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Move Over Czars...the Master is Here...

Posted by Sue on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 3:05:12 PM
I received my daily, weekly, not sure, whenever they come in, email from the Treasury. Below is the title of the email.

Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation Kenneth R. Feinberg Testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
 
Here is the opening statement:

Mr. Chairman:

I thank you and the Committee for the opportunity to testify today.  The subject of executive compensation continues to be a top priority of the American people and the international business community, so I welcome your invitation and look forward to participating in this hearing. 

As you know, in June of this year, I was asked to serve as Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation by the Secretary of the Treasury.  In that capacity, I have a number of responsibilities under the relevant statutory and regulatory authority. These responsibilities include interpreting the regulations, and evaluating and making determinations regarding compensation payments to, and compensation structures for, certain employees of TARP recipients receiving exceptional financial assistance....
 
Who came up with this title? Okay, Special Master????
 
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In Case You Missed It...

Posted by Sue on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 2:37:07 PM
Here are some hot items you may have missed...
 
"Busy Baucus calls timeout on healthcare to 'save Christmas."
Just in time for the Christmas season, the Senate Finance Committee Chairman has introduced two pieces of legislation, known as miscellaneous tariff bills, designed specifically to spare snow globes from the tariff fees imposed when most goods are exported from the United States. One bill is for acrylic globes, the other for glass.
As a "clever" Baucus spokesman put it, "the senator has already saved healthcare reform. Now he's saving Christmas!" Oh Yipeeeeee! Christmas is saved, but wait, can we even say Christmas????
 
"New Unemployment Claims Rise More than Expected to 531,000"
The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, after falling in five of the past six weeks, as employers remain reluctant to hire even with the economy showing signs of recovery.No worries...nothing to see here...just move along...have to go campaign...
 
"New U.S. Home Sales Drop 3.6 Percent"
Sales of the new homes dropped unexpectedly last month as the effects of a soon-to-expire tax credit for first-time owners started to wane (You know that FRAUD program, I mean helpful program). It was the first decline since March. Sales in September were down 7.8 percent from a year ago. The median sales price of $204,000 was off 9.1 percent from $225,000 a year earlier, but up 2.5 percent from August's level of $199,000.
 
Laughs for the Day....Hold on...It will get Bumpy...
Every tax bill introduced by House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) is getting the onceover from the GOP, so it's no suprise they took note of a bill, introduced by Rangel and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont) cracking down on offshore tax cheats. Yes, you heard me right, tax cheats.
 
"This bill offers foreign banks a simple choice – if you wish to access our capital markets, you have to report on U.S. account holders." Of course this does not apply to me!!! These words of wisdom from Rangel prompted this response from National Republian Congressional Committee Spokesman Tory Mazzola, "Is tax-cheat Charlie Rangel really the best watchdog?...Maybe it's because he knows where the loopholes are. He's taken 'do as I say not as I do' to an embarrassing new low." 
 
And now some words from Press Secretary Gibbs...
On reponding to asking about VIP's having access to the White House and the donor list...here it comes..."the very toughest ethics and transparency rules of any administration in history." Wow – what planet is this guy one? Ethics? Transparency? Where? Who? What?
 
 
 
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What Say You Gibbs?

Posted by Sue on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 4:41:49 PM
Well, the quote of the day:
 
"The White House will get more actively engaged in the healthcare fight 'in due time."
Holy Neosporin Batman and right on. What the H*ll does this mean. When is "in due time?" After the 2012 election.
 
Also some other words from Gibbs:
"I have not heard of any specific calls that the President has made, and obviously Senator Reid is working this through the caucus. But I'm sure we'll get involved in due time. I mean, look, again, I think the President has been pretty involved in this, and as this works its way through we'll have more to do on it." Apparently him being involved was when he was going to Townhall's and touting his plan that he really did not have.
 
Well, I don't know, but I am waiting here holding my breath for the engagement!
 
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Fraud...Oh My!

