It is hard to believe that during the present debt crisis and downgrade by Standard and Poors the best the Democratic party can come up with is "blame the Tea Party" as reported in this FoxNews article.
Ilogical, disjointed, disconnected, scattered, SOP could go on and on about the lost message John Kerry and Howard Dean are pursuing to save their President.
Shoot the messenger is the best they can come up with??
Obama doesn't have a clue, Geithner is worse.
The current debt ceiling crisis and associated credit downgrade started along time ago. Clinton, Bush, and Obama are all to blame. The Tea Party platform only highlighted what America was facing. To call this a "Tea Party downgrade" is like calling melting snow due to the weatherman.
One thing the Tea Party accomplished was stopping Harry Reid, Nancy Pelois, and Barney Frank from blaming George Bush for the country's problems. Obama squarely owns them now. The Democrats are even resorting to vicious name calling like "terroists" and "hostage takers".
On the other side, Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips said on his group's website that it is Democrats causing this mess. "This is the Obama depression and this is the Democratic downgrade," he said, adding that the Tea Party is also fighting "establishment Republicans" to cut spending.
But Standard & Poor's Managing Director John Chambers said there's "lots of blame to go around."
He agreed with several officials that the environment in Washington is "dysfunctional," and said the fact that the dysfunction put the United States within hours of hitting its debt ceiling was a driving factor in the downgrade decision.
The second factor, he said, was the country's "fiscal trajectory."
"The fiscal situation in the United States is not sustainable," he told Fox News.
Who cares who is at fault. Democrats start talking about job creation and less about government entitlements. Leave the name calling for another time.
Showing posts with label Timothy Geithner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Timothy Geithner. Show all posts
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, April 2, 2009
It May Be A Specter To Behold But Who Is Tim Be-Holden To?
The Lebanon Daily News reports that a large contributor for the last several years to the campaign committee of Congressman Tim Holden is under investigation by the FBI.
The FBI is investigating PMA Group, Holden’s biggest campaign contributor in the past several elections, for making unlawful contributions to members of Congress. Using the names of at least two people who do not work for the company but are associated with its founder, Paul Magliochetti, investigators believe PMA increased the amount of money it could legally funnel to politicians.
Since 2001, Holden has received $75,000 from PMA Group and its associates, according to CRP. Last year, his campaign received $23,750, which put him among the top congressional members receiving donations from the firm.
PMA clients have also benefited from Holden’s influence. Last year, he arranged an earmark of $3.2 million for Fidelity Technologies that was contained in a massive defense-appropriations bill.
Holden, whose 17th Congressional District includes Lebanon County, claims there is nothing inappropriate about the contributions he has received from PMA or his efforts on behalf of Fidelity Technologies. The company, which manufactures training simulators for the military, was once in Holden’s congressional district and now lies just a few blocks outside of it. Many of his constituents are Fidelity Technologies employees, and the contract secured their jobs, Holden said.
“I’ve been working with (Fidelity Technologies) since my third term in Congress,” Holden said. “This project was not just something that was dreamt up. It was brought before the Pentagon, which fully vetted it, and it has been a very useful tool for the military.
Nice try Tim, but wasn't that Cornerstone Technologies working on a project for the military? Tom Daschle, Nancy Killefer, Timothy Geithner, Hilda Solis, Ron Kirk, and Kathleen Sebelius(who, by the way, replaced Tom Daschle as nominee after he withdrew)all owed back taxes. They were fully vetted, right? How can so many of President Obama's nominees owe back taxes?????? Who said only Republicans were rich?
The FBI is investigating PMA Group, Holden’s biggest campaign contributor in the past several elections, for making unlawful contributions to members of Congress. Using the names of at least two people who do not work for the company but are associated with its founder, Paul Magliochetti, investigators believe PMA increased the amount of money it could legally funnel to politicians.
Since 2001, Holden has received $75,000 from PMA Group and its associates, according to CRP. Last year, his campaign received $23,750, which put him among the top congressional members receiving donations from the firm.
