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Soms ??
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« Reply #1125 on: 15-01-2009, 13:27:47 - GMT-1 » |
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President-elect Barack Obama's choice to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will be grilled Thursday on how she intends to overhaul an agency widely blamed for failing to help prevent the biggest financial crisis in decades.
Members of the Senate Banking Committee are expected to ask veteran regulator Mary Schapiro whether the SEC should be merged with the U.S. futures regulator and for ideas on how to rework rules that failed to prevent Wall Street's meltdown.
Schapiro, currently the chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is also expected to face questions about what the broker-dealer watchdog could have done to uncover Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud, something the SEC also missed.
FINRA late Wednesday said it investigated 19 trading complaints about Madoff's broker-dealer firm but they did not relate to the investment advisory issues involved in the alleged fraud.
Further, FINRA said the SEC did not pass on any complaints. "The SEC did not share the tips it received with FINRA," it said in an emailed statement.
The very future of the 74-year-old SEC is in question after a number of regulatory missteps. Under current SEC chairman Christopher Cox, the five largest U.S. investment banks -- which the SEC supervised under a voluntary arrangement -- have since either collapsed or reorganized.
The SEC has also been a punching bag for various lawmakers and Wall Street firms who successfully put pressure on the agency to temporarily stop investors from making bearish bets on financial stocks when markets were in a tailspin in 2008.
Many see Schapiro as someone who will help heal the SEC.
She has spent more than two decades regulating financial markets with a resume that includes chairing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a stint as an SEC commissioner.
She has been widely praised by both industry and investor groups. Members of the Senate Banking Committee have also lauded her.
Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said Schapiro will inherit a host of issues requiring the SEC's immediate attention, including the Madoff fraud and accounting issues.
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Soms ??
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« Reply #1126 on: 15-01-2009, 13:32:34 - GMT-1 » |
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The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to expand a children's health program and raise cigarette taxes to pay for it, giving President-elect Barack Obama a jump-start on a campaign promise to insure more Americans. Similar legislation was twice vetoed by President George W. Bush, who opposed raising tobacco taxes and argued that expanding the popular program would push more children into government-run health care instead of private plans. In stark contrast, expanding the Children's Health Insurance Plan could be the first legislation from the Democratic-controlled Congress that Obama puts into law. "It may very well be the first bill the president signs," House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said. The House voted 289-139 for the bill and the Senate is expected to move swiftly on its version. The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to discuss the legislation on Thursday. Obama, who takes office on Tuesday, said in a statement the U.S. economic downturn made expanding the children's health care program more urgent. "This coverage is critical, it is fully paid for, and I hope that the Senate acts with the same sense of urgency so that it can be one of the first measures I sign into law when I am president," Obama said. The bill passed by the House aims to increase the number of children enrolled in the program to about 11 million from 6.7 million. The expanded program is paid for in part by raising the cigarette tax to $1 a pack from 39 cents. Taxes on cigars and other tobacco products also would rise. The program is designed to provide health care to children in families who are unable to afford health insurance but earn too much to qualify for the Medicaid health care program for the poor. "This bill is a down payment, a down payment on health care for all Americans," said Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who as head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will play a crucial role in helping craft Obama's planned overhaul of the $2.3 trillion U.S. health industry. REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION Republicans decried a lack of input into the Democratic-backed bill and argued that it would allow states to enroll too many families with incomes as high as $80,000. They also complained about a provision that would prohibit doctors from referring their patients to hospitals in which they have an ownership interest. "Physician-owned hospitals employ highly skilled workers. They are the engine in the local economy and language in this bill will devastate most of them," said Rep. Sam Johnson, a Texas Republican. "Many facilities have poured millions of dollars into constructing hospitals that will be shut down because of this bill."  |
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@Soms??
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« Reply #1127 on: 15-01-2009, 13:56:17 - GMT-1 » |
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@Coweda
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« Reply #1129 on: 15-01-2009, 19:53:43 - GMT-1 » |
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Soms ??
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« Reply #1130 on: 15-01-2009, 19:59:34 - GMT-1 » |
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U.S. President-elect Barack Obama hasn't been sworn in to his new job yet, but on Thursday he faces his first big political test when the Senate decides whether to block his request for the remaining $350 billion of financial bailout money.
Obama and his top advisers have been using the week before his January 20 inauguration to try to convince Democratic and Republican senators that the money will be better used than the first half of the $700 billion, focusing on helping homeowners avoid foreclosure.
There has been widespread discontent in Congress that the first $350 billion was squandered with purchases of stakes in ailing financial lenders and using it for struggling U.S. automakers, while doing little to thaw the credit markets.