Posted by Sue on Thursday, October 22, 2009 7:35:52 PM
Well, the government has proven once again how badly they can run a program. There seems to be a lot of fraud in the homebuyer tax credit program. Shocking, I say.
 
The $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers was meant to bolster the housing market. It is set to expire December 1, 2009. Lobbyists for Realtors, homebuilders and mortgage bankers are pressing lawmakers to extend to expand the program.
 
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), Senator Chris Dodd (D) and senator Johnny Isakson (R) are strong supporters of an extension or expansion, but they and others in the House and Senate have yet to settle on a single way of continuing the program.
 
Today lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee "zeroed" in on fraud in the program. According to a new report from the Treasury Inspector General for tax administration, the program lacked important rules and requirements in its early implementation that have contributed to potential fraud. Fantastic!
 
A real highlight that will make steam come out of your head, "The IRS did not require taxpayers to provide documentation to substantiate the purchase of a home." Say what? WTH? Deja Vu all over again. We learn nothing.
 
The report found more than 70,000 taxpayers whose returns were processed by the government prior to new rules and filters. Another nearly 50,000 taxpayers did not claim the full amount that they were eligible for under the program.
 
"We will hear today that taxpayers claiming the credit include those already owned a home, who had not yet bought a home, and who are children – some as young as 4 years old." Rep. John Lewis (D-GA).
 
Lewis continued on, "There are millions of dollars that have been paid to taxpayers who are not entitled to the credit. We want to, and need to, stop this fraud and abuse."
 
Isn't that special. Maybe my dog could have bought a new home!
 
UPDATE
 
As a result of loopholes and numerous faulty reporting mechanisms, more than 500 people used their children to apply for the credit to get around income caps a requirement that they never purchased a home.
 
The total in fraud costs is standing at about a half a billion dollars. Yes, our tax dollars at work.
 
Also noted and found were nearly 20,000 returns for people who may not have actually purchased a home, thousands for people who already owned homes, more than 3,200 who could not prove they lived in this country legally and of course 53 IRS agents who took advantage of the program (and the number could rise).
 
According to the report, 1.4 families have claimed nearly $10 billion in credits, but that the speed of implementing the program meant policing fraud was at first unacceptably poor. No way, really. How about nobody read the bill.
 
Lame quote came from, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), "If Congress decides to extend the homebuyer credit, both Chairman Lewis and I believe Congress should consider reasonable proposal to reduce fraud and improve the IRS' ability to administer the credit."
Say what? What do you mean "consider?" There is no considering here.
 
The Treasury has 107,000 civil cases related to the homebuyer credit, and plans special audits for thousands of additional returns. Well, isn't that swell. Geithner is on the case.
 
We are here from the government and we are here to help...Let the fraud begin.
 
 
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What Say You Harry?

Posted by Sue on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 3:12:23 PM
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has told colleagues that he was given bad information by the American Medical Association (AMA), which will result in a significant setback to Democrats’ healthcare reform strategy.
 
Democrats are not expected to have the votes to pass a 10-year freeze of scheduled cuts to doctors' Medicare payments, according to sources in both parties. Reid had offered to pass the "doctors' fix" in return for support from the doctors on President Barack Obama's broader healthcare initiative, which is slated for the Senate floor later this year.
 
Well, holy band-aid Batman, now what?????
 
Full Story: Harry's Woes
 

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In Case You Missed It...

Posted by Sue on Tuesday, October 06, 2009 10:03:17 PM
Here are some highlights of some things you may have missed.
 
Attorney General Holder stated today that it will be diffifult to meet the January 22, 2010 deadline to close GITMO.
You think? I thought it was supposed to be so easy...

Gold hits an all time high, $1036.40 per ounce as the dollar slips.
 
Safe School Czar (another one), Kevin Jennings criticizes schools for promoting heterosexuality "because we read Romeo and Juliet."
Oh good grief. Another award winner.
 
From CA...Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street announced that about 60,000 to 70,000 local property owners got tax bills last week that erroneaously said they still owed property taxes – even though they already paid them with their montly mortgage payment.
Wonder how much money was spent on postage?
 
