Big banks have already begun poking the holes in Obama’s new rules—holes they expect their banks to pass through basically unchanged.
The president promised this morning to work with Congress to ensure that no bank or financial institution that contains a bank will own, invest in or sponsor a hedge fund or a private equity fund, or proprietary trading operations unrelated to serving customers for its own profit.
But sources at three banks tell us that they are already finding ways to own, investment in and sponsor hedge funds and private equity funds. Even prop trading seems safe.
This stuff is not going to stop until Blankfein is in Gitmo and Jamie Dimon is sharing a cell with the unibomber.
On Morning Joe, the conventional wisdom is that health care is over, and Obama now needs to focus on a lot of little popular things instead of big ticket items like health care and cap and trade…
Norah O’Donnell then mentioned Clinton and school uniforms as the kind of thing he could pursue that was popular and showed the American people he was working every day to make a difference.
Heck of a job, Democrats. Heck of a job. My blood is boiling for all the people who pretended the last three months that we could just start over and then magiaclly get a more liberal bill. And a fucking pony.
A message to House Democrats: This is your moment of truth. You can do the right thing and pass the Senate health care bill. Or you can look for an easy way out, make excuses and fail the test of history.
Today’s Supreme Court ruling scares the hell out of me. Michael Waldman:
The decision portends an even more deregulatory thrust in campaign finance. Another big campaign finance case soon likely to reach the high court would test the ban on large “soft money” contributions to political parties, last upheld by the court in 2003. Just days after John McCain’s presidential campaign ended, the Republican National Committee sued to overturn the provision that was his proudest legislative accomplishment. That would mark a true plunge into partisan wars. Explaining the case, the RNC’s political director was blunt: To have a chance of matching Obama’s small donations, “we need to be on an equal footing, and we think that law [McCain-Feingold] keeps us from doing that.”
What will this mean for Obama’s broader agenda? Health care, climate change, financial reregulation, the auto bailout—all heighten government’s role in the economy. The Citizens United ruling suggests the court may smile on even the most audacious conservative legal theories, such as those alleging that regulations are an improper taking by the government. And it shows an unsettling eagerness to overturn precedent in line with ideological predilection. The five votes may be fleeting, depending on who leaves the court next, but the Roberts majority appears ready to use its power while it has it. The Supreme Court and its role may well become a contested issue in this and upcoming elections—as it has been through much of American history. This time it will be progressives demanding an end to judicial activism.
The Bush era was foisted upon us by the Supreme Court. And the Roberts Court is just another instrument of Republican obstruction.
Suggested topic: name the first book that you can remember reading. I don’t recall spending any time with children’s books, but I remember feeling totally captivated by a Time-Life series on ghosts, aliens and the unknown. Pro tip: let your subscription lapse after number ten or twelve.
Question for people with more experience than I have. Does there exist a mechanism to set up an account that only accepts pledges until I trigger it to take cash? Here’s the plan: I want to keep adding names of certified yeses until a vote is scheduled, and use the size of the pledge pool as a carrot to draw more Representatives in. This would clearly only work if pledges have some sort of commitment attached to them, since anyone can “pledge” $10,000 and a thoroughbred pony. Email me or discuss it here.
Take the poll. Also.
Never used BlogPolls before, so it’s my fault if the poll doesn’t work.
***Update***
Being new, I forgot that we can’t promise money for a specific vote. Oh well.
Once again, Josh Marshall. There is no plan. Nobody on Capitol Hill has any idea what to do. My reading of your comments and emails says the same thing: when Nancy Pelosi acts like she knows where things stand, she’s full of it. Pelosi has not put any serious pressure on her chamber. She has not gamed it out with the her leadership. She doesn’t know whether she has the votes because most Representatives don’t know themselves.
It’s time to put another carrot in the mix. In a couple of days I will set up an ActBlue account for Reps who stand up for HCR. The account will activate the night the House passes the Senate bill (or, obviously, never). I have my ideas about who should go in, but first I want to hear from you guys. My instinct is to include everyone who commits early. That threshold obviously has plenty of flex in it. If I put in everyone who eventually votes for the bill and the bill passes then I might as well give to the DCCC. Share your thoughts in the comments.
Laura, Ahab, and I are still working on the Cafe Press experiment to raise money for animal rescue, and Laura has enlisted Evelyn DeHais (her blog is here) to do some graphic work. Here is her first piece (well, second, actually, because she did the Tunch is Watching You, too):
If you have any logos or slogans you would like to have on the products, fill me in. Also, if you want to submit graphics to use, they should be 8 MB files (ideally 2000pixels x 2000pixels @ 200 d.p.i.).
Two House Democrats in tough reelection races are asking Congress and President Barack Obama to extend the Bush administration tax cuts.
Reps. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.) and Mike McMahon (D-N.Y.) asked members in a “Dear Colleague” letter Thursday to support extending the tax cuts, which passed in 2001 and 2003 and are set to expire this year, for at least another two years. Specifically, Bright and McMahon are asking lawmakers to sign a letter to Obama asking him to include the tax cuts in his budget plans for 2010.
When Democrats retreat, you better watch out or you will get run over. In the 2 1/12 years I have been a Democrat, the only thing they have excelled at is passing Republican legislation, infighting, and cutting and running. They ought to stop calling this the Democratic party, because I’m not having much fun.
Here is a preliminary version of a list that reader mcc put together based on the calls that you have done so far. So many Congressmen are clearly on the fence over the Senate bill that I think your calls can have a real effect. Keep it up.
I feel like I am in a holding pattern because my shoulder hurts like hell, but I know the recovery won’t start until I have surgery on Tuesday. It just feels like these are wasted days, gimping around in a sling wincing every time I take a step.
On top of that, watching the news is no longer an option. Feh. On the upside, there is a First 48 marathon on A & E.
Specter later went after Bachmann for saying she voted for “prosperity.”
“She said ‘I voted for prosperity,’” Specter said. “Well prosperity wasn’t a bill.”
“Well why don’t we make it a bill?” Bachmann responded.
Suck it Libtards! How come you never passed a “Prosperity” bill? Also, can we please pass the “stink free litter box and supermodels for every middle aged male bill” soon?
I can’t believe the Democrats can’t defeat this kind of argument. I feel like Jon Lovitz in that classic Dukakis SNL skit.
And how much do you want to bet all the media morans will get out of this is that Specter was not nice enough to Bachmann? My money is on Chucky T. for this one, but Halperin might be done with his gossip tour and need a “scoop.”