But Obama's team has promised the remaining money would be better spent and accounted for and his advisers indicated to Republican senators on Wednesday that it would not be used to help other struggling sectors outside the financial industry.
Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, leader of the majority Democrats, wants to vote around 4 p.m. on Thursday for the funds, hoping he has support to defeat a resolution to block the money introduced by Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter.
The bailout debate comes as Democrats in the House of Representatives started to provide details of a separate economic stimulus bill that would seek to provide $550 billion in spending and $275 billion in tax cuts to jolt the economy out of recession.
IRKED REPUBLICANS
In October, Congress passed legislation for $700 billion in financial industry bailout aid, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), amid the collapse of some large Wall Street firms. Many Republicans were angered last month when some bailout funds were provided to U.S. automakers.
Half the bailout funds have been allocated by the Treasury Department, which now wants authorization to use the other half. Both President George W. Bush and Obama, who takes office on Tuesday, support the release of the money.
Senate Republicans have not yet consented to the bailout vote on Thursday afternoon but they likely will agree, a congressional aide said. At least one Democrat believed the resolution against freeing the funds would be blocked.
"It will be close, I think," Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said on National Public Radio. "It's not going to be an overwhelming vote because people are, rightfully, angry and frustrated over how they perceive the first $350 billion was managed by the Bush administration."
The Senate vote would come as U.S. stock markets have been hammered by expectations of enormous quarterly losses posted by banks. A report on Thursday of a big jump in mortgage foreclosure activity in 2008 further revealed the reeling economy, which has been in recession for more than a year.
"We're looking for assurances about how this new tranche of TARP funding will be used," Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, leader of the minority Republicans, said on Wednesday after an hour-long meeting between Republican senators and Rahm Emanuel, Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, and economic adviser Lawrence Summers.
The vote would also coincide with one in the House of Representatives on legislation that is designed to tighten restrictions on the bailout program. But the future of that measure was less certain in the Senate.
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Soms ??
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« Reply #1131 on: 15-01-2009, 20:25:54 - GMT-1 » |
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The U.S. government on Wednesday dismissed a new audio message from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and said he was not a threat to President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.
The tape surfaced as the United States prepares for a handover of power from President George W. Bush to Obama on Tuesday.
Bin Laden focused his message on a call for a holy war over the Israeli offensive in Gaza. He also discussed Obama and said the new U.S. president would inherit the "heavy legacy" of a long guerrilla war that would widen to more fronts, said the Internet terrorism monitor SITE Intelligence Group.
U.S. officials exhibited more of a growing confidence that bin Laden and other top al Qaeda leaders have been greatly weakened by military pressure on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas where they are believed to be hiding.
"It appears this tape demonstrates his isolation and continued attempts to remain relevant at a time when al Qaeda's ideology, mission, and agenda are being questioned and challenged throughout the world," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. He said it also looked like a fund-raising effort.
After the September 11, 2001, attacks, Bush declared that he wanted bin Laden captured dead or alive. But the al Qaeda leader has eluded a U.S. manhunt.
The inauguration is expected to draw record crowds of 1.5 million or more to the U.S. capital next week for three days of festivities. Asked if the tape represented a threat to the inauguration, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said, "We have no specific or credible threat to the inauguration."
Tens of thousands of police and U.S. troops are planning to take part in an unprecedented inauguration security effort.
Intelligence agencies say even if al Qaeda's central leadership has been weakened, its violent intentions make the militant group dangerous.
Obama, asked about the importance of apprehending bin Laden, said he thinks the al Qaeda leader's infrastructure has to be weakened to the point where he is so pinned down that he cannot function.
"My preference obviously would be to capture or kill him. But if we have so tightened the noose that he's in a cave somewhere and can't even communicate with his operatives then we will meet our goal of protecting America," Obama said in a CBS interview.
Bin Laden's last audio tape in May also focused on Gaza, urging Muslims to help break the Israeli-led blockade of the area.
Intelligence agencies believe al Qaeda has been trying to establish a presence in Gaza, but has met resistance from the ruling Hamas Islamist group.
"Other players are more relevant to what is happening in Gaza," a U.S. counterterrorism official said.
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Soms ??
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« Reply #1132 on: 15-01-2009, 20:53:29 - GMT-1 » |
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President-elect Barack Obama's choice for attorney general broke with the Bush administration to call waterboarding "torture" and vowed to fight financial fraud at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday.
Eric Holder also addressed a major criticism by Republicans and acknowledged that he had erred when, as a deputy attorney general, he supporting a pardon by former President Bill Clinton for a fugitive financier, Marc Rich.