Remember GE....Former GE CEO, Jack Welch, finally home after 92 days in the hospital battling discitis. 
Speedy recovery to him.
 
The White House will keep the Olympic offices open. The office is permanant and has other purposes other than helping the U.S. cities bid for the Olympics.
And those purposes would be?
 
A mining co. owned in part by Goldman Sachs is in line to get $3M earmark, raising questions as to why.
Nothing to see here...just move along.
 
The Vice President will visit three NATO allies, Poland, Romania, and Czech Republic, from October 20-24. During the visit, the Vice President will meet with heads of state and government, parliamentary leaders, other political figures, and representatives of civil society to discuss a broad range of issues - including expanding trade and investment, strengthening democracy, and cooperating to meet common security challenges both bilaterally and through NATO. Additional details on the Vice President’s trip will be released at a later date.
Where is the Secretary of State? Is Biden the foreign policy Czar?
 
ACORN speaks: Any successful efforts to cut off funding for the group would have little effect, says its CEO.
Well, then lets give all of the money back to the tax payers that has been given to you lovely people.

 

 

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What Say You Baucus?

Posted by Sue on Thursday, October 01, 2009 10:40:52 PM
 “Baucus claims it's too difficult to put health care bill online” 

Fighting off a Republican request he noted it would take a couple weeks.  And these are the people who will run a massive overhaul in Health Care Reform.  We could probably find thousands of teen agers who can do that in hours. Okay, you can't put this up on the web, but you can run a health care plan? Sure....
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Olympics Away.....

Posted by Sue on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 4:45:02 AM
So Obama is going off with Michelle and the gang to Copenhagen. How nifty for him. And he had to make that "push" stop in Chicago. Is there really nothing else going on in our country? Did I miss the memo that all was right with the world and that things really are all lollipops and rainbows?
 
"President Obama will join First Lady Michelle Obama, who will be leading the United States delegation to Copenhagen. Mrs. Obama will arrive in Copenhagen on Wednesday, September 30, along with Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and head of the White House Office on Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport," the administration announced.
 
"The President decided over the weekend that he wanted be a part of the final push as we enter the home stretch. He did not want to leave any stone unturned. He is very excited about joining the First Lady for both the final presentation and the question and answer session. The Olympic spirit is about giving it your very best down to finish line and not taking anything for granted.
 
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Got Stamps?

Posted by Sue on Friday, September 18, 2009 11:09:37 PM
Well, the last few months we heard how great the Post Office is or isn't.
 
So, here is a highlight of the Post Office in action. David Almasi describes his fun with the Post Office in D.C. back in August 2009. (Almasi works at the National Center for Public Policy Research blog.)
 
Almasi was trying to secure postage for a large mailing campaign. Almasi and his co-workers could not find a single Post Office in D.C. that could sell them 3,000 stamps. Not even the official stamp store to the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, which by the way celebrates the ability of mailmen to deliver to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and to the front lines during wartime, and also has a vault system to handle the valuable bulk quantities of stamps, could not spare 3,000 44-cent stamps. Nope not a square to spare.
 
And what caused this "no square to spare.?" According to some of the counter staff, there is a new district manager overseeing post offices in the area. This manager is setting a limit on how many stamps any one post office can have at any one time. Therefore, area post offices are being forced to ration their stamps. So, Almasi was turned away from buying his 3,000 stamps due to lack of resources.
 
So, lets all ration stamps. What next? Wait, I don't want to know. Hello Fed Ex and UPS.....
 
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Yeah...Another Book Cometh

Posted by Sue on Tuesday, September 08, 2009 5:27:37 AM
Now is the time to mark your calendars for the end of the month and the new arrival of a book....Barney Frank, The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jew Congressman. Yes, Barney Frank has written a book, okay another guy did, but it his autobiography.
 
Lets take a peak at some of those page turning highlights....Here we go....
 
