the House Budget Committee yesterday, Alice M. Rivlin, who was President Bill Clinton's budget director, suggested splitting the plan, implementing its immediate stimulus components now and taking more time to plan the longer-term transformative spending to make sure it is done right.

Senate fails to pass auto deal

Well, in case you've missed it tonight, the Senate's attempt at a deal collapsed. At the heart of demise of the bill were Republicans refusal to pass the legislation handed to the chamber. Lead by Tennessee Senator, Bob Corker, the GOP demanded that the UAW take further wage cuts earlier than proposed. Corker and others wanted union wages to meet parity to those found by transplants like Toyota or Honda in southern states.

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