He pledged that the Guantanamo prison for foreign terrorism suspects, opened after the September 11 attacks and denounced internationally by human rights groups, would be closed but said it would take longer than some hope.
Republicans had been expected to make Holder's confirmation one of the most contentious of any of Obama's nominations, partly because of the Rich pardon issue. But the 57-year-old Holder, who would be the first African-American U.S. attorney general, appeared almost certain to win approval in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
With Obama to be sworn in as president on Tuesday, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy urged Holder's quick confirmation in view of the attorney general's key role in national security and prosecution of financial crimes.
"The responsibilities of the attorney general of the United States are too important to have this appointment delayed by partisan bickering," Leahy, a Democrat, said.
Holder said in his opening statement that the Justice Department, "must wage an aggressive effort against financial fraud and market manipulation. As taxpayers are asked to rescue large segments of our economy, they have a right to demand accountability for wrongdoing." He also pledged tough enforcement of antitrust laws.
Holder said he would fight terrorism "with every available tool," as well as protect public safety and civil rights.
"WATERBOARDING IS TORTURE"
Questioned by Leahy about waterboarding, Holder said, "I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, that waterboarding is torture."
President George W. Bush insists that his administration has not tortured people, but the CIA has acknowledged using waterboarding, which is widely condemned internationally, in at least three cases of interrogating terrorism suspects.
CIA officials said the agency acted within the law, using Justice Department advice.
Bush's current attorney general, Michael Mukasey, riled Democrats and some fellow Republicans when he repeatedly refused to answer whether he considered waterboarding to be torture during his 2007 confirmation hearing.
Holder said he would ensure that interrogations were within international treaty obligations and effective.
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obama4eva
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« Reply #1134 on: 16-01-2009, 06:16:00 - GMT-1 » |
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U.S. President-elect Barack Obama hasn't been sworn in to his new job yet, but on Thursday he faces his first big political test when the Senate decides whether to block his request for the remaining $350 billion of financial bailout money.
Obama and his top advisers have been using the week before his January 20 inauguration to try to convince Democratic and Republican senators that the money will be better used than the first half of the $700 billion, focusing on helping homeowners avoid foreclosure.
There has been widespread discontent in Congress that the first $350 billion was squandered with purchases of stakes in ailing financial lenders and using it for struggling U.S. automakers, while doing little to thaw the credit markets.
But Obama's team has promised the remaining money would be better spent and accounted for and his advisers indicated to Republican senators on Wednesday that it would not be used to help other struggling sectors outside the financial industry.
Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, leader of the majority Democrats, wants to vote around 4 p.m. on Thursday for the funds, hoping he has support to defeat a resolution to block the money introduced by Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter.
The bailout debate comes as Democrats in the House of Representatives started to provide details of a separate economic stimulus bill that would seek to provide $550 billion in spending and $275 billion in tax cuts to jolt the economy out of recession.
IRKED REPUBLICANS
In October, Congress passed legislation for $700 billion in financial industry bailout aid, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), amid the collapse of some large Wall Street firms. Many Republicans were angered last month when some bailout funds were provided to U.S. automakers.
Half the bailout funds have been allocated by the Treasury Department, which now wants authorization to use the other half. Both President George W. Bush and Obama, who takes office on Tuesday, support the release of the money.
Senate Republicans have not yet consented to the bailout vote on Thursday afternoon but they likely will agree, a congressional aide said. At least one Democrat believed the resolution against freeing the funds would be blocked.
"It will be close, I think," Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said on National Public Radio. "It's not going to be an overwhelming vote because people are, rightfully, angry and frustrated over how they perceive the first $350 billion was managed by the Bush administration."
The Senate vote would come as U.S. stock markets have been hammered by expectations of enormous quarterly losses posted by banks. A report on Thursday of a big jump in mortgage foreclosure activity in 2008 further revealed the reeling economy, which has been in recession for more than a year.
"We're looking for assurances about how this new tranche of TARP funding will be used," Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, leader of the minority Republicans, said on Wednesday after an hour-long meeting between Republican senators and Rahm Emanuel, Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, and economic adviser Lawrence Summers.
The vote would also coincide with one in the House of Representatives on legislation that is designed to tighten restrictions on the bailout program. But the future of that measure was less certain in the Senate.
