Earmarkwatch.org. Via Lessig.
Category: Politics
Inside Wal-Mart’s Bid to Slash State Taxes – Our Political Class at Work
Legislative sausage supported by our elected officials only makes these “loopholes” worse. Here’s an example that both Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl supported – a 5.25% offshore earnings tax rate for major corporations. More here. Another example of special interest legislation.
The Subprime Collapse Didn’t Start Bothering the Bush Administration until Wall Street Bankers Started Whimpering
When individual borrowers began to suffer, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson didn’t seem overly concerned. The market would clear out the problem through the foreclosure process. Loans would get written off; properties would change hands and be resold. When upstart subprime mortgage lenders ran into trouble, Bernanke and Paulson shrugged again. The market would clear out the problem through the bankruptcy process. Subprime companies like New Century Financial filed for Chapter 11, others liquidated or restructured, and loans made to the lenders were written down. Meanwhile, Paulson and Bernanke assured us that the subprime mess was contained.
But as the summer turned to fall, and the next several shoes dropped, their attitude changed. And that is because the next group of unfortunates to fall victim to subprime woes were massive banks. In recent years, banks in New York, London, and other financial capitals set up off-balance-sheet funding vehicles called SIVs, or conduits. The entities borrow money at low interest rates for short periods, say 30 to 90 days, and use the funds to buy longer-term debt that pays higher interest rates. To stay in business, the conduits must continually roll over the short-term debt. But as they searched for higher yields, some conduits stuffed themselves with subprime-mortgage-backed securities. And when lenders became alarmed at the declining value of those holdings, they were reluctant to roll over the debt. Banks thus faced a choice. They could either raise cash by dumping the already-depressed subprime junk onto the market, or bring the conduits onto their balance sheets and assure short-term lenders they’d get paid back.
Related: Credit Risk is Rising Again.
Morning Workout Zeitgeist, or “Let’s turn the Capitol into a Casino/Waterpark”
Props to the early morning workout group for this inspiration.
On Political Corruption
Larry Lessig turns his attention to political corruption. Video. Well worth watching.
Mayor Bloomberg’s Manifesto
Mayor Bloomberg, aka Mayor Mike, made a few important points that are as relevant to business as to government yesterday in his Keynote Address at the Economist’s Conference on The Future of New York City as the World’s Business Hub.
1) A Mayor (or any leader) cannot be short term focused nor obsessed with photo opportunities. One has to be as excited about completing a new water tunnel for the City as about glamorous new buildings in Lower Manhattan. Infrastructure upgrades cannot wait; his Administration put more money into the water tunnel project than the five previous mayors combined.
Prosecutor Over-Reaching
Dee Hall covers an issue vital to our democracy – over zealous prosecutors:
A Wisconsin State Journal investigation, however, found instances in which court records and transcripts back up his critics’ claims that he has crossed ethical lines. Stretching back to the early 1990s, Humphrey has been the subject of criticism accusing him of ethical lapses, poor judgment and unreasonably aggressive tactics. Critics have included defendants, defense attorneys, judges and three of the four district attorneys who’ve supervised him.
The State Journal examined more than 2,000 pages of documents, including records from Humphrey’s office files obtained under the open-records law. The newspaper also interviewed more than two dozen attorneys, judges, defendants, legal experts and law-enforcement officials.
The newspaper’s investigation found that the veteran prosecutor:
— Wrongfully kept a young man in the Dane County Jail for a month, even after he was repeatedly notified of the error.
— Made false or misleading statements in affidavits, in correspondence and in court hearings to advance his case or to cover up mistakes.
— Charged two witnesses and had a third arrested for failing to show up for trials that had been cancelled — a tactic his boss had warned him was “an abuse of your authority.”
— Aggressively pursued seven felony charges against a bankrupt father who was $2,846 behind in child support — a prosecution the judge said should “make one wonder about the integrity of (the) justice system.”
— Twice pursued vehicular-homicide charges using speed estimates his own experts told him were inflated.
One of those cases was Humphrey’s failed prosecution of Adam Raisbeck, a 17-year-old from Marshall. Humphrey’s actions in the case prompted a blunt reprimand from his boss, and the misconduct findings that are headed to the Supreme Court.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan recently expressed concern over “prosecutor’s expansive power”.
France & America
Paris Sunrise: August 2007 (taken while zooming around in a Paris cab driven by a former exchange student – who spent a year on a Iowa dairy farm).
Interesting interview with French President Nicolas Sarkozy:
“I want to tell the American people that the French people are their friends,” he said. “We are not simply allies. We are friends. I am proud of being a friend of the Americans. You know, I am saying this to The New York Times, but I have said it to the French, which takes a little more courage and is a little more difficult. I have never concealed my admiration for American dynamism, for the fluidity of American society, for its ability to raise people of different identities to the very highest levels.”
Mr. Sarkozy, who has been accused of being too enamored of all things American, said he considered France and the United States to be on equal footing and somehow better than many others, because they believe that their values are universal and therefore destined to “radiate” throughout the world. The Germans, the Spaniards, the Italians, the Chinese, by contrast, do not think that way, he said.
I had an opportunity to visit with a French Foreign Legion officer while on travel. This man mentioned that he had served with Americans in many places, including Afghanistan, Bosnia and other locales. I asked him for an impression of America after these interactions (he’s also travelled to the states with family): Resources. He said that when the Americans arrive, they always seem to have incredible resources. An well equipped base can be in service within “days”.
State of Wisconsin Federal Spending Profile
The following tables show aggregated prime contract dollar totals for the state of Wisconsin. Key data elements (agencies, companies, metropolitan areas) are ranked by their FY2006 – FY2007 YTD Totals. All aggregated data is copyrighted by Eagle Eye Publishers, Inc. Tables may not be reproduced without written permission from Eagle Eye.
Parsing Earmarks with Our Entrenched Political Class: David Obey….
John Solomon & Jeffrey Birnbaum:
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) confronted David R. Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, on the House floor in March over this practice, noting that a spending bill then under debate contained $35 million for a risk-mitigation program at a federal space-exploration facility, even though the measure had been certified to contain no earmarks.
“We have passed some good rules with regard to earmark reform and transparency,” Flake said. “But we have found a way around them already.” Obey said that the provision was not an earmark under the rules. “An earmark is something that is requested by an individual member,” Obey said. “This item was not requested by any individual member; it was put in the bill by me.”
Two months later, Obey again rebuffed Flake when Flake pointed out that a supposedly earmark-free bill on the House floor contained an allocation of $8.7 million to ward off floods in New York. The provision was not called an earmark, Flake noted, but Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.) put out a news release applauding the provision and its potential benefit to her district.
Much more on earmarks, here.