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Geithner’s Final Trick: Bye Bye Dodd-Frank, Volcker Rule

"Late Friday, just before the sleepy Thanksgiving week when most Americans turn their sights to turkey, Geithner finally got around to dressing [down] his own turkey: Dodd-Frank. DF is the financial regulatory monster which will create havoc over the entire financial industry, with new rules and regulations. But not for FOG (Friends of Geithner). With a quiet pen stroke, Geithner exempted $410.8 trillion, or 64%, of the entire OTC derivatives market from impending clamp-downs, which mostly benefits FOG." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGeithner’s Final Trick: Bye Bye Dodd-Frank, Volcker Rule

Carnegie Mellon University trustee accused of laundering millions for drug cartel

"Marco Antonio Delgado, a prominent Texas attorney and former trustee at Carnegie Mellon University, appeared in an El Paso court on Thursday to face charges that he conspired with a Mexican drug cartel to launder more than $600 million. The Department of Homeland Security did not name the cartel he’s accused of working with, but said that he conspired to launder the money from 2007-2008. His biography on Carnegie Mellon University said that Delgado was on leave and working for incoming Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, although Nieto’s aides denied any association." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCarnegie Mellon University trustee accused of laundering millions for drug cartel

Fed delays Basel III bank capital buffer rules

"U.S. regulators on Friday delayed the effective date of a global agreement on greater bank capital buffers reached in response to the financial crisis of 2008. The rule delay could help big banks such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. who must ultimately comply with the rules, as well as smaller banks who also will have to meet the requirements. The largest 19 U.S. bank holding companies would have a capital shortfall of $50 billion, if the Basel III capital buffer rules proposed Thursday were to be made effective immediately, a Fed official said in June." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFed delays Basel III bank capital buffer rules

The Bush Dynasty Continues

"Prescott was a Skull & Bones alumni, like his son H.W. and grandson W. The Bush's have been part of the CIA (H.W.), Governors (W. & Jeb), Vice-President (H.W.), and Presidents (H.W. & W.). In other words, when it comes to wielding political power, this family has got it! They've got the Medici touch. It also appears that yet another Bush is about to enter the political fray: George P. Bush, son of Jeb and nephew of W." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Bush Dynasty Continues

Government foreclosure audit held off on looking at largest banks

"A recent study found a big reason for the program’s failure was that, despite all its rules, it didn’t change the behavior of the biggest banks. The banks did a poor job of modifying loans before HAMP was launched and weren’t much better after. To oversee the program, the Treasury awarded Freddie Mac a $209 million contract to be the program’s watchdog. Freddie Mac formed a group, called Making Home Affordable - Compliance, or MHA-C for short, but it got off to an inauspicious start. Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment foreclosure audit held off on looking at largest banks

Crony Capitalists: The Biggest Winners From President Obama’s Re-Election

"Ultimately the biggest winners may be those who finance municipal and state debt. Owing his election to the fiscal failures of New York, Illinois and California, Obama could have to use his executive power to forestall looming bankruptcies at the local and even state level. Ironically the biggest winner here in the crony capitalist sweepstakes will be firms like Goldman Sachs, who turned so vehemently against Obama, but have historically made much of their money on financing government operations. Some people never seem to lose no matter what the result of the election." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCrony Capitalists: The Biggest Winners From President Obama’s Re-Election

Paul Craig Roberts: The Special Interests Won Again

"Washington is controlled by powerful interest groups, not by elections. What the two parties fight over is not alternative political visions and different legislative agendas, but which party gets to be the whore for Wall Street, the military-security complex, Israel Lobby, agribusiness, and energy, mining, and timber interests. Being the whore is important, because whores are rewarded for the services that they render. To win the White House or a presidential appointment is a career-making event as it makes a person sought after by rich and powerful interest groups. What is curious is that voters don’t understand how politics really works." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: The Special Interests Won Again

Stewart: 2 years and $3 billion later, U.S. in ‘same place we were’ before election

"Jon Stewart pointed out that for all of the fuss and expense of the 2012 election, the U.S. has ended up in virtually the exact same political situation as it was two years ago. After announcing Democratic victories in Massachusetts and Missouri, as well as the results of the presidential race, Stewart said, 'Once again, just let me very quickly announce this: House of Representatives, Republican. In the Senate, Democrats, the presidency, Barack Obama, let’s see. Two years, $3 billion and we are clearly in the same place we were when it started.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStewart: 2 years and $3 billion later, U.S. in ‘same place we were’ before election

2012 Election Spending Will Reach $6 Billion, Center for Responsive Politics Predicts

"The 2012 election will not only be the most expensive election in U.S. history, the cost will tower over the next most expensive election by more than $700 million. Earlier this year, the Center for Responsive Politics estimated that the 2012 election would cost $5.8 billion -- an estimate that already made it the most expensive in history -- but with less than a week to go before the election, CRP is revising the estimate upwards. According to CRP’s new analysis of Federal Election Commission data, this election will likely cost $6 billion." Continue reading →

Continue Reading2012 Election Spending Will Reach $6 Billion, Center for Responsive Politics Predicts

New York Fed Cancels Tours of Its Gold Vaults

"Germans are making noises about wanting to audit the gold that is supposedly held for the German government by the New York Federal Reserve Bank in lower Manhattan. The Fed had been giving regular tours of the vault. The New York Fed is in evacuation Zone C in downtown Manhattan. It wasn't flooded. Zone C residents are told to expect storm-surge flooding only from major, category 3 or 4 hurricanes that hit the New York harbor. Yet, the Fed is cancelling tours of its vaults indefinitely 'due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York Fed Cancels Tours of Its Gold Vaults