Politics Plus

I have commented in several places that the way forward for Obama on jobs is to put forward a strong plan, fight for it, and dare Republicans to block it and face their constituents.  It is a true pleasure to see that great minds fall in the same ditch, as the great Bernie Sanders expressed a very similar view.

You tell ’em, Bernie!

Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke to more than 3,000 enthusiastic union leaders from across North America in Las Vegas on Wednesday at the convention of the United Steelworkers of America. Bernie focused on the need to create millions of good-paying jobs and to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Earlier in the week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi addressed the convention. President Barack Obama spoke to the membership via video.

At a time when more than 16 percent of American workers — 25 million Americans — are either unemployed or underemployed, Bernie called for a bold effort to create millions of jobs by rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, transforming our energy system and rewriting our trade policy so that American products — not jobs — are our number one export.

… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

Here’s the Video.

I also agree with rewriting our trade policy.  I would give a tax break for the purchase of domestic products and impose a duty on products from nations that have any barriers against US products.

In a slow news day we can always count on Michelle Bachmann to entertain us.  That she is a leader in the quest for the nomination speaks volumes about how weak the Republican field is.  Here’s yet another whopper for your enjoyment.

As noted earlier this week, Michele Bachmann may not be a doctor, but she certainly has an advanced degree in bullshit. Here she is on the campaign trail, trying to appease her teabagger base with some personal, revisionist history:

“We change the economy by changing the tax code. How many of you love the IRS? No! It’s time to change it. I went to work in that system because the first rule of war is ‘know your enemy.’ So I went to the inside to learn how they work because I wanted to beat them.”

But according to the biography [Batsh*t delinked] on her Congressional website:

Before holding elected office, Bachmann worked on hundreds of civil and criminal cases as a federal tax litigation attorney. Through her experience as a tax attorney, Bachmann came to understand firsthand the need to simplify the current tax code and reduce taxes on families and small businesses.

…

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

You’d think she would have learned by now that she can’t open her mouth without a fact checker showing up her outrageous lies.

The SEC needs a major overhaul.  For years, they have spent millions quietly investigation improprieties by Banksters and other financial players.  I had thought that over the years they would have compiled a virtual mountain of evidence that might be used to free America from the thralls of Bankster bondage.  I thought wrong.  The SEC has become a revolving-door cesspool of rampant corruption.

A powerful Senate investigative committee has met with and collected evidence from a Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyer who is alleging the agency illegally destroyed thousands of records of inquiries into potential Wall Street wrongdoing.

Staff members of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations have held discussions with SEC official Darcy Flynn and his lawyer, ex-SEC official Gary Aguirre, a person familiar with the matter said.

A panel spokesman declined to comment on whether there is an ongoing investigation. The Senate panel has a broad mandate to investigate government and private-sector abuses.

Flynn, a 13-year veteran of the SEC, and Aguirre claim the SEC trashed roughly 9,000 files since 1993 containing documents on inquiries into potential securities-law violations, including at several major Wall Street banks. They allege the files were destroyed routinely as a matter of SEC policy that violated federal rules, and that senior SEC officials lied about the document destruction to federal archives officials.

Aguirre raised the possibility that SEC officials could face criminal liability for allegedly trashing the documents and lying about their destruction in a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) released this week. So far, however, it appears the matter has not been referred to the Justice Department… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NASDAQ>

Keith Olbermann adds detail with Matt Taibbi on Countdown.

As this has been routine for so long, it demonstrates that both parties’ presidents have appointed facilitators, not regulators, to the SEC.  Obama has made some better choices, but has been unable to get them past Republican filibuzzards in the Senate.

As a side note, this does point out the problem with term limitations.  Solon of Athens (638 – 558 BC) was the first in recorded history to impose term limitations to fight corruption.  He failed, although politicians stopped selling out for campaign cash, because they started selling out for future employment instead.  That is what is happening at the SEC, and it is what would happen in the legislature, were term limits to be imposed.  We need 100% public financing for federal elections.

At the SEC, we need  multi-year bans to prevent SEC employment after securities industry employment and vice-versa.