113th Congress Stocking Stuffer Merry X-Mas

Bills, bills, bills kinda like ringing Christmas bells, what a festive way to end the year but the hour glass is not only running out of time but money to cover a spread.  You can see why the U.S. 113th Congress is so divided for when it comes time to pass one of these layered cake bills the slice has nothing to do with the cake.  Slick way to get crappy legislation passed and bring on even more drama that if not passed, will have to consider government shutdown.

First a look (from the horse's mouth) at how any of this hits the floor of U.S. government. 

Laws begin as ideas. First, a representative sponsors a bill. The bill is then assigned to a committee for study. If released by the committee, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated or amended. If the bill passes by a simple majority (218 of 435), the bill moves to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if released, debated and voted on. Again, a simple majority (51 of 100) passes the bill. Finally, a conference committee made of House and Senate members works out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House and Senate for final approval. The Government Printing Office prints the revised bill in a process called enrolling. The President has 10 days to sign or veto the enrolled bill. (end first a look)

That's our process and works well when an individuals oath to the Republic for which it stands is followed.  Outside of the this is the big picture, influence through large corporations teamed up by an Army of lobbyist.  

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) talks about provisions tucked into the 2015 federal spending bill that would roll back some of the regulations for big banks under the five-year-old Dodd-Frank law. The spending bill was passed by the House December 11 and cleared by the Senate on December 13.

Senator Elizabeth Warren



The Citi-drafted legislation will benefit five of the largest banks in the country—Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. These financial institutions control more than 90 percent of the $700 trillion derivatives market. Most of the concern is associated with OTC derivatives and swaps, which can be used for avoidance of taxation, the outflanking prudential regulation of financial markets and the manipulation of accounting rules, credit ratings and financial reports. 

Fr financialpolicy.org (excellent article, short not even a page and to the point written in 2002) 

Another public interest concern involves transparency. Some derivatives are traded on formal futures and options exchanges which are closely regulated. Other derivatives are traded over-the-counter (OTC) in markets that are almost entirely unregulated. In these non-transparent markets, there is very little information provided by either the private market participants or collected by government regulators. Prices and other trading information in these markets, is not readily available as is the case with futures and options exchanges. Instead, that information is hoarded by each of the market participants. While standard theories of financial markets agree that more transparent markets are more efficient, it requires a public entity to require information be reported and disseminated to the market. (end financialpolicy.org) 

OK, timing is everything and when it comes time for some of these contracts to expire who will be left holding the bag?  One bag for sure is the price of oil ($55 today) and the natives of this over leverage derivative are scrambling.  In a Keiser Report on Dec 13 episode 692 @ 11:44 timestamp Max mentions that for every dollar tied to a barrel of oil, $60,000 in directives are tied to that same barrel and that's just London!  This piece of legislation is yet another warning shot across the bow and even with the backing of the FDIC on the backs of American taxpayers this still won't be enough money.

OCC’s Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities First Quarter 2014 (table 2 below is from the pdf on page 27) 

OTC Derivatives Data Sources (this is a huge market)

    

Government Shutdown a SIGN

This was in an E-mail that's in circulation, you won't have to think on this one.

 Did anyone besides me wonder how they got all those signs printed and distributed far and wide, including to all the national parks and cemeteries overseas only eight to ten hours after the government shut down?  Take a look at this from someone who wanted to remain anonymous.  I have worked in the government on and off for 40 years.  During that time I became quite familiar with requisitions, bidding, awarding contracts etc.   It is a time-consuming process with bean-counters and pencil-necked bureaucrats every step of the way.  The simplest request takes months not days or hours.  In less than 8 hours of the shutdown, miraculously, professionally printed 3X4 foot signs appeared all over the country in the tens of thousands saying this park, facility, etc. with custom logos closed due to a government shutdown.   There has not been a government shutdown in 17 years. These signs were designed, specifications were determined, signs were then requisitioned, bids were posted and vetted, government contracts were awarded. The materials were then ordered and the signs manufactured then distributed U.S. Mails or freight companies.  This shutdown was orchestrated and planned well in advance at least 6-8 months ago.  Millions of tax dollars were appropriated and spent in this process.  There is a paper trail a mile long leading directly to the White House.

Now also look at the date that was chosen for the Shutdown.

October 1   (some history events here?)

