February News Roundup Part I

We have been a bit behind on blogging this month. Catching up by using a couple of mega-posts to catch up on the important stuff. There are lots of great updates here so be sure to scan through this carefully and be sure to catch our February News Roundup Part II.

>> Obama’s Cousin Dr. Milton Wolf says that Palin is right about ObamaCare.  – LINK.

>> Watts – New Evidence that mother nature deals with CO2 just fine. Also if all industrial activity stopped climate would still change – LINK:

>>Steve McIntyre presentation at the Heartland Climate Change and Economics Institute. This is a no miss video. – LINK.

>> Daily Caller – The new budget from the White House gives the GOP new opportunities.

The budget from the President contains levels of spending, debt and new taxes that are just reckless. The numbers are also fraudulent because the proposed budget assumes levels of economic growth that are not even close to realistic. You can see the official proposed and rather rosy rigged White House deficit numbers here – http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/tables.pdf

Do these numbers look like the government living within its mean as President Obama said to you?

>> Daily Caller – First Drilling Company Files Bankruptcy as  Result of Obama Illegal Offshore Drilling Ban.

Keep in mind that we reported that the Obama Administration has been found in contempt of course for continuing to enforce the illegal offshore drilling ban. By the way the Daily Caller has been on a roll of great coverage lately and has become a must see daily along with the Washington Examiner.

>>Dale Petersen is running for President. I had a nice chat with one of his fund raisers at CPAC. I will discuss more of that later. This guy is a long shot to be sure, but there is certainly more depth to him than a few great TV ads.

>>Gallup: More Americans Now Pro-Life than Pro-Abortion for the First Time.

>>Daily Caller – Obama signs into law new Food Regulation Bill passed during the lame duck session at Christmas while you weren’t looking.

This bill is a gargantuan power grab that drives up food prices and sticks it to smaller companies and farms. This bill is Norton’s First Law in action: Big business loves big government because big government taxes and regulates the small and medium sized competition out of the competition.

You “liberals” who claim to oppose corporatism, I am waiting for you to speak up because this is yet another in a long list of examples of Democrats being in big corporations back pocket.

>> Tea Party Express Takes on Senator Lugar:

>> America’s worst speed traps – LINK.

>> Prof. William Jacobson at Cornell dissects the Shirley Sherrod nuisance lawsuit against Andrew Breitbart. Mark Levin Comments:

>> Accuracy in Media interviews Donald Rumsfeld on his book and media bias.

Rumsfeld talks about the WMD issue. The weapons inspectors found active and static WMD programs some of which could be producing mass weapons in six months and some programs would be producing within five years. Saddam was suppose dto give all of this up. We invaded in 2003 well five years later was 2008. So what would terrorists now be armed with if Saddam was not removed?: 

>> Bill O’Reilly Budget Plan for America – “It is embarrassing that the President’s own debt commission says he is not doing nearly enough to solve the financial crisis…” : 

>> WOW – Laurie Dhue was a functioning alcoholic for 10 years! Tells all to Geraldo! Sober for 4 years! May come back to Fox News!!

>> GOOD NEWS – The House passed 61 Billion in real spending cuts today and repealed excessive and poorly designed regulations from several industries including coal. The regulatory power is granted by Congress for the purpose of making the laws Congress passes easy to understand and follow, it was never designed for social engineering nor was it intended to be used to allow the executive to legislate on its own and buck the will of Congress.

>> File this under awesome: The House has voted 244-179 to kill $13 million in U.S. funding for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The House no longer wishes to have the IPCC prepare its climate assessment. GOP lawmakers said IPCC scientists were guilty of manipulating data and destroying evidence to promote their global warming views. (H/T Gregory Hilton)

>> By a 235 to 189 margin, the House of Representatives has just voted to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Public Radio and PBS. They have been receiving $420 million from the government. They are all responsible for blatant bias against conservatives. (H/T Gregory Hilton).

>> Liz Trotta Rips Anderson Cooper’s Egypt Coverage!

>> State Rep. Robert Hagen (D-OH) has just called a black tea party member “Buckwheat,” but says it is not a racial slur. Tom Spaulding wants to test his claim: “Let’s have Hagan take a midnight stroll in poor urban areas and call the black people he meets ‘Buckwheat’. Let him explain that he’s been using the phrase ‘since he was a kid’ and it ‘has no racial connotation’”. State Sen. Jake Knotts (R-SC) referred to Gov. Nikki Haley as a “towelhead” on a comedy show.  (Via Gregory Hilton)

>> Tucker Carlson:  Politically Correct (read not accurate) pro-Islamic bias being introduced to public school text books.

I have high school aged relatives and it amazes me how much leftist secular/anti-western culture attitude change propaganda gets into these text books, much of it can be debunked with common academic and public records resources. In many of these texts Ronald Reagan’s name is not even mentioned in the sections covering the end of the Cold War; I just graduated with a new degree in 2010 and that particular bias was in my class material. Fortunately the young PhD. candidate teaching the class allowed me to give a lecture on the Cold War as I was the only one in the room old enough to remember it.

>> Geert Wilders on the expatriating of Jihadists from Europe.

Most people here in the USA havce no idea how the situation in Europe has evolved. Many European countries including Sweden, England, Germany, France, and Holland have “state within a state” jihadist enclaves where militant Islamists have such control that not even the police are not safe to enter. The violence has reached incredible levels. Such violence includes Islamic rape gangs that act with near impunity, honor killings, and female genital mutilation. The militants have masterfully used their lawyers to manipulate the Euro left and the hate speech laws to make it virtually illegal to even criticize what is going on.  Polls in England show that 28% of Muslims were willing to tell a pollster that they supported and/or were sympathetic to the cause of the 9/11 hijackers and the subway bombers. Many also are willing to tell a pollster that they want to do away with democracy, and force sharia law and the caliphate upon Europe.  

>> Congress in bipartisan push to reverse Obama’s ban on re-importation of M-1 Garand antique rifles.

Ahh yes I remember the campaign. I remember when Obama said that he supported the Second Amendment and how he promised not to get in the way of hunters, collectors and those who wanted to have a gun for legitimate self defense. I remember how he hired that actor to get in target shooting garb to praise him. I remember how he lectured us all on how he supported gun rights and firearm enthusiasts. I also remember how he opposed a law in Illinois that would allow you to defend yourself in your own home. I also remember how he answered several firearms policy questionnaires and I remember how he was against Heller before he was for it. I also remember how right after he was elected he started hiring hard core anti-gun (BATF Chief) and anti-hunting (OIRA Director) activists.  But what can I say, but WE TOLD YOU SO.

The excuse was that these rifles are too dangerous…. but no one in the Administration would go on the record stating so. “Asked why the M1’s pose a threat, the State Department spokesman referred questions to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF representatives said they would look into the question Monday afternoon, but on Wednesday they referred questions to the Justice Department. DOJ spokesman Dean Boyd referred questions back to the State Department” – LINK.

These rifles are NOT the choice of criminals by a long shot. The M1 Garand rifle is very long, heavy, fires ammo that is very expensive, it has an antique loading mechanism that only holds eight bullets, it is not a rapid fire weapon and if the proper training is not obeyed EVERY time the weapon is loaded/unloaded its feeding mechanism can  easily leave you with a broken thumb or finger.

Let me show you what I mean: 

Here is the good news from the NRA: 

>> Video release of the loon that tried to firebomb Governor Rick Perry’s (R-TX) home.

>> Todd Palin at Iron Dog Race in Alaska. He is a four time champion.

>> Attention Journalism Majors – See why veteran unemployment is higher than the national average: 

>> Daily Caller – China moves to stamp out “Jasmine Revolution” – LINK.

>> Food Prices going up at 150% inflation rate. And some elite media reporters said that Sarah Palin was nuts when she predicted this. – LINK.

>> Six Reasons why USA is Only the Ninth Most Free Economy in the World – LINK.

>> Obama Was Against Health Care Mandate in Campaign: 

>> Democrats having a fit over House investigations into Obama Administration lack of transparency. This is a subject we have covered many times. He promised the most transparent administration and has the least transparent since Nixon.  – LINK.

>> Gallup: GOP Image Highest Since 2005 – LINK.

>> Book Glamorizing Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert Near Border – LINK.

>> Radicalized Muslim Cleric Arrested Sneaking into USA – LINK.

>> Disaster: Obama to raise ethanol in gas to 15%. Ethanol gives you lower gas mileage, eats automotive seals, breaks down into water and varnish in a few weeks if your car sits, is environmentally backwards, this will drive up food prices, it is expensive, the taxpayers subsidize it and most cars made before 2006 aren’t designed to handle it. HotAir.com has more details.

>> Newt all over the place on ethanol and global warming. His positions change depending on who he is in front of and I witnessed that at CPAC. Newt is brilliant, but like Mit Romney it seems he just wants it too badly. LINK. Gov. Daniels is pro-ethanol and has been consistent in that view. Of course he is from Indiana so what do you expect? Of course Mitch is wrong about the issue on the merits and he almost certainly knows it. Economically and logistically ethanol is a nightmare, but opposing it politically in this state may be as well and the same goes for Iowa. Mitch is truly an economic genius so I cannot believe he does not understand this.

>> Judge Vinson – ObamaCare is unconstitutional. Judge uses Obama’s own words in the ruling – LINK.

>> Media Bias – Washington Post has no coverage for March for Life but gives 48 paragraphs to leftist Ingrate Ron Reagan Jr. who attack his dead father Presidnet Reagan. LINK. ABC gives 24 minutes of network news coverage of his nook in five days. What nooks gets that much network face time? – LINK. You have heard us use the term “attitude change propaganda” before well I have just given you two examples of it. Loyal son Michael Reagan responds with a simple statement, “My brother was an embarrassment to my father when he was alive, now he is an embarrassment to my mother”.

>> Jeff Sessions: Economic policy that is stuck in reverse – LINK.

>> Mark Levin: Obama is NOT moderating. Has Obama called off his lawyers when it comes to ObamaCare, Texas EPA regs, illegal offshore drilling ban, suing Arizona etc. NOPE. Must see video – LINK.

>> OK this was sort of obvious but it is always good to have the evidence – Obama Justice Department Colluded with ACLU to Attack Arizona’s SB 1070 According to Documents Uncovered by Judicial Watch – LINK.

>> New York Democrats indicted on voter fraud charges. Elite media yawns. – LINK.

