CORPORATIONS WANT IMMIGRATION REFORM
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THE WOODWARD REPORT
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Bloomberg, Murdoch, Other Top CEO’s Team Up To
Lobby for Amnesty for Illegals
THE WOODWARD REPORT
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Bloomberg, Murdoch, Other Top CEO’s Team Up To
Lobby for Amnesty for Illegals
Michael Bloomberg
Chief executives of several major corporations, including Hewlett-Packard, Boeing, Disney and News Corp., are joining Mayor Michael Bloomberg to form a coalition advocating for immigration reform — including a path to legal status for all undocumented immigrants now in the United States.“We’re just going to keep the pressure on the congressmen,” Murdoch said. “I think we can show to the public the benefits of having migrants and the jobs that go with them. ”Bloomberg added, “Somebody has to lead and explain to the country why this is in our interest.”“It’s our great strength as a nation, and it’s also critical for continued economic growth,” Walt Disney Co. Chairman and CEO Robert Iger said in a statement. “To remain competitive in the 21st century, we need effective immigration reform that invites people to contribute to our shared success by building their own American dream.”The group says it intends to make its point to policymakers by “publishing studies, conducting polls, convening forums and paying for public education campaigns.”****
Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope to Tyranny?
BP Got Away With Murder One of the great economists of our time, Thomas Sowell, a Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow at The Hoover Institution of Stanford University, composed the most provocative opinion piece this week titled “Degeneration of Democracy”. In the article Sowell claims, “A democracy needs informed citizens if it is to thrive, or ultimately even survive. In our times, American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes by the current administration in Washington, and few people seem to be concerned about it.” He goes onto ask, “Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? If our laws and our institutions determine that BP ought to pay $20 billion — or $50 billion or $100 billion — then so be it. Our government is supposed to be ‘a government of laws and not of men.’ The Constitution says that private property is not to be confiscated by the government without ‘due process of law’.” Sowell goes on to assert that, “With vastly expanded powers of government available at the discretion of politicians and bureaucrats, private individuals and organizations can be forced into accepting the imposition of powers that were never granted to the government by the Constitution. Without constitutional government, freedom cannot endure.”
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U.S. Lawmakers Finalize Details on Sweeping Financial Reform
Democrats and White House officials finally reached and agreement on the final outline of banking reform legislation. The bill, which is assumed to garner enough support to pass both houses of Congress, is scheduled to be voted on next week. However, the margin is expected to be close in both chambers as the bill is opposed by the majority of Republicans. There are many notable portions of the bill which will transform the structure of the banking industry. There is the "Volcker" rule, which restricts banks from engaging in risky betting on their own funds, a provision developed by Senator Blanche Lincoln which reduces the capacity at which federally insured banks can trade derivatives, oversight authority given to the Securities Exchange Commission allowing them to more strenuously regulate investment banks and hedge funds, and allotted authority given to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to more tightly regulate the derivatives markets.
In an effort to win more widespread support, Democrats restricted the impact of the legislation as applied towards auto dealers, payday lenders, and community banks.
Various Republicans expressed concerns that the bill will induce many unintended consequences restricting the flow of credit and crippling financial markets. "My guess is there are three unintended consequences on every page of this bill," Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas) said of the financial overhaul bill.
Upon passage the banking reform bill will reconstruct the way that capital moves throughout the economy, most notably affecting the way banks package financial products such as derivatives and the process of how people borrow money.
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Democrats and White House officials finally reached and agreement on the final outline of banking reform legislation. The bill, which is assumed to garner enough support to pass both houses of Congress, is scheduled to be voted on next week. However, the margin is expected to be close in both chambers as the bill is opposed by the majority of Republicans. There are many notable portions of the bill which will transform the structure of the banking industry. There is the "Volcker" rule, which restricts banks from engaging in risky betting on their own funds, a provision developed by Senator Blanche Lincoln which reduces the capacity at which federally insured banks can trade derivatives, oversight authority given to the Securities Exchange Commission allowing them to more strenuously regulate investment banks and hedge funds, and allotted authority given to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to more tightly regulate the derivatives markets.
In an effort to win more widespread support, Democrats restricted the impact of the legislation as applied towards auto dealers, payday lenders, and community banks.
Various Republicans expressed concerns that the bill will induce many unintended consequences restricting the flow of credit and crippling financial markets. "My guess is there are three unintended consequences on every page of this bill," Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas) said of the financial overhaul bill.
Upon passage the banking reform bill will reconstruct the way that capital moves throughout the economy, most notably affecting the way banks package financial products such as derivatives and the process of how people borrow money.
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Federal Agencies Still Failing to 'Connect the Dots'
on Security Threats to U.S., Says GAO
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report reveals that national security agencies “do not always share relevant information with their national security partners”.
Over eight year after national security objectives were implemented in order to allow the free flow of information between federal agencies there are still many flaws in the system according to the report. The findings come six months after the infamous Christmas Day bombing incident was acknowledged by President Obama as a gross failure on the part of the intelligence community. At the time Obama had stated that he would “insist on accountability at every level” in regards to the lapse of security.
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on Security Threats to U.S., Says GAO
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report reveals that national security agencies “do not always share relevant information with their national security partners”.
Over eight year after national security objectives were implemented in order to allow the free flow of information between federal agencies there are still many flaws in the system according to the report. The findings come six months after the infamous Christmas Day bombing incident was acknowledged by President Obama as a gross failure on the part of the intelligence community. At the time Obama had stated that he would “insist on accountability at every level” in regards to the lapse of security.