Frank is intersted in capping his political career as a member of the president's cabinet. Oh yeah! Frank would like to be the Housing and Urban Development secretary. But Frank insists that his departure from Congress is not imminent. Super!
Frank is interested in first passing more legislation on affordable housing. In his own words, "I want at least two years with President Obama and a solidly Democratic Senate so that we can get the federal government back in the housing business." Hey buddy, you are in the freaking housing business....you know those two wonderfully sound companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and now Ginnie Mae...get a life and then some.
 
Of course Frank has stressed that no president as ever appointed an openly gay man or woman to the cabinet and he would like to be the first one.
 
Frank talks in the book how he struggled as a gay man growing up in blue-collar, Bayonne, New Jersey. He dated women throughout high school and college, but knew he was gat at 13. That is a diary moment. He delayed his reveal of his sexuality until he had established a foothold in the House.
 
This wonderful page turner is 501 pages. And of course the "most riveting" part of the book (or so we are told) is Frank's "recollection" of his ethics scandal, when he paid a male prostitute for sex. Hmmm...wonder what that recollection was....I was not there, it really wasn't me...
 
Bet you did not know that Barney pumped gas as a teenager at his father's truck stop in New Jersey. Beep! Beep! He formally changed his name from Barnett to Barney and was an avid baseball and tennis player. This is a suspenseful page turner in the making, I say!
 
Frank does acknowledge in this page turner that he had some missteps in crafting the 2008 financial bail out, saying the measure gave the Treasury secretary too much discretion in how to use the funds. But he "asserts" that passing the legislation was necessary.
 
The writer of this hard core novel, Weisberg, state that "the best of times is now for Barney. The 15-term member is at the top of his game as a lawmaker and a deal-maker." Really? He feels comfortable with who he is and he is no longer emotionally isolated. Well whoopee!
 
"I am what I am, sort of like Popeye." So Frank says....
 
So, don't walk nor stagger, get your feet in gear and go get this hot item. Coming to a book store near you at the end of the month! Help us all!
 
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Fannie, Freddie...What Next?

Posted by Sue on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 7:04:35 AM
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are financially sound," so said Barney Frank. Well, hey they weren't. And now we the tax payers pretty much own Fannie and Freddie. Just makes your toes tingle and you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Were we actually surprised when they collapsed, no not really. Were we surprised when they followed in their footsteps of their spawn child Sallie Mae, in which she did the same stuff with student loans, and crumbled, not really.
 
Well, this year the Mae's can add a new family member to the Christmas card. Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome....Ginnie Mae. That's right, a cousin has arrived and with bells on I might add.
 
Ginnie Mae stands tall and proud with the Government National Mortgage Association. Super!
 
Ginnie's mission is to bundle, guarantee and then sell mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which by the way it is Uncle Sam's home mortgage shop. Ginnie's spawness, I mean growth, came out of the FHA's spectacular growth. Hee! Hee!
 
The FHA now insures $560 billion in mortgages – quadruple the amount in 2006. In today's land, nine out of every 10 new mortgages now carry a federal taxpayer guarantee. Whoopee!!! 
 
And for anyone keeping score at home, if housing values continue to slide and 10% of FHA loans end up in default, taxpayers will be on the hook for another $50 to $60 billion of mortgage losses. Get the piggy bank ready to be cracked wide open.
 
So, stand up and cheer, you are the proud owner of another company...Ginnie Mae. Thank you and good night!
 
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What Say You Obama?

Posted by Sue on Thursday, August 06, 2009 1:01:45 PM
This should be played on every television station every night. I would like to hear waht he has to say. Maybe someone can ask Gibbs what he thinks about this. Newsflash – there was no real debate on anything, except the health care and you can' handle that....

"When you rush these budgets that are a foot high, and nobody has any idea what's in them and nobody has read them ... and it gets rushed through without any clear deliberations or debate. Then, these kinds of things happen, and I think this is, in some ways, what happened to the Patriot Act. I mean, you remember there was no real debate about that. It was so quick after 9/11 that it was introduced that people felt very intimidated by the administration." 
Obama 2004
 
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Close the Freezer Door and Go.....