>> Reagan on the dictator of Libya:

>> Dramatic Video: Mom Lashes Out At “Scumbag” Judge That Was Found Guilty Of Sending Kids To Jail For Payola

>> O’Reilly and Bernard Goldberg on CNN’s softball interview with George Soros:

>> Texas will soon pass a new law allowing concealed carry on campus:

Many students are too young to remember, but I remember very well when only a few states in the union allowed concealed carry. Every time a new state changed the law to get more constitutionally correct the left warned that there would be shootouts right and left and that average people would be snapping at the drop of a hat. Well it hasn’t happened. In fact states who have passed such laws saw almost all crime including gun crime drop. While England and Australia passed gun bans their crime and gun crime rates when up sharply. A gun is a great equalizer and if citizens do not have them the law of the land starts to look more like the law of the jungle.

Here in Indiana as many as 1 in 12 carries a concealed handgun. How often do you hear of issues involving people with legal guns? Most citizens who are unaware of the gun culture such as the young lady who made those rather uninformed comments in the video have no idea that they are surrounded by armed people much of the time. Of course now some courts are enforcing the bill of rights on public property more and more. With Heller and the other recent rulings involving the Second Amendment expect courts to be more sympathetic to the issue of self defense. Utah has already passed a similar law for schools and it has been a success.

As I have stated before, I believe that some far left professors lack the judgment and temperament to have access to a firearm. Fortunately most of the left will not take advantage of such laws anyways.

>> Rumsfeld: “I think [Obama] has made a practice of trying to apologize for America” – LINK

>> UK – Four Islamist men slashed teacher’s face and left him with fractured skull ‘for teaching other religions to Muslim girls’ – LINK

>> Hillary: “Israel’s settlements illegitimate“. We pointed out that Obama hired some hard core antisemites to serve on his campaign and as advisors. This is exactly the type of thing that Joe Biden promised would not happen.

>> Ann Coulter says that Sarah Palin should not run for President because it would be a step down for her. It would be like Rush Limbaugh running for President.

This may seem silly to the politically unsavvy, but think about it.  Palin has a bully pulpit that is bigger than Obama’s. She can get legislation changed with a Tweet or a Facebook note. She is the fund raiser and king maker in chief. And she can mobilize the base after an election to keep members of Congress and even a President honest.

>> Barry Rubin: NPR is not journalism it is a political warfare operation – LINK.

>> Pamela Geller: “honor killings” on the increase in the West – 

>> MSNBC: Oil Companies Make Sure Our Air is Polluted

Where do they find these whack jobs. Oh wait I know, radicalized college campus’

Stay Tuned for February News Roundup Part II

Lame Duck Congress Abuse of Power. Passes More Laws than Any Congress Since ’60’s & Most of that During Lame Duck Session. UPDATED!

So what is the problem you ask?

Well first of all the 20th Amendment was enacted in part to prevent this exact type of abuse of power. It also shows how much respect the Democrats (and a few Republicans) have for the will of the people.  There was no way that the hyper flawed START Treaty would have been approved before the election or this mountain of legislation that was passed. The Democrats even attempted to pass a new 1.2 trillion dollar spending bill at the last minute. Thankfully it was pulled in the Senate.

“Christmas tree” bills filled with pork, goodies and favors, a return of the overwhelmingly unpopular Death Tax at 35%. The bill preserving the tax rates should have been passed long ago. A food regulation bill that is just a huge federal power grab to control the industry and pick winners and losers, gifts to the trial lawyers to gin up more lawsuits…. more rules, regulations and “easter eggs” we still haven’t seen yet will likely be popping up as they are discovered.

There is no doubt about it, this was the Democrats sticking their finger in your eye and yet another violation of the intent of the Constitution once again. These people do not respect the limits of the law, or any limits on their power. And this past election should just be the first step of what we, the American people, are going to do about it.

Of course the elite media raced to see who could parrot the Democratic leaderships talking points with the most flare. That little 20th Amendment thing and the spirit behind it, not worthy of a mention….. will of the people, forget it as the elite media holds you in almost as much contempt as Nancy Pelosi does.

 

UPDATE – Congresswomen Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) Will Move To Ban Lame Duck Sessions Of Congress as they violate spirit of the 20th Amendment.

Economic News Roundup II – Breaking: Obama Reverses on Outsourcing!

Please examine our “Summer of Recovery” and “ObamaCare” roundup posts!

UPDATE – Video: Sarah Palin shows off her expertise in monetary policy and commodities markets

Brit Hume: How Democrats Undermined Business Confidence. Federal Reserve Revises Economic Forcast Downward

New – China raises US debt holdings as others offload – LINK

New – Soros: China has better functioning government than U.S. –  LINK George Soros is the Democratic Party’s top sugar daddy.

CATO Institute Debunks White House Pro Tax Increase Propaganda

Dan Mitchell of the CATO Institute:

The White House recently released a video, narrated by Austan Goolsbee of the Council of Economic Advisers, asserting that higher tax rates on the so-called rich would be a good idea.

Since Goolsbee’s video made so many unsubstantiated assertions and was guilty of so many sins of omission, here’s a rebuttal video, narrated by yours truly.

This rebuttal video, incidentally, only scratches the surface. There was not enough time to cite the wealth of data and research showing how higher taxes undermine economic performance. There was not enough time to address some of the additional flaws of class-warfare tax policy. And there was not enough time to show how simple it is to balance the budget without higher taxes.

Given the time constraints, the video highlights three fundamental flaws in Goolsbee’s presentation.

1. The economy is not a fixed pie. Notwithstanding all evidence, there is a near-religious view on the left that the rest of us somehow must have less if a rich person earns more. The video highlights important evidence on income mobility and economic growth.

2. There is a Laffer Curve. Folks on the left assume that higher tax rates have no impact on economic performance. Not surprisingly, there is widespread evidence that taxpayers are very responsive to changes in tax rates. Using IRS data, the video explains what happened with tax collections from the rich during the Reagan years.

3. Keynesianism is wrong. The Obama Administration has a simplistic Keynesian approach to fiscal policy. As such, they only think tax cuts help growth if people rush out and spend the money. Yet this was the same rationale for the failed stimulus, and the video shows how unemployment is far higher than the White House promised.

Pelosi and Reid will convene a lame-duck session next week and taxes will be one of the key issues since the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts will expire at the end of the year without further action. The White House is willing to keep some of those tax cuts, but they want higher tax rates on the rich. Goolsbee’s video shows that the Obama Administration has a very weak argument.

[IUSB Vision Editor Piles On: Indeed the Obama Administration’s approach to economic policy is such an oversimplified approach to an already oversimplified economic theory (Keynesianism) that Goolsbee’s approach to the subject is laughable. I wish I could say that I was exaggerating or wiping my feet on the truth for effect, but to describe his argument as laughable is, if anything, an understatement as the prolonged economic suffering caused by the regulatory uncertainty and flat-lining of the economy are no laughing matter.

Even Obama’s own deficit commission suggested that the top marginal tax rate be drastically cut from the upcoming 39.9% to 23% and with it a deep cut in the corporate tax rate as well. Why? We all know that wealth goes where it is treated well. The worlds capital investment (and this means jobs) are more and more going to China and other places where the cost of government isn’t punitive. When the government starts whacking people and businesses at 40% people will hide their money or simply park it somewhere where it will not be taxed up the wazoo (like investing it in China).  The deficit commission has rightly concluded that if we have a tax rate that promotes taking on economic activity instead of punishing it the result will be more dollars flowing into the Treasury, and of course they are correct.

As a result of punitive state policy in California 153 businesses have left California and moved to Texas from last year.

The deficit commission also asked for a greatly simplified and flatter tax code as the cost of compliance is in itself a huge tax. The tax code is rife with corrupt paybacks and favors that pick winners and losers and prevents a level and open playing field.]

Factory Jobs Fell 24% Since 1998 – LINK

Heritage Foundation – How to cut 343 Billion from the Federal Government – LINK (We don’t agree with all of these but most of them)

AMA: Physicians Outraged at Today’s Steep Medicare Cut – LINK

American Thinker: The Bio-fuels Scam – LINK

The Hill:  Spending up 84% under Obama = LINK

Debt Has Increased $5 Trillion Since Speaker Pelosi Vowed, ‘No New Deficit Spending’ – CNSnews

Yahoo Finance: New York state manufacturing plunges – LINK What? How can this be in the liberal progressive mecca?…

UK Telegraph:  China may be bigger economy than US within two years – LINK

The Blaze: Professor Exposes Federally Funded ‘Revisionist’ History Conference – LINK

Malkin: Obama job-killlers Salazar, Browner lied about drilling ban rationale – LINK

Morrissey: Personal income drops for first time in 14 months, spending slows. Consumer spending drops – Reuters blows it. – LINK

CNBC – Secret Walmart Survey Shows Inflation Already Here

American Business Analytics & Research tells the Salem-News that if the government still calculated inflation the way it was calculated during Carter and Reagan (changed under Clinton) the inflation rate would be 10%.

Wall Street Journal: “Food Sellers Grit Teeth, Raise Prices: Packagers and Supermarkets Pressured to Pass Along Rising Costs, Even as Consumers Pinch Pennies.”

Sarah Palin comments on inflation.

American Thinker: Pro-ObamaCare Group – CBO Underestimated Costs of new law by 600%

Breaking: Obama reverses on outsourcing; tells Indian audience that outsourcing out high paying IT jobs is good and opponents are proponents of stereotyping.

Via Times of India and Tammy Bruce:
BANGALORE: The resilient Indian IT industry on Wednesday lauded US President Barack Obama for terming those against outsourcing as holding onto old stereotypes and for committing to do away with protectionism.

“Obama did a great job for our industry by terming them (anti-outsourcing lobbies) as stereotypes. I think his administration will also do a great job in terms of changing those stereotypes,” IT industry lobby Nasscom president Som Mittal told reporters here.

For positioning India as the market for US businesses and declaring that India was no longer emerging but had emerged, the US administration’s efforts to change the stereotypes would get support of the industry, Mittal said.

“I think we too have to do our job to change those stereotypes and ensure there is a much larger community that understands our business model that we are part of the solution rather than creating the problem itself,” Mittal said on the margins of Nasscom’s annual Product Conclave & Expo 2010.

Expressing the industry’s satisfaction over the outsourcing issue figuring at the discussions between Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday, Mittal said that both the governments were committed to do away with protectionism.

Tammy Bruce:

They say travel broadens you. Apparently so. Obama’s trip to India seems to have changed his thinking about outsourcing.