PMA clients have also benefited from Holden’s influence. Last year, he arranged an earmark of $3.2 million for Fidelity Technologies that was contained in a massive defense-appropriations bill.
Holden, whose 17th Congressional District includes Lebanon County, claims there is nothing inappropriate about the contributions he has received from PMA or his efforts on behalf of Fidelity Technologies. The company, which manufactures training simulators for the military, was once in Holden’s congressional district and now lies just a few blocks outside of it. Many of his constituents are Fidelity Technologies employees, and the contract secured their jobs, Holden said.
“I’ve been working with (Fidelity Technologies) since my third term in Congress,” Holden said. “This project was not just something that was dreamt up. It was brought before the Pentagon, which fully vetted it, and it has been a very useful tool for the military.
Nice try Tim, but wasn't that Cornerstone Technologies working on a project for the military? Tom Daschle, Nancy Killefer, Timothy Geithner, Hilda Solis, Ron Kirk, and Kathleen Sebelius(who, by the way, replaced Tom Daschle as nominee after he withdrew)all owed back taxes. They were fully vetted, right? How can so many of President Obama's nominees owe back taxes?????? Who said only Republicans were rich?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
We Could Be On The Hook For $7 Trillion
Obamamessiah, have you been listening to your underlings. The Treasury Department has not resolved its problem with giving and getting an accounting relative to the TARP funds. According to ABCNews.com
"Our concern right now is that we do not seem to be a priority for the Treasury Department," the Congressional Oversight Panel's Elizabeth Warren told a Senate Finance Committee hearing today. "We have sent letters. We have requested that there be someone named so that we can get technical information. And so far, we have not been a first priority."
"I'm talking about accountability in a very real sense of this word," she said later. "As I see it, you really have two options here. Either you get Treasury to get some religion on this point -- and put their own standards in place, or Congress is forced to step in. We will do everything we can on your behalf, as your congressional oversight panel, but what we can best do for you now is to identify and pinpoint that this is precisely where the problem starts. And then the problem has roll down effects all the way through the system of lack of accountability, complexity that no one can figure out what's going on, so that we never identify the place where we need to start the solution."
Neil Barofsky, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief ProgramB also expressed concerns because his office now has to monitor nearly $3 trillion.
"$2.9 trillion is just short of what the entire federal government spent in fiscal year 2008," noted committee chairman Max Baucus. "It's like having a second United States government budget dedicated solely to saving the financial system, and that is truly surreal."
Baucus cautioned that this number could skyrocket to $7 trillion when other measures are added, such as $3 trillion in Federal Reserve programs, Treasury's $400 billion support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the administration's budget request for a placeholder worth up to $750 billion.
"If all these additional amounts materialize, taxpayers could be on the hook for a total of more than $7 trillion," Baucus said. "This is a huge, unprecedented financial commitment. It strains the comprehension of taxpayers and policy-makers alike."
"Our concern right now is that we do not seem to be a priority for the Treasury Department," the Congressional Oversight Panel's Elizabeth Warren told a Senate Finance Committee hearing today. "We have sent letters. We have requested that there be someone named so that we can get technical information. And so far, we have not been a first priority."
"I'm talking about accountability in a very real sense of this word," she said later. "As I see it, you really have two options here. Either you get Treasury to get some religion on this point -- and put their own standards in place, or Congress is forced to step in. We will do everything we can on your behalf, as your congressional oversight panel, but what we can best do for you now is to identify and pinpoint that this is precisely where the problem starts. And then the problem has roll down effects all the way through the system of lack of accountability, complexity that no one can figure out what's going on, so that we never identify the place where we need to start the solution."
Neil Barofsky, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief ProgramB also expressed concerns because his office now has to monitor nearly $3 trillion.
"$2.9 trillion is just short of what the entire federal government spent in fiscal year 2008," noted committee chairman Max Baucus. "It's like having a second United States government budget dedicated solely to saving the financial system, and that is truly surreal."