Posted by Sue on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 5:59:38 PM

Former Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) has been convicted on 11 of 16 criminal counts in the freezer cash case.

But on the count related to that $90,000 in his freezer, he actually was not found guilty.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune has more:

In the 16-count indictment, Jefferson was charged with soliciting bribes and other crimes for a series of schemes in which he helped American businesses broker deals in West African in exchange for payments or financial considerations to companies controlled by members of his family, including his brother Mose, his wife, Andrea, their five daughters and a son-in-law.

Jefferson, who represented the New Orleans-based 2nd Congressional District for nine terms, will now face sentencing by Judge T.S. Ellis III, who earlier meted out stiff sentences for lesser figures in the case. According to the U.S. attorney's office, Jefferson faced 235 years in prison if convicted on all counts, and will still face substantial prison time.

The verdict comes four years after the Aug. 3, 2005 raids of Jefferson's homes in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., in which the FBI found $90,000 in cash hidden in the freezer of his D.C. home, money the government said Jefferson was going to deliver as a bribe to Atiku Abubakar, then vice president of Nigeria, to gain his help with a telecommunications deal in Nigeria being pursued by Lori Mody, a Northern Virginia businesswoman.

The money was the lion's share of $100,000 in FBI cash that the congressman was videotaped receiving packed in a briefcase days earlier in a suburban Virginia parking lot from Mody, who, beginning in March of 2005, had become a cooperating witness for the FBI, secretly taping her conversations with Jefferson.

The jury did not find him guilty on the Foreign Corruptions Practices Act, which was the count linked to the money in the freezer.
 
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Signs the Economy is Bad...

Posted by Sue on Tuesday, August 04, 2009 6:20:29 AM
I got this from a friend and decided to pass it along.

Signs the economy is bad
 
12. CEOs are now playing miniature golf.
 
11. I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
 
10. I went to buy a toaster oven and they gave me a bank.
 
9. Hotwheels and Matchbox car companies are now trading higher than GM in the stock market.
 
8. Obama met with small businesses - GE, Pfizer, Chrysler, Citigroup and GM to discuss the Stimulus Package.
 
7. McDonalds is selling the 1/4-ouncer.
 
6. People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and are learning their children's names.

5. The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.

4. People in Africa are donating money to Americans. Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, "finish your plate; do you know how many kids are starving in America ?"

3. Motel Six won't leave the lights on.

2. The Mafia is laying off judges.

And the number one indicator ...

1. If the bank returns your check marked as "insufficient funds," you have to call and ask if they meant you or them.
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More Words From DC

Posted by Sue on Sunday, August 02, 2009 8:22:06 PM
And now a few word from DC
"I've become increasingly concerned that the focus on the past, especially in Congress, threatens to distract the CIA from its crucial core missions: intelligence collection, analysis and covert action," Panetta wrote in an op-ed piece published in the online edition of The Washington Post.
You might not realize this, but you are the Director of the CIA. Tell Pelosi to stuff it and get out there and support your people.
 
"I think if we get a good public option it could lead to single payer, and that's the best way to reach single payer," the Massachusetts Democrat, Barney Frank, said in remarks reported by The Hill newspaper.
How about we let Barney and his friends be the first to go on this whopping plan? Please feel free to join.
 
"The glory days are coming to an end for the health insurance industry in our country." Pelosi told reporters on Friday.
Oh glory, glory...stop the madness. Is she going to return the money they have given to her?
 
"As far as I’m concerned, we will not have a recovery as long as we keep losing jobs," Obama asserted. "And I won’t rest until every American who wants a job can find one."
I will not rest, but I will take vacations, drink beer in the rose garden, campaign and push my health care plan, etc.....He better have tons of No-Doz on hand, because jobs are still being lost.
 
Geithner says "the administration will do "what's necessary" to revive the economy, and doesn't rule out new taxes. But he does say no to TARP II."
Well, how lucky for us. No TARP II. Thanks Tim! 
 
"I should have been funnier in the kitchen of my house on July 16.," Professor Gates on his arrest. 
I guess I missed the joke on this one.
 
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