Democrats have been demonizing outsourcing at least since John Kerry’s campaign in 2004. We sure heard a lot from Democrats about the issue this election year. So much so that many Indian-Americans were motivated to raise money for Republicans.

The US midterm elections: India, China and outsourcing become attack ad topics

• On the East End of Long Island in New York, Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop is accusing GOP candidate Randy Altschuler of shipping American jobs to India who in turn is saying that he created hundreds of jobs in the USA.
• In the Connecticut Senate race, Democrat Richard Blumenthal is accusing his challenger, former wrestling CEO Linda McMahon, that her company had profited from manufacturing that was done in foreign countries.
• In the Arkansas Senate race, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s supporters ran attack ads against Bill Halter during the primary that caricatured Indians.
• In Illinois, Democratic Rep. Phil Hare is running attack ads against Republican Bobby Schilling that flatly states: “Bobby Schilling: Good for India and China.” The ads then state that be is focused on creating jobs in places like India and China.
• In Ohio, Democratic Rep. Zack Space is accusing his Republican opponent, Bob Gibbs, of supporting free-trade deals that sent jobs to China by running attack ads with a giant dragon while a narrator sarcastically thanks the Republican by commenting: “As they say in China, xie xie Mr. Gibbs!”
• In California, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer is running ads against her opponent, Carly Fiona [sic], the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, accusing her of creating thousands of jobs in Shanghai and Bangalore instead of San Jose or Burbank and of proudly stamping her products “Made in China.”

Ohio Governor Strickland, for whom Obama made several campaign trips, went so far as to ban using Ohio public funds for outsourcing by executive order.

Democrats are determined to punish corporations for overseas business operations. As recently as September, Obama was scolding Republicans for favoring outsourcing over the American worker. Less than two months later, Obama is in India saying wonderful things about outsourcing. It’s part of a win-win opportunity. Well, not so much for Obama.

[IUSB Vision Editor’s Note – Tammy Bruce had linked to a YouTube video of Obama’s reversal. Google, who now owns YouTube and is very close to the administration promptly not only banned the video, but also banned the account of the person who posted it. This is yet another in a long string of political censorship at YouTube, which is why we now post our new videos at DailyMotion and Eyeblast.tv.]

Business Insider:

Germany Was Right When It Called Our Financial Policy “Clueless”

It’s never a good thing when another country calls your financial policy clueless. It’s particularly bad if that other country is one of the world’s leading economies, and if it also happens to be right.“With all due respect, U.S. policy is clueless,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said recently, referring to the Federal Reserve’s decision to throw $600 billion at our sluggish economy.The Fed can create as much money as it likes, but the U.S. economy is presently unable to productively put that money to work. By setting near-zero interest rates, the Fed has established that money in this country has no real value. We give it to the banks for nothing, and the banks lend it back to the deficit-ridden U.S. Treasury for almost nothing. The result is a guaranteed profit for the banks, but no incentive to lend cash to creative entrepreneurs or expanding businesses.

Yahoo Finance:

18 Iconic Products That America Doesn’t Make Anymore

Rawlings baseballs

Last production date: 1969

Rawlings is the official supplier of baseballs to Major League Baseball. The St. Louis shop was founded in 1887 by George and Alfred Rawlings. In 1969 the brothers moved the baseball-manufacturing plant from Puerto Rico to Haiti and then later to Costa Rica.

Etch a Sketch

Last production date: 2000

Etch A Sketch, an iconic American toy since the 1960s, used to be produced in Bryan, Ohio, a small town of 8,000. Then in Dec. 2000, toymaker Ohio Art decided to move production to Shenzhen, China.

Converse shoes

Last production date: 2001

Marquis M. Converse opened Converse Rubber Show Company in Massachusetts in 1908. Chuck Taylors– named after All American high school basketball player Chuck Taylor– began selling in 1918 as the show eventually produced an industry record of over 550 million pairs by 1997. But in 2001 sales were on the decline and the U.S. factory closed. Now Chuck Taylors are made in Indonesia.

Stainless steel rebar

Last production date: circa 2001

Many forms of this basic steel product are not available domestically. Multiple waivers to the Buy America Act have allowed purchase of rebar internationally.

Note: The Buy America Act requires government mass transportation spending to use American products.

Dress shirts*

Last production date: Oct. 2002

The last major shirt factory in America closed in October 2002, according to NYT. C.F. Hathaway’s Maine factory had been producing shirts since 1837.

*We know there are other shirt manufacturers in America. They do not produce in large quantities or supply major brands.

Mattel toys

Last production date: 2002

The largest toy company in the world closed their last American factory in 2002. Mattel, headquartered in California, produces 65 percent of their products in China as of August 2007.

Minivans

Last production date: circa 2003

A waiver to the Buy America Act permitted an American producer of wheel-chair accessible minivans to purchase Canadian chassis for use in government contracts, because no chassis were available from the United States. The waiver specified: “General Motors and Chrysler minivan chassis, including those used on the Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana, Buick Terraza, Saturn Relay, Chrysler Town & Country, and Dodge Grand Caravan, are no longer manufactured in the United States.”

Note: The Buy America Act requires government mass transportation spending to use American products.

Vending machines

Last production date: circa 2003

You know that thing you put bills into on a vending machine? It isn’t made in America, according to a waiver to the Buy America Act.

Neither is the coin dispenser, according to this federal waiver.

Note: The Buy America Act requires government mass transportation spending to use American products.

Levi jeans

Last production date: Dec. 2003

Levi Strauss & Co. shut down all its American operations and outsourced  production to Latin America and Asia in Dec. 2003. The company’s denim products have been an iconic American product for 150 years.

Radio Flyer’s Red Wagon

Last production date: March 2004

The little red wagon has been an iconic image of America for years. But once Radio Flyer decided its Chicago plant was too expensive, it began producing most products, including the red wagon, in China.

Televisions

Last production date: Oct. 2004

Five Rivers Electronic Innovations was the last American owned TV color maker in the US. The Tennessee company used LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) technology to produce televisions for Philips Electronics. But after Philips decided to stop selling TVs with LCoS, Five Rivers eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Oct. 2004. As part of its reorganization plan, the company stopped manufacturing TVs.

Now there are ZERO televisions made in America, according to Business Week.

Cell phones

Last production date: circa 2007

Of the 1.2 billion cell phones sold worldwide in 2008, NOT ONE was made in America, according to Manufacturing & Technology publisher Richard McCormick.

After studying the websites of cell phone companies, we could not identify a single phone that was not manufactured primarily overseas.

Railroads (parts including manganese turnout castings, U69 guard bars, LV braces and weld kits)

Last production date: circa 2008

Here’s another standout from dozens of waivers to the Buy America Act: railroad turnouts and weld kits.

Manganese turnout castings are used to widen railroad tracks, and they were used to build our once-great railroad system. U69 guard bars, LV braces and Weld Kits, along with 22 mm Industrial steel chain are basic items that were certifiably not available in the US.

Note: The Buy America Act requires government mass transportation spending to use American products.

Dell computers

Last production date: Jan. 2010

In January 2010, Dell closed its North Carolina PC factory, its last large U.S. plant. Analysts said Dell would be outsourcing work to Asian manufacturers in an attempt to catch up with the rest of the industry, said analyst Ashok Kumar.

Canned sardines

Last production date: April 2010

Stinson Seafood plant, the last sardine cannery in Maine and the U.S., shut down in April. The first U.S. sardine cannery opened in Maine in 1875, but since the demand for the small, oily fish declined, more canneries closed shop.

Pontiac cars

Last production date: May 2010

The last Pontiac was produced last May. The brand was formally killed on Halloween, as GM contracts Pontiac dealerships expired.

The 84-year-old GM brand was famous for muscle cars.

Forks, spoons, and knives

Last production date: June 2010

The last flatware factory in the US closed last summer. Sherrill Manufacturing bought Oneida Ltd. in 2005, but shut down its fork & knife operations due to the tough economy. CEO Greg Owens says his company may resume production “when the general economic climate improves and as Sherrill Manufacturing is able to put itself back on its feet and recapitalize and regroup.”

Incandescent light bulb

Last production date: Sept. 2010

The incandescent light bulb (invented by Thomas Edison) has been phased out.

Our last major factory that made incandescent light bulbs closed in September 2010. In 2007, Congress passed a measure that will ban incandescents by 2014, prompting GE to close its domestic factory.

Note: A reader pointed out that the Osram/Sylvania Plant in St. Mary’s, Penn. is still producing light bulbs to fill old and international contracts. However, the plant has announced plans to wind down incandescent production.

Beloved Democrat New York Times’ Paul Krugman Advocates Death Panels:

More HERE.

And here is former Lobor Sec. Robert Reich saying the same –

We are going to let the old die because its too expensive and we are going to make the drug companies poor so they cant innovate new drugs so you young people likely will not live much longer than your parents. We have to make the young pay more.

Glenn Beck to take on George Soros

Soros is a dangerous man who mas manipulated currency, been accused of mass financial crimes, toyed with governments, tries to influence our elections with fraud and his “Secretary of State Project”, he controls Media Matters and other smear outfits to trash his enemies with lies and half truths, he funds all sorts of far left think tanks and political groups and is by and large the top sugar daddy of the Democratic Leadership. Soros wants the dollar devalued, thinks the U.S. is the problem in the world, he despises the limits the Constitution imposes and he despises the Western Judeao/Christian culture.

Some consider Soros to be the most powerful man in the world.

Glenn Beck, has had enough of his crap and the economic damage he has caused. If you want to see America return to economic and cultural prosperity, start behaving in a way that helped to make us great, and to regain the moral authority that Polish anti-communist revolutionary Lech Walesa says we have lost, then the plans of George Soros must be stopped.

Democrats Outspend Republicans in 2010 – STUDY: Dems Launching More Personal Attacks

This article is a part of our new series on how big business loves big government.

Via Politico:

To hear top Democrats tell it, the party is being wildly outgunned this year in the fight for campaign cash as Republicans rely on outside groups to funnel money to GOP contenders.

But the numbers tell a different story.

It’s true that conservative third-party groups are outspending their Democratic rivals. But the Democrats still have a sizable cash advantage in their party committees – making this year’s elections a lot more of a fair fight than Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi let on.

So far, the latest figures show that the Democratic Party machinery has outraised its Republican counterpart in this campaign cycle by almost $270 million.

And even when outside spending on television advertising and direct mail is added to the mix, Republicans still haven’t closed the gap.