"The Execution"

Great soundtrack for the Jack Wagon ways!  Keep your head on straight Pod, this might get tough.  As usual, Congress will work it out in the 11th hour, we're getting tired of that for the simple reason the tax payers can't afford a bird feeder which is a consent feeding.  

coliatheiscool

Diffusing the Debt Bomb- Uncle AL

 Understanding politics takes an Old School Senator and understanding the ship we're on takes a true American who loves this country.  Alan Simpson will explain the fix we are in and how to deal with this mess that comes from both parties of Congress. "The man is not one-sided", even though he is a Republican he pounds on everyone who is not for the nation as a whole.

Uncle AL

From Wikipedia:

Simpson was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 7, 1978, but was appointed to the post early on January 1, 1979, following the resignation of Clifford P. Hansen.  From 1985 to 1995, Simpson was the Republican whip, Assistant Republican Leader in the Senate, having served with then Republican Leader Bob Dole of Kansas.  He was chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee from 1981 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 1997 when Republicans regained control of the Senate. He also chaired the Immigration and Refugee Subcommittee of Judiciary; the Nuclear Regulation Subcommittee; the Social Security Subcommittee and the Committee on Aging.  In 1995, he lost the whip's job to Trent Lott of Mississippi, and he did not seek reelection to the Senate in 1996. From 1997 to 2000, Simpson taught at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and served for two years as the Director of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School.

Simpson returned to his home of Cody and practices law there with his two lawyer sons (William and Colin) in the firm of Simpson, Kepler and Edwards. The three are also partners in the firm of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh and Jardine of Englewood, Colorado.  Colin M. Simpson, the third generation of his family in Wyoming politics, is a Republican former member of the Wyoming House of Representatives who served as Speaker of the House for the 59th session of the Legislature, 2008 to March 2010. He was a candidate for governor, having finished fourth in the primary in 2010.

Simpson is an honorary board member of the humanitarian organization Wings of Hope.  In 2006, Simpson was one of ten members (five Democratic and five Republican) contributors to the Iraq Study Group Report. Simpson was appointed in 2010 to co-chair President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with co-chair Erskine Bowles.  In 2012, he was included in the 50 Most Influential list of Bloomberg Markets magazine.

Introducing Alan Simpson in 46sec

We're tired of the sparrow belch, give 'Em the green weenie Uncle AL!

John Orr



Diffusing The Bomb

The Honorable Alan Simpson, former U.S. senator and co-chairman of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, delivers the keynote address during the Tax and Expenditure Policy Program's conference on spending and tax reform.  For the first time, you will be able to understand politics by listening to this man. 

This video should be archived for all to view who is interested in politics that love this country and for the ones just wanting to know how we got to a government shutdown and dysfunctional Congress.  You're going to find out right NOW!  This hour vid is worth 25 years of an education.

"This is like listening to your Grandfather, the nation's Uncle AL, because you know he gives a rat's behind!"

The Can Kicks Back

BakerInstitute

To NASA from Russia with Love

Pirate Party of Russia

NASA was supposed to be marking its 55th birthday this week, but the US space agency gave furlough notices, not birthday invitations, to nearly all of its 18,000 employees, and began fretting about future missions as funding dried up with the US government shutdown. When a parent dies, when disaster strikes, that's when you know who truly cares. So in a time when its government is shut down, the American people need to know who its friends are. Thankfully, the Russians are yet again standing firm at America's side. Not wanting to see NASA's Web site languishing without the gravity of hosting, some fine Russians have stepped forward and offered their services.

To NASA, USA from Pirate Party of Russia
Dear Madame/Sir,

 "We do care about the situation around your website and the budget crisis in the USA. Thereby we would like to offer you bulletproof collocation or dedicated servers on our hosting platform until the end of the crisis. We stand for Internet privacy, and as the result, you would not have to worry about programs such as PRISM and other illegal activities of secret services of different countries. Your traffic, your activity and the activity of your users will be in safety.
We love Mars!"

Launch The 113th Congress!

You know something this is the worst Congress this county has ever had.  That would be the 113th Congress and high time for NASA and 'We The People" take back our SPACE and fire the 113th Congress.  We're mad as hell and the next possible launch I suggest load them up, both Democrats and Republicans and send them into deep space!

Happy 55th Birthday NASA!
and Thanks Russia, we fly the ISS together.
rightwiththeship