Baucus cautioned that this number could skyrocket to $7 trillion when other measures are added, such as $3 trillion in Federal Reserve programs, Treasury's $400 billion support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the administration's budget request for a placeholder worth up to $750 billion.
"If all these additional amounts materialize, taxpayers could be on the hook for a total of more than $7 trillion," Baucus said. "This is a huge, unprecedented financial commitment. It strains the comprehension of taxpayers and policy-makers alike."
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Geithner Wants Broad Powers And Independent Regulator
Steve Bartlett must be laughing his butt off. ABCnews.com is reporting that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner wants to create an independent regulator to oversee the financial institutions.
Refer to my post where I recall Barlett's words before Kanjorski's committee in 2003.
Mr. BARTLETT. Mr. Kanjorski, our organization and our companies have been quite concerned about this from a safety and soundness as well as a mission for the last several years. We have communicated that concern. But recently, that concern seems to have been highlighted by a number of factors.
So, yes, sir, I believe there is an urgency that is to the tune of some $3.3 trillion that is either owned or guaranteed by these two agencies that all the testimony that you have heard today bring in some question as to whether they are being properly regulated. So we think they are not being properly regulated. And we believe that with $3.3 trillion, you do not want to wait too long. And now is the time to act.
Kanjo, why did it take this long?
Refer to my post where I recall Barlett's words before Kanjorski's committee in 2003.
Mr. BARTLETT. Mr. Kanjorski, our organization and our companies have been quite concerned about this from a safety and soundness as well as a mission for the last several years. We have communicated that concern. But recently, that concern seems to have been highlighted by a number of factors.
So, yes, sir, I believe there is an urgency that is to the tune of some $3.3 trillion that is either owned or guaranteed by these two agencies that all the testimony that you have heard today bring in some question as to whether they are being properly regulated. So we think they are not being properly regulated. And we believe that with $3.3 trillion, you do not want to wait too long. And now is the time to act.
Kanjo, why did it take this long?
Friday, February 20, 2009
Tea Party Part III- To Pay Or Not To Pay by Sitafa Harden
Here is a paraphrase on an original article that appeared on OpEdNews.com.
To Pay or Not To Pay (My Mortgage): An "Untroubled" Homeowner's Hardship Letter
by Sitafa Harden
Dear Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner:
I understand that you’ve been busy coming up with proposals to help borrowers facing foreclosure save their homes. But what about me?
I’ve never missed a mortgage payment, but I am certainly a troubled homeowner. I’m troubled because, like most of my neighbors, I currently owe much more on my house than it is worth.
It seems almost irresponsible to me to continue paying on a home that is losing value faster than former President Bush‘s approval ratings. And the 7-year hit to my credit for a mortgage default would be like a gift compared the 10-15 years of payments I’d have to make just to get back the equity I had on the first day I purchased my home.
Basically, there is virtually no reason for me not to simply mail my house keys back to the bank, pack up my cat, and flee to the solace of the nearest luxury apartment community.
In fact, a part of me wants to do just that, but I’m hanging in there for a couple of reasons.
First, because I believe that stable homeowners are one of the last strongholds of this economy preventing us from slipping into a downturn much worse than the Great Depression.
And, secondly, because I have faith that the new administration will come up with an equitable solution to this crises…eventually.
Let me repeat. I have faith in the administration. So please don’t let me down.
My cat and I are depending on you.
To Pay or Not To Pay (My Mortgage): An "Untroubled" Homeowner's Hardship Letter
by Sitafa Harden
Dear Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner:
I understand that you’ve been busy coming up with proposals to help borrowers facing foreclosure save their homes. But what about me?
I’ve never missed a mortgage payment, but I am certainly a troubled homeowner. I’m troubled because, like most of my neighbors, I currently owe much more on my house than it is worth.
It seems almost irresponsible to me to continue paying on a home that is losing value faster than former President Bush‘s approval ratings. And the 7-year hit to my credit for a mortgage default would be like a gift compared the 10-15 years of payments I’d have to make just to get back the equity I had on the first day I purchased my home.