The money race totals come to $856 million for the Democratic committees and their aligned outside groups, compared to $677 for their Republican adversaries, based on figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

So much for “big corporations support the GOP” narrative.

 

Via the Wesleyan Media Project:

Negativity Update: 2010 Features Similar Rates of Negativity, But Dems More Likely to Attack Personally

 

Big Business Buying Influence With Democrats: Google Pays 2.4% Federal Taxes

This post is another in our series of how big business loves big government. As we have shown you so many times before in our “Corporatism” category it is not the Republicans who are favored by large corporations. In spite of the constant rhetoric from the Democrat Leadership it is Democrats who receive overwhelming favor from Wall Street, the banks, and international business:

Top 20 Industry Money Recipients This Election Cycle – Who is in the back pocket of Wall Street?

And who says that spreading the cash around doesn’t buy influence; the Goldman Sachs guys and lobbyists are all over the White House. In fact after making promises to reign in the corporate lobbyists in the 2008 campaign, Obama and the Democrats relaxed the restrictions on them. Of course this influence peddling and kick backs was all over the mortgage crisis as well:

Corruption You Can Believe In: Failed Sub Primes and Mortgage Fraud Lenders Funneled Money to Dodd & Obama the Most. Fannie & Freddie Gave $200 Million to Partisans-Most Went to Democrats! Dodd, Obama Among Top Recipients. Republicans Attempted to Pass Reforms-Blocked by Democrat Leadership!

and

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paying $210 million in bonuses with your money and no outrage why…..

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has faced no scrutiny in the new financial regulations even though it was the single largest reason for the economic collapse. After already receiving $148.2 billion of your money Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac is now set to receive another bailout of between $154 to $215 billion. Democrats are expected to pass the bailout during the upcoming lame duck session of Congress after the election.   And of course do you remember the how AIG was using YOUR bailout tax dollars to pay their execs big bonus cash:

Democrats put language in the ‘Stimulus Bill’ to protect AIG executive bonuses. Dodd and Obama were the number one recipients of money from AIG. Distraction in full swing & Congress’ plan to tax the bonuses at 100% wont pass constitutional muster.

Of course the Fannie Mae/Goldman Sachs lobbyists revolving door in the White House continues.

And do you remember how British Petroleum got all those safety waivers for that oil platform from the Obama Administration leading up to that big oil spill? Obama was top recipient of BP-related dollars in 2008 receiving almost double what John McCain received.

Tobacco and Food Giant Philip-Morris lobbied Democrats for on got new regulations and taxes on tobacco, but they were done in such a way that Philip-Morris benefited. You see the narrative from politicians and leftist academics is that “regulation is done for the benefit of the people to prevent the excesses of unrestrained capitalism (freedom)”, the reality is that like in this case, the Google case we write about below, Fannie Mae, banks etc etc the regulations are designed to pick winners and losers, they are slanted to help those who make donations and wield influence.  The result is corrupt “Chicago Style” regulation that leads to the very excesses that the Democrats used as an excuse to do more regulation and pick more winners and losers which results in more excesses.

Case in point is the new “Wall Street Financial Regulation Bill” and Democrats went on and on about how they “clamped down”, its pure nonsense. The new law gives the government new powers to shut down businesses without judicial review (no one should have that kind of power and it will not be the big donors who will be shut down, it will be there competition or those who donate to “the wrong side”. The new law also creates an ongoing, endless bailout fund that benefits Wall Street where as smaller businesses will not have access to it.

New Obama-Dodd Bill Makes for Unlimited Wall Street/Bank Bailouts

Unions and Communist Activists All Too Happy With Obama-Dodd Financial Takeover Bill

Caught: White House Political Collusion in SEC Investigation. White House Wants Unlimited Bailout and Siezure Power. Can anyone be trusted with that much power? UPDATE – All the president’s Goldman Sachs men

Rick Santelli blasts lack of Fannie Mae reform, the TARP rip-off, government lies and corruption

This brings us to Norton’s First Law:

Big business loves big government, which is why big business loves domestic taxes and regulation because it keeps the small and medium sized competition out of the competition. A result is higher prices, so ultimately it is you who pays and the poor who are hardest hit. (Big business often gets loopholes written in the laws for themselves such as Nancy Pelosi trying to get a part of the tuna industry exempted from the minimum wage law).

Ok so now onto our friends at Google.

Google brings in billions of dollars in revenue and odds are you pay a higher tax rate than they do. Bloomberg News:

Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes

Google Inc. cut its taxes by $3.1 billion in the last three years using a technique that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda.

Google’s income shifting — involving strategies known to lawyers as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich” — helped reduce its overseas tax rate to 2.4 percent, the lowest of the top five U.S. technology companies by market capitalization, according to regulatory filings in six countries.

“It’s remarkable that Google’s effective rate is that low,” saidMartin A. Sullivan, a tax economist who formerly worked for the U.S. Treasury Department. “We know this company operates throughout the world mostly in high-tax countries where the average corporate rate is well over 20 percent.”

The U.S. corporate income-tax rate is 35 percent. In the U.K., Google’s second-biggest market by revenue, it’s 28 percent.

Google, the owner of the world’s most popular search engine, uses a strategy that has gained favor among such companies as Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The method takes advantage of Irish tax law to legally shuttle profits into and out of subsidiaries there, largely escaping the country’s 12.5 percent income tax. (See an interactive graphic on Google’s tax strategyhere.)

The earnings wind up in island havens that levy no corporate income taxes at all. Companies that use the Double Irish arrangement avoid taxes at home and abroad as the U.S. government struggles to close a projected $1.4 trillion budget gap and European Union countries face a collective projected deficit of 868 billion euros.

Countless Companies

Google, the third-largest U.S. technology company by market capitalization, hasn’t been accused of breaking tax laws. “Google’s practices are very similar to those at countless other global companies operating across a wide range of industries,” said Jane Penner, a spokeswoman for the Mountain View, California-based company. Penner declined to address the particulars of its tax strategies.

Facebook, the world’s biggest social network, is preparing a structure similar to Google’s that will send earnings from Ireland to the Cayman Islands, according to the company’s filings in Ireland and the Caymans and to a person familiar with its plans. A spokesman for the Palo Alto, California-based company declined to comment.

Transfer Pricing

The tactics of Google and Facebook depend on “transfer pricing,” paper transactions among corporate subsidiaries that allow for allocating income to tax havens while attributing expenses to higher-tax countries. Such income shifting costs the U.S. government as much as $60 billion in annual revenue, according to Kimberly A. Clausing, an economics professor at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Representative Dave Camp of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, and other politicians say the 35 percent U.S. statutory rate is too high relative to foreign countries. International income-shifting, which helped cut Google’s overall effective tax rate to 22.2 percent last year, shows one way that loopholes undermine that top U.S. rate.

Democrats always talk about taxing the “rich billionaires” but the truth is that huge Democrat contributors like Google, George Soros and John & Teresa Kerry will never pay much in taxes. This is why the tax code is 60,000 pages long and filled with loopholes and corruption. So who ends up paying all these taxes designed to stick it to “the rich”? It is small to medium sized business, and the producer class that is soaked. Remember what I said about how big business loves big government? Who can create an upstart company and actually compete with Google when they pay 2.4% tax and you have to pay 39.9%? How can you claim that you are for jobs when you are sticking it to those who employ the most people Democrats? Small business does almost 80% of all hiring in the United States.

I can hear the objection already “so are you saying that Republicans never added to or put a loophole in the tax code” of course I am not saying that, but what I am saying is that one party is way ahead in creating this mess and we all know what party that is. The GOP is the party that has been trying to repeal/reform the tax code or just replace it altogether with a Steve Forbes style flat tax or a Neil Boortz style Fair Tax. It is Democrats who have fought tooth and nail for the status quo.

Google has given Obama over $800,000 and $270,00 to Democrats in this election cycle alone. So while Obama attacks the Chamber of Commerce (2) which represents most small to medium sized business Google skips out on $60 billion in taxes with the Obama Administration not saying a peep.

Of course Google isn’t alone. US News:

Microsoft is the top contributor with 60 percent of its nearly $1.3 million in contributions going to Democrats. This number reflects contributions made to incumbents, challengers, and national party committees. [See where Chuck Schumer’s campaign cash comes from.]

Contributions from those associated with Cisco make it the second highest contributor in the industry with $557,919 in donations, 67 percent of which went to Democratic candidates and committees. Google is next, with $456,119 in contributions, 75 percent of which went to Democrats, followed by Intel, with 57 percent of its $373,205 in contributions going to Democrats. The fifth-most-prominent computer/internet company, Hewlett-Packard, also favored Democrats, despite the fact that its former CEO, Carly Fiorina, is running as a Republican in California’s high-profile Senate race. Those associated with Hewlett-Packard gave $367,460, with only 40 percent going to Republican candidates and parties.

Google’s help to the Democrats doesn’t just go as far as campaign dollars. Google has often delisted Conservative stories and news sites from searches of Google news. Google owned YouTube has removed video’s from conservative pundits including Michelle Malkin. David Zucker had his video flagged as “18 and over only” until it created a big enough fuss where Google relented (LINK – LINK). This very author has been threatened by YouTube as well, which is why I have stopped posting on my YouTube channel which so far as gotten 1.5 million views. I am now posting at DailyMotion and  Eyeblast.tv.

McDonalds and 29 other large corporations have gotten ObamaCare waivers because the new law makes health insurance costs so expensive. Where are the waivers for the smaller companies that still have over 50 employees and are getting creamed by this new law?

So lets meet the evil rich shall we?

Lets start with Leland Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Indeed this small business is in the top tax bracket because they bring in on paper over $250,000 a year. Of course most of that money goes back into the business paying his 25 employees, buying material and tools, paying property taxes etc.

On paper most small businesses that employ more than a dozen people hit $250,000 on paper. The truth is that there are few people who make over $250,00 per year in taxable wages, the vast majority who qualify for the top marginal tax rate in this category are small business S-corps that do most of the hiring. Think of a family business that owns 3 pizza shops and works 11 hours a day keeping the business running? With that kind of hard work shouldn’t they have a tax rate that looks more like Google’s?

Reminder: Big Business Loves Big Government (especially Democrats)

In the 2008 election big business, bankers and Wall Street etc overwhelmingly supported Obama and the Democrats. Goldman Sachs guys and lobbyists are all over the White House. In fact after making promises to reign in the corporate lobbyists, Obama and the Democrats relaxed the restrictions on them.