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General McChrystal relieved of command after blasting
Obama's Handling of Afghan War
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan was relieved of his position and replaced by David Petraus after making negative comments about the administrations handling of the war effort in a interview with Rolling Stone. The decision came on Wednesday after Obama summoned the General to Washington to discuss the recent comments. “The conduct does not meet the standards that should be set by a commanding general,” Obama said. “It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the heart of our system.”
Most, if not all of the “derogatory” comments came by way of his top aides. The General himself expressed only that he was frustrated with many aspects of the war that he felt had become politicized and therefore hindered his ability to command a successful war in Afghanistan.
The foreign press, particularly the Russian Newspapers pegged the dismissal of McChrystal as a reaction to their egos being hurt, and not made on the basis of policy. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs claimed the article infuriated the President. In an interview with Russia Today, Paul Craig Roberts, a former Reagan Administration official said “It’s all silly. It just shows how childish the Washington politicians are. All McChrystal was doing was letting off steam, the way military people do. They have to go fight the civilian’s wars. The civilians are too incompetent to use diplomacy and so the military has to go die for the incompetent civilians in the government.”
Roberts went on to attack not only the Obama Administration but many of the prior administrations as well as the entire system of government inside the beltway for their obsession with war. Roberts argued that war is a part of military complex and it continues to keep campaign finances coming in, no matter which general is in command. “Obama is incompetent. I mean, he’s just a bought and paid for lackey. In fact everybody in Washington in the government is a prostitute of one form or another. Of course he’s incompetent. We’ve not had a competent president in a long time But, they are so incompetent, they are so insecure, they’re such babies, they’re really children running the super power. That’s what’s’ frightening, you’ve got children in there with 10,000 nuclear weapons,” said Roberts. In addition to the piece in Russia Today, Russia’s Pravda published a story titled “Words of Truth Leave US Troops in Afghanistan Without Commander” Also, Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave a strong endorsement Tuesday Gen. Stanley McChrystal, describing him as the "best commander" of the war.
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Obama's Handling of Afghan War
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan was relieved of his position and replaced by David Petraus after making negative comments about the administrations handling of the war effort in a interview with Rolling Stone. The decision came on Wednesday after Obama summoned the General to Washington to discuss the recent comments. “The conduct does not meet the standards that should be set by a commanding general,” Obama said. “It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the heart of our system.”
Most, if not all of the “derogatory” comments came by way of his top aides. The General himself expressed only that he was frustrated with many aspects of the war that he felt had become politicized and therefore hindered his ability to command a successful war in Afghanistan.
The foreign press, particularly the Russian Newspapers pegged the dismissal of McChrystal as a reaction to their egos being hurt, and not made on the basis of policy. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs claimed the article infuriated the President. In an interview with Russia Today, Paul Craig Roberts, a former Reagan Administration official said “It’s all silly. It just shows how childish the Washington politicians are. All McChrystal was doing was letting off steam, the way military people do. They have to go fight the civilian’s wars. The civilians are too incompetent to use diplomacy and so the military has to go die for the incompetent civilians in the government.”
Roberts went on to attack not only the Obama Administration but many of the prior administrations as well as the entire system of government inside the beltway for their obsession with war. Roberts argued that war is a part of military complex and it continues to keep campaign finances coming in, no matter which general is in command. “Obama is incompetent. I mean, he’s just a bought and paid for lackey. In fact everybody in Washington in the government is a prostitute of one form or another. Of course he’s incompetent. We’ve not had a competent president in a long time But, they are so incompetent, they are so insecure, they’re such babies, they’re really children running the super power. That’s what’s’ frightening, you’ve got children in there with 10,000 nuclear weapons,” said Roberts. In addition to the piece in Russia Today, Russia’s Pravda published a story titled “Words of Truth Leave US Troops in Afghanistan Without Commander” Also, Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave a strong endorsement Tuesday Gen. Stanley McChrystal, describing him as the "best commander" of the war.
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Obama Overruled, Judge Lifts Drilling Ban
Barack Obama On Tuesday, A Louisiana federal judge overturned the Obama’s administration six month ban on deepwater drilling. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman ruled in favor of Hornbeck Offshore Services, who along with the help of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal filed the suit against the Obama administration and Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar. The judge overturned the drilling ban because of the overreaching economic consequences that such a ban posed to the Gulf states. According to Burt Adams of the National Ocean Industries Association, more than 200,000 jobs are tied to the offshore drilling industry in the Gulf. The American Petroleum Institute forecasted that if the ban on deep sea drilling were to continue over 120,000 jobs would be lost along the Gulf Coast in addition to key resources abandoned or moved elsewhere. The re-institution of the allowance of deep water drilling has people asking how the Obama Administration was allowed the authority to enforce and create such a law in the first place. The Constitution delegates only the authority to sign into law or to veto proposed bills formulated by Congress. The originally imposed moratorium has brought forth question to whether the drilling ban was an overreach of executive powers.
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Madoff's hidden booty: Tells inmate of $9B he
stashed before arrest...
stashed before arrest...
Benard MadoffThe mastermind of the larges Ponzi Scheme know to man, Bernard Madoff, has allegedly told fellow inmates that prior to his arrest he was able to funnel upwards of $9 billion dollars to close family and friends. Madoff asserts that his associate Frank DiPascali has knowledge of who received the loot, and anticipates that DiPascali will use that information as leverage in order to soften his sentence. DiPascali is currently in prison awaiting sentencing He is unable to post the monstrous $10 million bond.
Photos By: RD/Kabik/Dziekan/James Edstrom/ Retna
Photos By: RD/Kabik/Dziekan/James Edstrom/ Retna
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