Basically, there is virtually no reason for me not to simply mail my house keys back to the bank, pack up my cat, and flee to the solace of the nearest luxury apartment community.
In fact, a part of me wants to do just that, but I’m hanging in there for a couple of reasons.
First, because I believe that stable homeowners are one of the last strongholds of this economy preventing us from slipping into a downturn much worse than the Great Depression.
And, secondly, because I have faith that the new administration will come up with an equitable solution to this crises…eventually.
Let me repeat. I have faith in the administration. So please don’t let me down.
My cat and I are depending on you.
Tea Party Part II- CommonSensePoliticalThought
As a follow-up to the Rick Santelli post I offer these comments from Common Sense Political Thought under Schadenfreude and a graph from Michelle Malkin's website. I believe this graph illustrates what Rick Santelli was trying to tell the world. Remember, Treasury Secretary Geithner wants to throw up to $2 trillion at this problem.
To quote Dana But this isn’t welfare to help the poor; this is welfare for the well-to-do; they just aren’t quite as well-to-do as they thought they were! This is welfare for people who bought bigger and nicer houses than they could afford, people who thought they were moving up in the world, and over-bought.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Obama Makes Treasury Secretary Pick That Is On Target
Today, President-elect Obama appeared to make his first untainted nomination in Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary. Geithner was appointed to head the New York Federal Reserve on October 15, 2003. His appointment by the New York Federal Reserve Bank's Board of Directors was approved by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and announced by Mr. Peter Peterson, chair of the New York Federal Reserve Bank's Board of Directors and of the search committee that selected Mr. Geithner.
If you've been reading my blog I have been consistent that the problems with Washington are the Republicans and the Democrats, DemRepubagogues if you will. Peter Peterson wrote a book titled "Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It".
Here's a commentary to sum up the book-
"Peterson takes the role of an extraordinary flight attendant preparing 290 million passengers for a hard landing--but the landing he anticipates involves not jetliners hitting the tarmac but rather the entire American economy spiraling into insolvency. Basing his conclusions on one inescapable economic reality, Peterson argues that twin deficits in trade and government spending now require an astounding infusion of $4 billion in foreign capital every day just to avert economic meltdown in this country. And foreign investors are growing weary of propping up the U.S. economy while American political leaders ignore the perilously unbalanced government budget. Unfortunately, Peterson finds both major parties locked into pathologically rigid ideologies of denial. While Democrats push for ever-larger entitlements for ever-more interest groups, Republicans press for ever-deeper tax cuts. Neither party will initiate the reforms--succinctly outlined here by Peterson--essential to safeguard the country's long-term financial health. Sobering, urgent, and evenhanded. Bryce Christensen"
Let's pray that Daschle knows what the heck he is doing when he tries to fashion universal health care. More entitlement with no financial substance behind it will not serve any purpose for this country.
If you've been reading my blog I have been consistent that the problems with Washington are the Republicans and the Democrats, DemRepubagogues if you will. Peter Peterson wrote a book titled "Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It".
Here's a commentary to sum up the book-
"Peterson takes the role of an extraordinary flight attendant preparing 290 million passengers for a hard landing--but the landing he anticipates involves not jetliners hitting the tarmac but rather the entire American economy spiraling into insolvency. Basing his conclusions on one inescapable economic reality, Peterson argues that twin deficits in trade and government spending now require an astounding infusion of $4 billion in foreign capital every day just to avert economic meltdown in this country. And foreign investors are growing weary of propping up the U.S. economy while American political leaders ignore the perilously unbalanced government budget. Unfortunately, Peterson finds both major parties locked into pathologically rigid ideologies of denial. While Democrats push for ever-larger entitlements for ever-more interest groups, Republicans press for ever-deeper tax cuts. Neither party will initiate the reforms--succinctly outlined here by Peterson--essential to safeguard the country's long-term financial health. Sobering, urgent, and evenhanded. Bryce Christensen"
Let's pray that Daschle knows what the heck he is doing when he tries to fashion universal health care. More entitlement with no financial substance behind it will not serve any purpose for this country.
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