The truth is that Big Business loves big government, because the regulations they influence and the taxes Democrats pass turns the small to medium sized business competition into no competition.

Republicans are the party of small business and the people they employ which is the majority of workers. Republicans dont get massive donations filtered through George Soros and the Tides Foundation to countless PACS and 527’s like the Democrats do. The majority of donations to Republicans are in individual donations of $200 or less. There facts are easily verified by public records.

Examine the proof in the following 2 links –

Corruption You Can Believe In: Failed Sub Primes and Mortgage Fraud Lenders Funneled Money to Dodd & Obama the Most. Fannie & Freddie Gave $200 Million to Partisans-Most Went to Democrats! Dodd, Obama Among Top Recipients. Republicans Attempted to Pass Reforms-Blocked by Democrat Leadership!

and

Democrats put language in the ‘Stimulus Bill’ to protect AIG executive bonuses. Dodd and Obama were the number one recipients of money from AIG. Distraction in full swing & Congress’ plan to tax the bonuses at 100% wont pass constitutional muster. – UPDATE: Shep Smith goes off on Congress.

Be sure to also see  crony capitalism and our corporatism and corruption category. And don’t forget – Corruption: Most Stimulus Funds Spent in Democrat Districts…

Related stories –

Top 20 Industry Money Recipients This Election Cycle – Who is in the back pocket of Wall Street?

The Lobbying Boom – The numbers are in

Foreign Press Goes After Obama for Breaking Lobbyist Pledge

Palin: Dodd Bill Institutionalizes Corrupt Crony Capitalism

More Journalistic Malpractice at the NYT: NYT does hit piece on GOP Leader for taking lobbyist donations, but ignores that the Democratic Leadership has taken much much more…

Drug Industry Spends $150 Million to Lobbyists to Support ObamaCare and Democrats.

NPR: Lobbyists acting as fund raisers for Democrats all over the health care reform bill.

Lobbyists Find Plenty of Work as Clients Contend for Stimulus Package’s Billions

Democrats Health Care Bill Packed With Frivolous Spending

Washington Post selling access to Obama officials. All new Definition of “in the tank”

Democrats move against company who gave testimony they didn’t like in Congressional hearing.

Congressional travel junkets up 50% since Democrats took power.

Fox and CNN hit Obama over broken promises.

Washington Post: The Fierce Urgency of Pork

SHOCKER: AP Calls out Obama on Misleading the Public on Porkulus Bill

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paying $210 million in bonuses with your money and no outrage why…..

Clinton Took $6 Million From Foreign Interests

UK Daily Telegraph: Obama’s Top Ten Broken Promises

New Obama-Dodd Bill Makes for Unlimited Wall Street/Bank Bailouts

UPDATE – Goldman Sachs supports New Democrat “Wall Street” Bill. Of course they do. If you didn’t see this coming you must be a registered Democrat. – LINK. Karl Rove explains some of the reasons Goldman Sachs would benefit from the bill HERE.

UPDATE II – Sen. Jim DeMint confirms IUSB Vision analysis of bill:

We talk about crony capitalism and picking winners and losers, this takes it to such a corrupt and foolish extreme that it blows way beyond a mere fracture of the public trust into full blown criminality. See our previous post HERE.

I try to avoid quoting partisan sources, but in this case not only are the GOP critisisms absolutely right, they are in fact understating the damage this kind of legislation can do.

1. Obama-Dodd Bill Creates $50 Billion Permanent Bailout Fund That Senate Democrats Plan To Keep. (Page 277, S. 3217, Restoring American Financial Stability Act Of 2010, Introduced 4/15/10; Carrie Budoff Brown, “Dems Stand By $50B Fund,” Politico, 4/19/10)

2. Obama-Dodd Bill Could Lead To More Taxpayer-Funded Bailouts By Expanding Federal Reserve’s Power To Establish “Policies And Procedures Governing Emergency Lending.” (Page 1365, S. 3217, Restoring American Financial Stability Act Of 2010, Introduced 4/15/10)

3. Obama-Dodd Bill Could Make Taxpayer-Funded Bailouts Even More Expensive By Allowing FDIC To Make “Additional Payments” To Firms That Backed Failed Financial Companies. (Page 245, S. 3217, Restoring American Financial Stability Act Of 2010, Introduced 4/15/10)

4. Obama-Dodd Bill Uses Taxpayer Dollars To Guarantee Debt Of Banks And Bank Holding Companies Through The Power Of The Federal Reserve And FDIC. (Page 1379, S. 3217, Restoring American Financial Stability Act Of 2010, Introduced 4/15/10)

5. Obama-Dodd Bill Could Institutionalize Bailouts By Allowing A New Financial Oversight Council To Determine Which Companies Are “Too Big To Fail.” (Page 35, S. 3217, Restoring American Financial Stability Act Of 2010, Introduced 4/15/10)

6. Federal Trade Commission Fears That Obama-Dodd Bill Could Have “Overall Result” Of “Less Protection For Consumers, And Fewer ‘Cops On The Beat.’” (Federal Trade Commission, Letter To Sen. Hutchison, 4/16/10)

Caught: White House Political Collusion in SEC Investigation. White House Wants Unlimited Bailout and Siezure Power. Can anyone be trusted with that much power? UPDATE – All the president’s Goldman Sachs men

[Editor’s Note – This is a bit of a complex story. Please read the following story carefully. After you are done go HERE for a story update.]

The SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) is supposed to be an independent agency. This may be the scandal that brings an administration down. When the GOP takes Congress back they will have subpeona power and the investigations are going to fly.

Barack Obama took nearly a million dollars from Goldman Sachs and four million from Wall Street.

Barack Obama worked to prevent mortgage reform and to prevent reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Barack Obama took the second highest amount of money from the mortgage giants in the Senate.

Now Barack Obama is making political hay out of an SEC investigation of Goldman Sachs (of which, believe it or not they might actually be innocent in this one case).

There is evidence that the White House knew about the coming SEC investigation in advance. The timing for Obama’s new financial regulation bill seemed just a little too sweet. The White House (who insists that it didn’t know about this in advance) bought the advertising for the Google search term “Goldman Sachs SEC”. The SEC in a highly unusual party line move decided to sue Goldman Sachs just now at the beginning of Obama’s push for this legislation.

Financial News:

The Securities and Exchange Commission decided to sue Goldman Sachs Group over the objections of two Republican commissioners, suggesting an unusual split at the agency that could politicise one of its most prominent cases in years.

The legislation gives the White House near unlimited bailout power (unlimited Wall Street bailouts) and the ability to sieze any private business without any check and balance. That is the kind of power you see in Stalinistic regimes, not the United States. The legislation also has no provisions to reform the two biggest players in the mortgage scandal, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who funded almost $200 million to partisan activities, and whose multimillion dollar bonuses were protected by Democrat legislation.

[Editor’s Note – Ok who wants to say that this is not the biggest power grab and opportunity for corruption of our lifetimes? Does anyone know a mainstream Democrat or Republican voter who would trust any man with this kind of power? But do not be fooled, this “lawsuit” is for public release only (PR purposes). It will either go away or Goldman Sachs will get a slap on the wrist and gladly pay, as Goldman has made a fortune since the economic collapse and the Obama Administration continues to be a revolving door for Goldman employees, lobbyists and influence peddling.]

Rush Limbaugh played some of the evidence the media has discovered so far. In spite of what you think of Limbaugh he is very factual here in what he presents and it is worth watching (Hat Tip Rightscoop for the video):

Charlie Rose to Rahm Emanuel: How is it that the New York Times knew about the SEC Investigation Before Goldman Sachs did….

By the way I did a Google on “Goldman Sachs SEC” and sure enough….

There it is on the very top, “Help Change Wall Street” and it goes to this:

.. amazing…

Real Clear Politics: Limbaugh: White House Had Advanced Knowledge Of SEC Suit Against Goldman Sachs

In the mean time even MSNBC criticized Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid for dodging questions on Goldman Sachs/Wall Street fund raisers hosted by the president of Goldman Sachs. Video:

Charles Krauthammer discussing the Obama Administration’s “Financial Reform Bill.” He said it would provide “no check, no balance” for Executive power: 

Brad Sherman Congressman (D-Calif.), member of House Financial Services Committee (Via Politico):

But there are serious problems with the Dodd bill. The Dodd bill has unlimited executive bailout authority. That’s something Wall Street desperately wants but doesn’t dare ask for. The bill contains permanent, unlimited bailout authority.

House Republicans put out this statement about this power grab:

Washington, Apr 19 –

With a new national survey showing that nearly eight in 10 Americans say they don’t trust the federal government, Washington Democrats are getting ready to force through Congress a permanent bailout bill that establishes an unelected council of federal regulators with the power to seize any U.S. business and do with it as they see fit.

The permanent bailout bill authored by Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) creates a Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) made up of federal regulators – including representatives from the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, the CFTC, FDIC, and the SEC.  In other words: the government bureaucracies asleep at the switch the last time around.

This clique of regulators could – by a 2/3 vote – deem any firm (financial or non-financial) “systemically significant,” which is merely jargon for other jargon: “too big to fail.”  At that point, according to economist Larry Lindsey, the Council would “authorize the FDIC and Treasury Secretary to treat each of the firm’s shareholders and creditors as they choose, without regard to bankruptcy law.”  Any institution could be ordered to “break itself up, stop selling certain products, or even go out of business,” according to the Heritage Foundation.

INSTITUTIONALIZING “TOO BIG TO FAIL,” HURTING SMALL BANKS.  Senior Atlantic editor Clive Crook sees the council of regulators as a major factor in how Washington Democrats’ permanent bailout bill institutionalizes “too big to fail”:

Sen. Dodd’s bill “adds new bodies … a Financial Stability Oversight Council to coordinate the policing of systemic risks.  Overall, after much shuffling of duties among this expanded list of regulators, the plan makes the system more complicated, not less. … Under the Dodd plan, although the senator denies it, many big financial firms would indeed be declared too big to fail. The market would put banks that meet the assets threshold for Fed supervision into this category.  Other financial firms would be viewed the same way if the Financial Stability Oversight Council designates them as ‘systemically significant.’” (National Journal, 3/20/10)

Once these firms are deemed ‘systemically significant,’ they will be seen as safer firms to lend to than small firms that are not government-backed.  The result will be a permanent market distortion, favoring large companies over small ones.  This will hurt small businesses and smaller banks at the worst possible time for our economy.

