jamess – Page 16 – DocuDharma

Or we risk a repeat of the same Bubble-driven collapse of Trillion Dollar Derivative Bets, that occur in the dark, beyond the reach — or even the Watch — of any Govt Regulator, or even the Public scrutinity.

Nothing has changed, they can STILL Gamble Trillions in Derivatives, and let US the Taxpayers pick up the Tab, whenever their Bets GO Bad!

Link to MSNBC Clip to the Ratigan Cantwell Interview

Definitely a “Must See”, in my opinion.

So much so, I transcribed much of it, to help peak your interest …

Oct 20 2009

FRONTLINE Presents: The Warning (on the economic meltdown)

By jamess in Economy

FRONTLINE INVESTIGATES THE ROOTS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

FRONTLINE Presents

The Warning

Tuesday, October 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS

In the devastating aftermath of the economic meltdown, FRONTLINE sifts through the ashes for clues about why it happened and examines critical moments when it might have gone much differently.

In The Warning, airing Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Inside the Meltdown, Breaking the Bank) unearths the hidden history of the nation’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At the center of it all he finds Brooksley Born, who speaks for the first time on television about her failed campaign to regulate the secretive, multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market whose crash helped trigger the financial collapse in the fall of 2008.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/…

Oct 18 2009

Where DOES the Democratic Party stand on Lobbyists?

By jamess in Barack Obama, Congress

Since Lobbyists are the “REAL agents of Change” in most of our Legislation, since Lobbyists practically write much of the Legislation, that they Lobby for, insuring that it will Benefit ONLY their Benefactors —

I’ve been wondering WHEN will the Democratic Party take a stand on this “non representative” process, which contaminates so much of The People’s Business, that SHOULD be taking place in Congress? Why is it, that Congress mostly caters to Corporate Business concerns, putting OURS off until some unknown Future date?

SO, I went to the source,

THE 2008 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL PLATFORM

to find out

Where DOES the Democratic Party stand on Lobbyists?

Oct 17 2009

Did you hear the Joke about the Wall Street Banker?

By jamess

Robert Reich being interviewed by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, snuck in a pretty good one-liner, I thought might be worth sharing:

ROBERT REICH, PUBLIC POLICY, UNI, OF CALIFORNIA: I wish I could say, Ali, that there were a lot of lessons learned on Wall Street. There don’t seem to be. […]

And yet the public is now out almost $600 billion, having cushioned the blow of the last round of risky ventures that Wall Street entered into. So, I wish I could be more optimistic and upbeat about where Wall Street has come to, but I don’t think they’ve learned a thing.

ALI MOORE: Why is it? Why haven’t the lessons been learned? Why is it that nothing has changed?

ROBERT REICH: A word with five letters: it’s greed.

[Here’s the one-liner]

If you take the greed out of Wall Street, all you’re really left with — is Pavement!

Transcript Broadcast: 15/09/2009

(h/t to Thom Hartmann)

Bankers, Bill Gates, Billionaires, China, Humor, Jay Leno, jokes, Rich Bastards, Robert Reich, Top 1 Percent, Toxic Assets, Wall Street, Warren Buffet, Wealthy
6 comments

Oct 15 2009

Top Banks + Unregulated Derivatives = Financial WMD

By jamess

also posted on dkos

In the noble tradition of Muck-Rakers, who would investigate the misdeeds of the Wall Street power-brokers — this report examines some modern day gaming of our wild west Financial system.

Warren Buffet gave a prophetic pronouncement back in 2003, about the dangers out a new-fangled class of investment, which he called: “financial weapons of mass destruction“.

Turns out, Wall Street maybe should have listened to Warren:

Then again with the TARP deal, that the top Wall Street Bankers finagled, from the Treasury and the Fed, and Record-setting DC Bailout which quietly swept all those Toxic Assets, under someone else’s rug — MAYBE the Wall Street Wizards, were right to ignore the ‘Oracle of Omaha’, eh?

Because of course, taking sound investment advice, assumes you are planning to … invest … soundly!

7 comments

Oct 14 2009

It’s Official: CBPP calls Tax Cuts a Boon to Top 1%

By jamess in Economy

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities economists just confirmed the trends of the last 8 years — Most of the the Economic Gains went to the very Wealthy, while the rest of us struggled to just get by

TOP 1 PERCENT OF AMERICANS REAPED 2/3 OF INCOME GAINS In last Economic Expansion,

Income Concentration in 2007 Was at Highest Level Since 1928, New Analysis Shows

By Avi Feller and Chad Stone – September 9, 2009

Two-thirds of the nation’s total income gains from 2002 to 2007 flowed to the top 1 percent of U.S. households, and that top 1 percent held a larger share of income in 2007 than at any time since 1928, according to an analysis of newly released IRS data by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez.

During those years, the Piketty-Saez data also show, the inflation adjusted income of the top 1 percent of households grew more than ten times faster than the income of the bottom 90 percent of households.

Oct 11 2009

Olbermann’s call to Action: a Photo Essay

By jamess in Action

Hopefully you saw Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on the sorry state of the Health Insurance System in American. And hopefully, you were moved to action, like I was. There’s still time to pony up, if it slipped your mind. Let’s give Keith some ammo when he resumes the fight next week.

DONATE HERE: National Association of Free Clinics

as linked on Countdown’s home page

Time is a task-master, that waits for no one,

We can only heed its call, as it marches, inexorably forward …

Hopefully we will find compassion, as we turn its pages.

If you missed the Special Comment, read on for some of the highlights …

Oct 11 2009

When Robber Barons meet Muckrakers …

By jamess in Economy

There is a clash of titan forces taking place in the American Economy right now. It’s a tale as old as Greed itself.

It is the tale of the “Powers that Be” running into the watchful eyes of the “World that Should Be”.

The story involves how corporate Robber Barons avoid the watchful glare of the citizen Muckrakers.

It is the tale of Deception and Greed vs Honesty and Fairness …

Oct 10 2009

Some of Obama’s “common challenges of the 21st century”

By jamess in Barack Obama

President Obama Will Accept Nobel Peace Prize as a Call to Action

“I will accept this award as a call to action —

a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.

. . . we must all do our part to resolve those conflicts

that have caused so much pain and hardship over so many years . . .”

– President Barack Obama

United States Mission to the United Nations

What are some of those “common challenges of the 21st century”?

The US government hosted UN link above, identifies some of these global issues:

Peace & Security

Nonproliferation & Disarmament

Poverty & Development

Climate Change

Human Rights & Democracy

United Nations Reform

Oct 06 2009

Who was Grayson really Apologizing to?

By jamess in Congress, Health Care

also posted on dkos

Rep Alan Grayson’s Apology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

Well, I would like to Apologize —

I would like to Apologize to the Dead.

44789 Americans die every year because they HAVE NO Health Insurance,

according to this Harvard Study. http://grayson.house.gov

That is more than 10 x the number of Americans who’ve died in the War in Iraq

It’s more than 10 x the number of Americans who died in 9/11

but that was just once.

THIS IS EVERY SINGLE YEAR!

Take a look at this — read it and weep.

and I mean that Read it and WEEP!

Let’s remember we should ‘care about people’ — EVEN after they’re born.