AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

The bill, as it then stood [3:00 a.m. Friday morning], had a net cost of $20 billion. Dodd and Frank wanted to make the bill revenue neutral. So, at 3:00 a.m., they slipped into the bill a provision that wasn’t in the legislation that passed the Senate or the House. This provision--Title 16 of the bill--would require the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to raise approximately $19 billion for a Financial Crisis Special Assessment Fund by assessing (i) "financial companies" with $50 billion or more in assets, and (ii) "any financial companies that manage hedge funds with $10 billion or more of assets under management."

Leave aside the fact this would ...[a bunch of stuff relative to the economy and disincentives to investment therein but not to my point-JM]


What’s amazing about this "assessment" is how arbitrary it will be, and how contrary it is to any recognizable principle of the rule of law in taxation. No rate for the tax is specified, as with a normal tax. No principle of equal treatment for similar entities is there to limit the Council’s arbitrary discretion. Rather, the Council is to review a bunch of vague criteria, including “the extent of the company’s leverage,” “the extent and nature of the company’s transactions and relationships with other financial companies,” “the nature, scope and mix of the company’s activities,” culminating in #13, “such other risk-related factors as the Council may determine to be appropriate.” The Council will weigh these criteria as it pleases, hit upon a figure for each firm, and simply impose it as an “assessment” on that firm.

http://73wire.com/2010/06/democrats-disclose-act-what-you-need-to-know-why-you-need-to-care/
Democrats’ DISCLOSE Act: What you Need To Know, Why You Need To Care
Posted on June 28, 2010 in: Featured News

There is much behind the story of what got us here; Democrats historically have painted a picture of the GOP being evil and corrupted by the big money from the big donors that they would have you believe are the root cause of all that has gone wrong with America. From “big oil” to Wall Street to rich people of all shapes and sizes, Democrats want to decide for us who can be trusted and who can not.

Article Comments (9) There is much behind the story of what got us here; Democrats historically have painted a picture of the GOP being evil and corrupted by the big money from the big donors that they would have you believe are the root cause of all that has gone wrong with America. From “big oil” to Wall Street to rich people of all shapes and sizes, Democrats want to decide for us who can be trusted and who can not. Of course, anyone paying close enough attention will quickly realize that organizations such as CodePink, MoveOn, the now-defunct ACORN, and the SEIU (read “big” labor) have been in the back pockets of Democrats for a generation…so the real issue here is not THAT a lot of money is at stake when Politicians run for office…it’s which stack of cash is clean and which is dirty…and who DECIDES.

In the case of the recently-passed DISCLOSE Act, the lights have finally been turned on in America’s kitchen and the Democrat roaches are ducking for cover (along with the 2 Republicans who voted alongside them- Cao and Castle). It’s a fairly short bill compared with others (such as the Health Care Reform debacle) and even those not readily inclined to understand “lawyer speak” should be able to traverse its sections and “wherefores” sufficiently enough to understand its basic intent…what is less obvious is the impact it will have on our ability to directly participate in the Political process…OUR political process…to the extent our Constitution had always intended.

This bill will allow big organizations to continue donating big dollars to Politicians, so long as their membership is over 500,000 strong, they have at least one member residing in every state, and they meet certain tax-exempt criteria. It also prevents large dollars from being donated by individuals and small groups and… in my opinion worst of all…it extends to 90 days prior to an election all the limitations to free speech we were guaranteed in the Constitution would never be abridged… and just barely “got back” when the Supreme Court struck down parts of the ill-conceived McCain-Feingold bill when it rendered its Citizens United decision:

‘(B) in the case of a communication which refers to a candidate for any other Federal office, the period–
‘(i) beginning with the date that is 90 days before the earliest of the primary election, preference election, or nominating convention with respect to the nomination for the office that the candidate is seeking; and
‘(ii) ending with the date of the general election for such office.

This is outrageous. But it is instructive as well. We can no longer engage in discussions about candidates and their campaigns and their policy positions during the period 90 days prior to their primary/caucus/conventions and running all the way through the November election. In the case of President and Vice President it’s 120 days. Not only are we not allowed to speak…we’re not allowed to speak during the WHOLE of the campaign and election cycle when people are actually paying attention enough to consider whether they’ll even bother going to the polls! Democrats have the most to gain here…it is the Democrat party “we, the People” mean to teach a lesson to in 2010, and they’re trying to fend off the revolt that’s already being amassed against them before it’s too late.

On the grounds of having our freedom of speech revoked, alone, this bill should not be signed into law. I’m moderately optimistic that, even if Obama DOES sign it, the Supreme Court will quickly strike it down. Until then, you only need to understand 2 simple points; we’re not allowed to speak with our mouths or keyboards or checkbooks, and unless we belong to an organization with membership sizes only the big Labor Unions currently enjoy, we’re not even allowed to participate in a campaign…other than to cast a vote in the primary and the General election.

Understand this as you consider the implications for Tea Party movements, people looking to become Precinct Committeemen, or work directly FOR a campaign; don’t bother (according to the Democrat intentions here) because your voice won’t count, your money’s not welcome, and your opinion is no longer suitable for public purview…it has been outlawed.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men
who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,
and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;
another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or
hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,
and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants,
nine were farmers and large plantation owners;
men of means, well educated,
but they signed the Declaration of Independence
knowing full well that the penalty would be death if
they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and
trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the
British Navy. He sold his home and properties to
pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British
that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.
He served in the Congress without pay, and his family
was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,
and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that
the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson
home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General
George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,
and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.
The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill
were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests
and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his
children vanished.


So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price
they paid.

Freedom is never free!

What kind of men were they? ....
....
... men of means, well educated,

If you are talking about the housing bubble, this has already been debated extensively, but I believe as do many others, including I think Greenspan, that the government's policies

Dude. Who do you think was the prime architect of the gov'ts policies? Who do you think kept interest rates so artificially low for years?

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (AP) -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt is being ranked the top president in U.S. history by 238 scholars surveyed by Siena College.

Roosevelt has topped each of the five presidential scholar surveys conducted by the Albany, N.Y.-area college since 1982. Theodore Roosevelt came in at No. 2 in the survey released Thursday, followed by Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Scholars ranked the 43 presidents on attributes such as integrity, intelligence, leadership and communication, as well as their accomplishments.

Lincoln's beleaguered successor, Andrew Johnson, was rated the worst president.

You don't see anything. I am for the government to get out of the loan business. However if the Democrats are going to insist upon getting their grubby little hands in the home loan business, then yes, there should be some sound and reasonable business practices put into place.

I was assigned was to assess the potential of certain mineral exploration possibilities in Latin American countries. It was a very tough project, indeed, and one of the primary considerations or conclusions of the report I submitted was the political situation and stability in each country, which overshadowed the actual geological potential in many ways, and which was actually more difficult to predict in terms of future impact on any exploration efforts we might have initiated.