ENDLESS BAILOUTS FOR WALL STREET. In a speech last month, SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes outlined how Washington Democrats’ financial bailout bill would grant this council of regulators “unbounded power” to intervene in U.S. businesses:

“…[E]ach of the proposals I took time to reference would, in my view, result in just this sort of open-endedness.  For example, by allowing the new regulator to consider so many factors in deciding whether a firm is systemically significant, the bills in Congress go far to empower the regulator.  The council of regulators could readily find some basis, among the host of factors it is permitted to consider, to justify designating a financial firm for heighted prudential oversight.

“Equally uncertain are the extent and character of the more restrictive standards that may be imposed to bind the size or activities of a systemically-significant firm; there are no clear limits on the degree of government intervention that could be expected. … I do not welcome the prospect of such unbounded power, even if exercised with the best of intentions.  It would inject too much uncertainty into the system and aggregate government authority to a worrisome degree.”PROTECTING BANKERS, NOT TAXPAYERS.  Carnegie Mellon economist Allan Meltzer sees the new bureaucracy as “just another way to pick the public’s purse” given how regulators are historically inclined to protect bankers, not taxpayers:

“So setting up an agency to prevent systemic risk, as Mr. Dodd has just proposed, is just another way to pick the public’s purse.  Systemic risk will forever remain in the eye of the beholder.  Instead of shifting losses onto those that caused them, systemic risk regulation will continue to transfer cost to the taxpayers.  The regulators protect the bankers.  They continue to lose sight of their responsibility to protect the public.” (The Wall Street Journal, 3/19/10)

POLITICS.  Manhattan Institute fellow Nicole Gelinas examines how the council of regulators would inevitably “fall victim to politics”:

“In a bubble, more people are over-exuberant than not. The new Financial Stability Oversight Council would not escape this fact.  It would also fall victim to politics. Imagine that the Fed and other agencies had restricted all but the plainest-vanilla mortgages back in 2000…. The regulators would have tempered the bubble–but the politicians wouldn’t have seen it that way. Instead, they’d have accused bureaucrats of roping off citizens from the American dream. … We need politicians and regulators to implement simple rules that don’t require faith in omniscient, micro-managerial government planning.” (Forbes.com, 3/29/10)

In his Cooper Union speech in March 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama said, “Reshuffling bureaucracies should not be an end in itself.”  Instead of protecting taxpayers by crafting reforms that are regulator-proof, Washington Democrats have devised a system that is regulator-reliant.  Republicans believe we should stop endless bailouts for Wall Street and reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government mortgage companies that sparked the meltdown by giving high-risk loans to people who couldn’t afford it. For more information on the House Republican plan, click here.

UPDATE – Malkin: All the president’s Goldman Sachs men – LINK

Rick Santelli blasts lack of Fannie Mae reform, the TARP rip-off, government lies and corruption

Rick Santelli confirms IUSB Vision editor Chuck Norton’s analysis from long ago Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest problems in the mortgage industry are not being reformed, the feds are dumping billions into them and they are still getting their fat bonuses at taxpayer expense.

Santelli also points out that the TARP program was a rip off, a bait & switch. They promised to use the money to buy up toxic assets and instead used the money instead to buy control of banks and pick winners and losers in the banking industry. Bank A would get TARP money, bank B would not, bank A buys bank B and gives 5 million to ACORN or another arm of the Democratic Party. Welcome to politics Chicago style.

The Proof: Links (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,)

More Obama Administration Ethics issues – White House Lowers Lobbying Restrictions – Breaking Campaign Promise Again

Obama ran on reducing the influence of lobbyists, he ran commercials criticizing McCain for having former lobbyists working for him campaign while having active lobbyists working on his own (LINK).

The following numbered links are just a sample of the lobbying coverage we have delivered about it’s influence on this administration: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18].

The Hill Magazine:

In a significant change, the Obama administration will now allow lobbyists to meet and have telephonic discussions with government officials regarding economic recovery projects.

The lifting of the ban comes after K Street has cried foul for months and has challenged the White House on its restrictions. …

Now, the just-revised rules will allow government personnel to accept meetings and calls from federally registered lobbyists on the implementation of stimulus projects. The head of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, issued a new guidance late Friday regarding the administration’s communications with registered lobbyists about economic recovery funds.

This administration is six months old and Michelle Malkin already had enough info to write a 400 page book about the kickbacks and corruption that has gone on.

Michelle Malkin:

Bully boys: A brief history of White House thuggery

Just finished up on the Today Show, where I had a quick chance to briefly expose the Culture of Corruptionin the age of Obama. My syndicated column today adds to the dossier with a round-up of fresh Bully Boy moments.

It’s the Chicago way.

Six months into the Obama administration, it should now be clear to all Americans: Hope and Change came to the White House wrapped in brass knuckles.

Ask the Congressional Budget Office. Last week, President Obama spilled the beans on the Today Show that he had met with CBO director Douglas Elmendorf – just as the number-crunchers were casting ruinous doubt on White House cost-saving claims. Yes, question the timing. The CBO is supposed to be a neutral score-keeper – not a water boy for the White House. But when the meeting failed to stop the CBO from issuing more analysis undercutting the health care savings claims, Obama’s budget director Peter Orszag played the heavy.

Orszag warned the CBO in a public letter that it risked feeding the perception that it was “exaggerating costs and underestimating savings.” Message: Leave the number-fudging to the boss. Capiche?

President Obama issued an even more explicit order to unleash the hounds on Blue Dog Democrats during his health care press conference. “Keep up the heat” translated into Organizing for America/Democrat National Committee attack ads on moderate Democrats who have revolted against Obamacare’s high costs and expansive government powers over medical decisions.

Looks like there won’t be a health care beer summit any time soon.

The CBO and the Blue Dogs got off easy compared to inspectors generals targeted by Team Obama goons. Gerald Walpin, the former Americorps inspector general was slimed as mentally incompetent (“confused” and “disoriented”) after blowing the whistle on several cases of community service tax fraud, including the case of Obama crony Kevin Johnson. As I’ve reported previously, Johnson’s the NBA star-turned-Sacramento Democrat mayor who ran a federally-funded non-profit group employing AmeriCorps volunteers that were exploited to perform campaign work for Johnson and provided personal services (car washes, errands) to Johnson and his staff.

Walpin filed suit last week to get his job back – and to defend the integrity and independence of inspector generals system-wide. But he faces hardball tactics from both the West Wing and the East Wing, where First Lady Michelle Obama has been intimately involved in personnel decisions at AmeriCorps, according to youth service program insiders.

At the Environmental Protection Agency, top Obama officials muzzled veteran researcher Alan Carlin, who dared to question the conventional wisdom on global warming. The economist with a physics degree was trashed as a non-scientist know-nothing.

Be sure to follow the link and read the rest of her latest column.

Norton’s First Law in Action: How Philip Morris benefits from new tobacco regulation & taxes.

Tim Carney at the Washington Examiner has a very informative column on why it is that the biggest players in an industry like more regulation and taxes.

Philip Morris, openly and without qualification, backs Kennedy’s and Waxman’s bills to heighten regulation of tobacco.

Philip Morris stands to benefit from this regulation in many ways. First, all regulation adds to overhead, and thus falls more heavily on smaller firms. Second, restrictions on advertising help Philip Morris’ Marlboro, a brand everyone already knows, by keeping lesser-known brands in the shadows. (Existing restrictions on advertising have already helped Philip Morris in this regard, with an added benefit spelled out in Altria’s annual report: “Marketing and selling expenses were lower, reflecting regulatory restrictions on advertising and promotion activities. … ”)

Finally, if the bill passes and the FDA gets added control over the industry, Philip Morris, more than any of its competitors, will have access to those bureaucrats and agency heads making the decisions. For all these reasons, RJ Reynolds and other tobacco companies oppose the bills Kennedy and Waxman are pushing.

This is exactly why ‘Corporatism’ and ‘POLITICAL MARKET ECONOMICS’ is hardest on the poor and middle class consumer.

For those of you who don’t know, corporatism is political market economics on steroids. Political market economics is not like regular market economics which is a meritocracy (where you make the best product at the best price for consumers), in political market economics the goal is to manipulate and lobby regulators and politicians to tilt the rules in your favor, which in turn enriches politicians by donations.

This brings us to Norton’s First Law:

Big business loves big government, which is why big business loves domestic taxes and regulation because it keeps the small and medium sized competition out of the competition. It also causes inflation, so ultimately it is you who pays and the poor who are hardest hit. (Big business often gets loopholes written in the laws for themselves such as Nancy Pelosi trying to get a part of the tuna industry exempted from the minimum wage law).

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paying $210 million in bonuses with your money and no outrage why…..

…bacause Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac kick back huge amounts of money to lobbyists and Democrats its silly.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two corrupt government sponsored mortgage enterprises that were the lion share cause of the global economic meltdown will pay out $210 million in bonuses with your money.

As we reported earlier, Fannie and Freddie were used to launder hundreds of millions of dollars back to mostly partisan Democratic groups and politicians which is why the Democrats blocked any meaningful mortgage reform since 2001.

Democrats put language in the ‘Stimulus Bill’ to protect AIG executive bonuses. Dodd and Obama were the number one recipients of money from AIG. Distraction in full swing & Congress’ plan to tax the bonuses at 100% wont pass constitutional muster. – UPDATE: Shep Smith goes off on Congress.

[Before we get in to the goods one thought; what would be the reaction by the Democrats and the elite media be if Bush was still president. – Editor]

This issue is a big distraction and being milked by both sides; but before we get to that lets get to the big news.

Chris Dodd was for the executive bonuses before he was against them.

Senator Chriss Dodd, who was also the number one recipient of campaign cash the corrupt mortgage industry and the member of Congress most responsible for blocking mortgage industry reform since 2001, is also the number one recipient of cash from AIG taking in $103,100 in the 2008 election cycle alone with Barack Obama taking in $101, 332. Like the defunct mortgage industry, AIG gave over three times the donations to Democrats than to Republicans  – LINK.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Senator Dodd’s chances for reelection is in jeopardy.

Democrats inserted the language specifically allowing this in the ‘Stimulus Bill” while Republicans were locked out of conference negotiations, it was called the Dodd Amendment; he first denied this and now admits it and now is trying to spin his way out of it.

Fox Business News:

While the Senate was constructing the $787 billion stimulus last month, Dodd added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. The provision, now called “the Dodd Amendment” by the Obama Administration, provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009” — which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are now seeking to tax.