Het is er doorheen!  Six Republicans joined with 45 Democrats and one Joe Lieberman to defeat a resolution that would have blocked the release of $350 billion in financial-industry bailout funds Thursday. The Senate action -- or lack of it -- paves the way for the dispersal of the money regardless of any action taken by the House of Representatives. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is structured so that the president has access to the money unless Congress actively prevents its release. Only 42 senators -- seven Democrats, 34 Republicans and one Bernie Sanders -- voted to block the money. In practical terms, Obama only needed enough votes to sustain a veto of the resolution, which he had promised when he met with Democrats on Tuesday. The vote today frees Obama of the politically costly task of vetoing a disapproval resolution, allowing him to spend that political capital elsewhere. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, voted against the original TARP legislation in October while locked in a tight reelection race. With the election behind her and the next contest not for another six years, Landrieu voted with Obama to release the funds. Landrieu's vote sends a signal that she is likely to vote with Obama often during the first year of his administration, a helpful sign for the incoming president, who needs every Democratic vote from a red state that he can get. Democrat Bill Nelson of Florida also opposed the original TARP plan but voted with Obama this time around. Obama also won six Republican votes: Sens. Lamar Alexander (TN), Jon Kyl (AZ.), Judd Gregg (NH), Richard Lugar (IN), Olympia Snowe (ME) and George Voinovich (OH). Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted to block the bailout funds, as did seven Democrats: Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Ron Wyden (OR), Ben Nelson (NE), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Maria Cantwell (WA) and Evan Bayh (IN). In what will likely be their final Senate votes, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton both voted against the resolution and with the president. In his first Senate vote, Roland Burris voted with his leadership, Harry Reid and Dick Durbin, who had just last week been blocking him from taking his seat. Burris, Reid and Durbin chatted amiably on the floor and Durbin even polished Burris' senatorial pin for him. |
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@Obama4eva
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« Reply #1136 on: 16-01-2009, 07:27:04 - GMT-1 » |
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Het is er doorheen! Six Republicans joined with 45 Democrats and one Joe Lieberman to defeat a resolution that would have blocked the release of $350 billion in financial-industry bailout funds Thursday. The Senate action -- or lack of it -- paves the way for the dispersal of the money regardless of any action taken by the House of Representatives. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is structured so that the president has access to the money unless Congress actively prevents its release. Only 42 senators -- seven Democrats, 34 Republicans and one Bernie Sanders -- voted to block the money. In practical terms, Obama only needed enough votes to sustain a veto of the resolution, which he had promised when he met with Democrats on Tuesday. The vote today frees Obama of the politically costly task of vetoing a disapproval resolution, allowing him to spend that political capital elsewhere. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, voted against the original TARP legislation in October while locked in a tight reelection race. With the election behind her and the next contest not for another six years, Landrieu voted with Obama to release the funds. Landrieu's vote sends a signal that she is likely to vote with Obama often during the first year of his administration, a helpful sign for the incoming president, who needs every Democratic vote from a red state that he can get. Democrat Bill Nelson of Florida also opposed the original TARP plan but voted with Obama this time around. Obama also won six Republican votes: Sens. Lamar Alexander (TN), Jon Kyl (AZ.), Judd Gregg (NH), Richard Lugar (IN), Olympia Snowe (ME) and George Voinovich (OH). Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted to block the bailout funds, as did seven Democrats: Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Ron Wyden (OR), Ben Nelson (NE), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Maria Cantwell (WA) and Evan Bayh (IN). In what will likely be their final Senate votes, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton both voted against the resolution and with the president. In his first Senate vote, Roland Burris voted with his leadership, Harry Reid and Dick Durbin, who had just last week been blocking him from taking his seat. Burris, Reid and Durbin chatted amiably on the floor and Durbin even polished Burris' senatorial pin for him. Dat jij zo trots dit artikel quote maakt weer eens duidelijk dat jij echt een complete ignorant groupie bent: Wall Street bankiers worden nog meer beloond voor hun wanbeleid ten koste van de arme belastingbetaler, en jij bent blij? Het is juist iets om te huilen. Als jij je werk niet goed dat dan wordt je gewoon ontslagen, dus waarom moeten bankdirecteuren die erop rotzooien miljarden krijgen?  ? |
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Patamakka
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« Reply #1137 on: 16-01-2009, 07:42:54 - GMT-1 » |
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Zo... Ik sta er telkens weer versteld van wat voor larie iemands hersenen kan voortbrengen.  inderdaad, hier nog een. wat vraag je je dan af? hoe krijgt hij het in zijn hoofd of hoe krijgt hij het uit zijn hoofd? he? |
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Soms ??
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« Reply #1138 on: 16-01-2009, 07:52:29 - GMT-1 » |
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inderdaad, hier nog een.
wat vraag je je dan af? hoe krijgt hij het in zijn hoofd of hoe krijgt hij het uit zijn hoofd? he?
hahahaha is lood om lood geeneens ijzer |
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@Patamakka
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« Reply #1139 on: 16-01-2009, 08:33:41 - GMT-1 » |
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