Ok so they sneaked it in and got caught, so the outrage and threats to tax those bonuses at 100% is a show for the press and for you and me. Why?

1. The bonuses are a part of legal contracts so if AIG doesn’t pay them they will be taken to court and forced to pay the bonuses as well as punitive damages and other fees.

2. The Constitution of the United States prohibits the government from interfering with a legal contract. The argument can be made that taxing those bonuses at 100% or a very high rate is an effort to get around that constitutional restriction and they would be right.

3. The Constitution prohibits what are called “Bills of Attainder”. A bill of attainder is a law passsed by congress to punish an individual or a group of people are an imagined crime or wrong doing. This violates a right to a trial and due process of law. Making a special tax for those bonuses now is a bill of attainder and the courts are not going to stand for it.

4. The only way to really solve this is to make new laws for the future or for the industry to reform itself.

Those bonuses are likely to stick and any attempt by Congress to take that money is almost certainly doomed to fail in court. Congress knows this, but like the Rush Limbaugh smear story, the Rick Santelli and Jim Cramer smear stories, these cat fights are distractions that keep the real news from getting to you.

Now both sides are trying to “out outrage the other”. Republicans are talking up outrage against AIG when they should be outraging at Democrats who helped to make sure this could happen with the language in the Stimulus Bill. The mortgage industry scandal shows us that much of the Democratic Party leadership is in Wall Street’s back pocket and this scandal is just more reason to come to that conclusion.

Michelle Malkin comments HERE.

UPDATE – Video: Shep Smith goes OFF on this pure show and deception & tells you what we have told you from minute one.

As we told you this AIG media and political frenzy is about two things, a distractions that the Democrats screwed up, and a distraction from the fact that Democrats have been getting money funneled back to their campaigns from AIG, Wall Street firms and the mortgage industry. The video:

UPDATE II – CBS news decided not to mention the Dodd Amendment in its coverage…is anyone surprised? – LINK

Top 20 Industry Money Recipients This Election Cycle – Who is in the back pocket of Wall Street?

Special thanks to Hotair.com and the Center for Responsive Politics

Rank	Industry	Total	Dem Pct	GOP Pct	Top Recipient
1	Lawyers/Law Firms	$98,597,946	77%	23%	Barack Obama (D)
2	Retired	$87,981,764	54%	46%	John McCain (R)
3	Securities/Invest	$51,518,351	66%	34%	Barack Obama (D)
4	Real Estate	$49,157,612	58%	42%	Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
5	Health Professionals	$40,912,966	59%	41%	Barack Obama (D)
6	Business Services	$24,315,183	72%	28%	Barack Obama (D)
7	Insurance	$23,590,145	52%	48%	John McCain (R)
8	Education	$22,349,149	86%	14%	Barack Obama (D)
9	Misc Finance	$21,806,405	55%	45%	Barack Obama (D)
10	TV/Movies/Music	$19,482,429	77%	23%	Barack Obama (D)
11	Commercial Banks	$18,193,119	52%	48%	Barack Obama (D)
12	Lobbyists	$17,856,514	56%	44%	Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
13	Leadership PACs	$17,605,244	43%	57%	Susan Collins (R-Maine)
14	Computers/Internet	$16,770,408	68%	32%	Barack Obama (D)
15	Misc Business	$16,515,455	63%	37%	Barack Obama (D)
16	Democratic/Liberal	$14,047,626	100%	0%	Barack Obama (D)
17	Pharm/Health Prod	$13,602,297	54%	46%	Barack Obama (D)
18	Oil & Gas	$12,226,945	28%	72%	John McCain (R)
19	Electric Utilities	$12,002,662	51%	49%	Barack Obama (D)
20	Hospitals/Nurs Homes	$11,414,610	67%	33%	Barack Obama (D)

Who is in the back pocket of Wall Street?

Corruption You Can Believe In: Failed Sub Primes and Mortgage Fraud Lenders Funneled Money to Dodd & Obama the Most. Fannie & Freddie Gave $200 Million to Partisans-Most Went to Democrats! Dodd, Obama Among Top Recipients. Republicans Attempted to Pass Reforms-Blocked by Democrat Leadership!

This story has gotten a bit large and complex – the best bet is to scroll down to where it says “Original Story” – start there and read the updates as numbered in order – Editor

Congress yanked the oil company CEO’s in front of a committee to grill them so why not Fannie Mae?Answer: Franklin Raines, James Johnson, Jamie Gorelick etc… they are all Clinton political appointees.

This story keeps yeielding more information. Every facet of the mortgage crisis story, who benefited and who is lying can be found HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.  Be sure to scroll down where it says “Original Story” and then read the updates in order- Editor

***** HERE IS THE ORIGINAL STORY*****

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Country-Wide, Lehman Brothers and the list goes on. All corrupt and all were able to keep federal regulators at bay till the end. So how did they do it? Well the first way you do it is lobby to keep Congress off your back and pay them enough to run interference for you. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gave $200 million to politicians and partisan organizations with the vast majority going to Democrats and left wing think tanks. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) (By the way Dodd is the Chair of the Senate Banking and Housing Committee and was given a sweetheart loan from Country Wide), Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton being the top recipients. In some cases Senator Chuck Schumer is in the list as well.

While this is certainly a bi-partisan scandal, it is not a balanced one. Those who benefited the most by far are top Congressional Democrats like Dodd and Obama and left wing organizations.

First – Let’s start with the first article about this that appeared in the IUSB Vision HERE. Read it then come back.

Second – Here is the list of politicians that Fannie and Freddie donated to. Just below is the list of the top 12 Senators who received money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which YOU paid for:

Dodd, Christopher J	S	CT	D	$165,400	$48,500	$116,900
Obama, Barack	S	IL	D	$126,349	$6,000	$120,349
Kerry, John	S	MA	D	$111,000	$2,000	$109,000
Bennett, Robert F	S	UT	R	$107,999	$71,499	$36,500
Bond, Christopher S ‘Kit’	S	MO	R	$95,400	$64,000	$31,400
Shelby, Richard C	S	AL	R	$80,000	$23,000	$57,000
Reed, Jack	S	RI	D	$78,250	$43,500	$34,750
Reid, Harry	S	NV	D	$77,000	$60,500	$16,500
Clinton, Hillary	S	NY	D	$76,050	$8,000	$68,050
Conrad, Kent	S	ND	D	$64,491	$22,000	$42,491
Johnson, Tim	S	SD	D	$61,000	$20,000	$41,000
Carper, Tom	S	DE	D	$55,889	$31,350	$24,539

Nine Democrats and three Republicans. Folks this is why we need people who are willing to take on some in their own party. Obama told us that he was going to be different, that he wasn’t the same old politics as usual. Not only is he more of the same, he is among the WORST and most flagrant of the same. Quasi-governmental organizations should NOT be engaging in any partisan activity period. It is easy to see who their favorite party and candidates are.

In the bail out bill that was passed by Congress, Republican Senator Jim DeMint from South Carolina tried to offer an amendment to prevent taxpayer subsidized quasi-corporations like Fannie and Freddie from abusing the public trust by slicking the palms of politicians. The Democratic Leader Harry Reid refused to allow the amendment up for a vote (Link).

Now Let’s move to Lehmen Brothers Here is the List. Here is the top 12 recipients of money in the Senate

Clinton, Hillary	S	NY	D	$409,980	$3,000	$406,980
Obama, Barack	S	IL	D	$395,574	$0	$395,574
Schumer, Charles E	S	NY	D	$181,450	$25,500	$155,950
Dodd, Christopher J	S	CT	D	$165,800	$25,400	$140,400
Lieberman, Joe	S	CT	I	$165,450	$10,000	$155,450
Kerry, John	S	MA	D	$151,664	$0	$151,664
McCain, John	S	AZ	R	$145,100	$1,000	$144,100
Lugar, Richard G	S	IN	R	$37,250	$12,000	$25,250
Reed, Jack	S	RI	D	$37,100	$7,500	$29,600
Lautenberg, Frank R	S	NJ	D	$34,100	$1,000	$33,100
Biden, Joseph R Jr	S	DE	D	$33,700	$0	$33,700
Feinstein, Dianne	S	CA	D	$32,100	$24,000	$8,100

Of the top 12, only two are Republicans. Take a special look at the top two, who took over double the amounts of cash than those immediately below them. John McCain is on the list but lets take history as a guide, Charles Keating, the wealthy banker, tried to buy influence with John McCain and it didn’t help him much did it? It is easy to see who their favorite party and candidates are.

J. Brown at the famed Politically Drunk Blog has been poring over the donations by these groups has this to say:

Obama has also accepted campaign contributions from dozens of Lehman Brothers Executives, such as CEO Richard Fuld ($2,300), President Joseph Gregory ($4,600) and dozens of other top Lehman Executives. On June 19th, Lehman shareholders filed suit against Fuld and Gregory for the company’s exposure in the subprime market…

Theodore Janulis– Bundler (over $50,000) & Lehman Brothers Head of Global Mortgages
Francisco Borges– Bundler (over $50,000) and Chairman of Landmark Partners a private equity real estate firm.
Nadja Fidelia– Bundler (over $50,000) & Managing Director of Lehman brothers
John Rhea– Bundler & Co-head of Lehman Brothers Global Investment Banking

The listing of contributions flowing in from Financial Institutions through Senator Obama’s career is short of amazing. There are currently dozens upon dozens of Senior Vice Presidents, Managing Directors, and other top level executives from firms such as Lehman Brothers, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, UBS, DeutscheBank, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and other high profile Wall Street banks and funds mired in the mortgage meltdown.

Obamahas been relentless in his attacks upon the “evil” Wall Street executives that he has blamed for the ongoing fallout from the mortgage crisis, positioning himself on a “moralhigh ground”. The reality is that while Obamahas been slapping the mortgage companies andinvestment banks with one hand, he has had his other hand in their wallet.

It gets worse– In addition, Obama has received tens of millions of dollars from Law firms and attorneys specializing in Corporate representation:

Those who are familiar with Sidley Austin LLP understand that the firm is a large, international law firm with a large presence within the financial services and insurance industry. For instance, the firm was just recognized by Alpha Magazine as the top firm for Hedge Funds for the secondyear along with consistently ranking as a top corporate law firm. Obama has also accepted more than $280,000 from Skadden, Arp, et al… employees, a firm that was recently recognized as the “Best Corporate Law Firm In The United States” for the eighth consecutive year by Corporate Board Member. Skadden is another large Law firm specializing in practices related to investment banking and representing clients such as Merrill Lynch. In addition to the aforementioned law firms, Jones Day, Latham & Watkins, & Wilmerhale LLP are all large law firms and top 20 contributors to the Obama campaign. All three of these law firms also specialize in corporate law and ranking among the top ten “corporate law firms” by the Corporate Board Member.

It still gets worse –  read HERE & HERE .

This is the kind of stuff Governor Palin put an end to in Alaska with the energy company influence and corruption.

UPDATE: McCain Speaks – Blames the very system that we are exposing here – While Obama blames Bush & McCain for this…..Hotair.com posts the transcript: 

Palin Speaks: Our regulatory Structure needs a complete overhaul. John McCain and I are going to put an end to this. No more multi-million dollar payouts and golden parachutes to those who violate the public trust. Blames lobbyist rules. The old oil monopoly that controlled my state, I broke it and the good ole’ boy network of lobbyists and special interests that used to run things up there, what ever they are running now it’s NOT the state of Alaska:  

UPDATE II – Barack Obama campaign economic adviser James Johnson led a fierce lobbying campaign to fight reform of Freddie and Fannie. Link Here & Here and thanks to Instapundit for the headsup. Johnson is a former executive of Fannie Mae and Lehman Brothers…

Instapundit: “So it would appear that this is precisely what Obama has been railing against: Washington insiders lining the pockets of other Washington insiders while the taxpayers ultimately have to foot the bill. The Agent of Change, it seems, didn’t exactly walk the walk on this one.”

UPDATE III: Megan McArdle at The Atlantic Magazine slams Obama for blaming this on Bush calling it “High-test Hooey”. Megan’s analysis is a good one, but I wish she addressed the influence peddling issue I addressed, because that is a part of this problem. Malkin comments HERE.

UPDATE IV: Hillarious Bias! Huffington Post and New York Times go all out saying that people from the “failed bank” Merrill Lynch were some of McCain’s top contributors. REALITY CHECK – Merrill Lynch didn’t fail, it was bought. What they fail to mention is the information in this post, which shows Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Lehmen Brothers – all of which did fail – all had a favorite candidate that they lined with cash before they went under and that was Barack Obama. HERE is the link to the NYT story.

UPDATE V: Obama Lied. Bush tried to get a Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae regulatory overhaul in 2003 – Democrats stopped it!

New York Times Excerpt:

September 11, 2003
New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
By STEPHEN LABATON
The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

”The current regulator does not have the tools, or the mandate, to adequately regulate these enterprises,” Mr. Oxley said at the hearing. ”We have seen in recent months that mismanagement and questionable accounting practices went largely unnoticed by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight,” the independent agency that now regulates the companies.

”These irregularities, which have been going on for several years, should have been detected earlier by the regulator,” he added.

”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ”The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

Hat Tip to Hotair.com for the heads up on this 2003 piece. They comment further on this HERE. It is no secret that the Democrats and the Clinton Administration pushed mortgage lendors to make more high risk loans for “affordable housing” to help prop up the economy. Former Clinton Sec. of Labor Robert B. Reich has been making some talk show rounds saying the same thing and being critical of that policy. Hotair sounded off on this NYT story HERE.

UPDATE VI: Look who was minding the store!

David Frum reports for the National Post:

The two institutions have long been run not by bankers but by retired political figures, predominantly Democrats. From 1991 to 1998, Fannie Mae was headed by James Johnson, a longtime aide to former Democratic vice president Walter Mondale. Johnson’s successor, Franklin Raines, had served as budget director to Bill Clinton. Jamie Gorelick, vice chair of Fannie Mae from 1998 to 2003, served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration.

These figures have paid themselves impressive private-sector salaries. Johnson earned US$21-million in just his last year at Fannie Mae. Raines earned US$90-million for five years’ work at Fannie Mae. Gorelick got US$26-million.

Franklin Raines was Clinton’s former UMB Director, is a former CEO of Fannie May, was paid a total of $90 MILLION for his tenure at Fannie May, who was forced to resign due to a $6.3 billion accounting debacle he oversaw in 2004, and James Johnson former Vice-Chair of Fannie Mae and Managing Director of Lehman Brothers….. Raines and Johnson are the current economic advisors for Barack Obama. Raines was in charge when most of these high risk, sub prime rate loans were being given away; the primary catalyst to Fannie Mae’s collapse. The people who oversaw the Country-Wide scandal were working for Obama as well. Here is a New York Times article with some good info on Raines.

In the mean Time Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that “the Democrats bear no responsibility for the current crisis”. Real nice nancy – too bad the public record overwhelmingly proves otherwise.

UPDATE VII: CONGRESS KNEW – McCain Tried to Fix Fannie Mae in 2005 – Democrats Blocked!

This is huge folks.

CONGRESS KNEW – Here is an OFHEO report form 2006 that warned of what was coming. McCain mentions this report (in a pre-release version) in his remarks. Here is a summary from the OFHEO saying:

The report details an arrogant and unethical corporate culture where Fannie Mae employees manipulated accounting and earnings to trigger bonuses for senior executives from 1998 to 2004.

A large number of Fannie Mae’s accounting policies and practices did not comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The Enterprise also had serious problems of internal control, financial reporting, and corporate governance. Those errors resulted in Fannie Mae overstating reported income and capital by a currently estimated $10.6 billion.

Here is McCain’s Bill and Statements:

S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005
A bill to address the regulation of secondary mortgage market enterprises, and for other purposes. Here is the text of the bill.

Sen. Charles Hagel [R-NE]
Sen. Elizabeth Dole [R-NC]
Sen. John McCain [R-AZ]
Sen. John Sununu [R-NH]

So now we know that at least TWICE Republicans saw this coming and tried to fix it, and twice the Democrats blocked it and what did Barack Obama and Joe Biden do to fix this – NOTHING.

HERE is the link to McCains remarks on the floor of the Senate. Here is an excerpt and read it CAREFULLY:

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) (2005) Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were “illusions deliberately and systematically created” by the company’s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s former chief executive officer, OFHEO’s report shows that over half of Mr. Raines’ compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator’s examination of the company’s accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.

Lot’s of blogs did some great research on this issue.
Hotair.com – Beltwaysnark.com – Hey Look National Review caught up with us today (we like you guys).

UPDATE VIII: McCain goes off on Obama for lying about the record
Hat Tip Hotair.com

UPDATE IX: What is hilarious is that the Obama Campaign is now saying that Raines never advised or worked for the campaign. The press has reported that these guys (Raines and Johnson) have been with Obama for months, it is well known. An Obama Campaign spokesman just said on The Fox Report with Shep Smith that these guys “don’t exist”. Is the elite media so in the tank that they won’t blast Obama for this obvious whopper?? We will see.

Hotair.com puts this latest Obama lie to bed and is laughing at the Obama Campaign’s denial:

Here are a few articles of interest about Raines from the Washington Post:

• March 2005: Perverse executive pay forced Raines out of his job.
• May 2006: Extensive fraud at Fannie Mae under Raines’ direction, generating over $50 million in bonuses for nonexistent growth.
• April 2008: Raines gives up $24 million in future payouts to avoid criminal charges in Fannie Mae fraud, although most of that was in worthless options; he pays $2 million in cash.

Note that Raines continued to advise Obama even after that settlement.  It’s not as though Obama didn’t know Raines’ past.  Apparently, he just didn’t care.

Washington Post:

• 7/16/08: “In the four years since he stepped down as Fannie Mae’s chief executive under the shadow of a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself. He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case’s D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health-care companies and more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.”
• 8/28/08: “In the current crisis, their biggest backers have been Democrats such as Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (Mass.). Two members of Mr. Obama’s political circle, James A. Johnson and Franklin D. Raines, are former chief executives of Fannie Mae.“

Team Obama never objected to this reporting before tonight.  Jim Johnson will almost certainly get the next starring role in a McCain ad, and what will Obama have to say about the man he originally tapped to pick his running mate?

UPDATE X: McCain’s new “Raines and Johnson” ads and new Washington Post chicanery trying to cover for Obama on this mess – Details HERE. Excerpt teaser:

While John McCain tried to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Obama took boatloads of their money.  While Obama talked reform and demonized CEOs, he took as advisers the very people responsible for Fannie Mae’s failure.  Which candidate will bring change, and which will bring more of the same?

UPDATE XI: McCain points the economic probblems out as the influence peddling scandal that it is. Our analysis was spot on and ahead of the curve. McCain:

“We’ve heard a lot of words from Senator Obama over the course of this campaign. But maybe just this once he could spare us the lectures, and admit to his own poor judgment in contributing to these problems. The crisis on Wall Street started in the Washington culture of lobbying and influence peddling, and he was square in the middle of it.”

After you are done reading the article and the updates, I have written a long term history of how this scandal came about in steps, and it’s in plain English HERE.

UPDATE XII: Bloomberg Financial News gives a similar analysis to ours today (Monday Sept.22) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_hassett&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0

UPDATE XIII: Brit Hume covered this story on Sept 23 and came to the same conclusion as we did here at IUSB Vision.

The Republicans, in a bill co-sponsored by John McCain (see HERE), tried to change the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac oversight regulations to those that are used by bank regulators (now they answer to the banking committee’s in Congress that set up a small agency to report to the committee’s so Congress KNEW this was coming and have for years). The bill to change the oversight rules was killed in a party line vote with Democrats against it. Alan Greenspan testified in favor of the bill (transcript HERE) and warned:

If we fail to strengthen GSE regulation, we increase the possibility of insolvency and crisis. … As I concluded last year, the GSEs need a regulator with authority on a par with banking regulators, with a free hand to set appropriate capital standards, and with a clear and credible process sanctioned by the Congress for placing a GSE in receivership, where the conditions under which debt holders take losses are made clear.

Hotair.com has the following commentary:

By special request of Ace. Nothing here you haven’t read and/or heard before, but Fox deserves a little publicity for being willing to challenge the narrative. Especially now that we’re about to be told it’s McCain’s campaign manager and his lobbyist pals, not the Democrats they lobbied who actually cast the votes, who are the real culprits in all this. The FBI: Doing the (after-the-fact) oversight job Congress wouldn’t.

UPDATE XIV: Bloomberg News covered the story again with video and gives similar information as we have already given you here.

UPDATE XV: Fox updated the story and has a devastating new report. The Report mirrors the investigation IUSB Vision Published HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. Hotair.com comments on this new report from Fox HERE.