Politics Plus

Republicans  don’t seem to want a little thing like the destruction of the Gulf of Mexico to interfere with the profits of the corporations that own them.  Haley Barbour is a prime example:

As dumb as Haley Barbour’s oil spill denialism sounded, and as silly as Fox’s Bill Hemmer looked when he defended Barbour, the Barbour’s stupidest comments came when he joined Bobby Jindal in demanding an expansion of dangerous deepwater drilling.

 

Let’s take your points one-by-one, Haley:

1. "In the last 50 years, the four states that allow offshore drilling on the gulf, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama — more than 30,000 wells have been drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first time in that more than 30,000 we have ever had anything like this happen." Um, Haley, you’re looking at the biggest environmental disaster in American history. If you want to base your argument on the offshore drilling industry’s safety track record, you can’t just brush it to the side — especially when we’re now pushing new frontiers.
2. "These big oil rigs — by the way, B.P. and Transocean are not even American companies." So you think that we should trust foreign companies to mine our natural resources?
3. "In six months, these oil rigs aren’t going to be sitting around the gulf waiting. They’re going to be in west Africa." Trust me, if there’s oil in the Gulf, and we can drill it safely, we’ll have no problem finding somebody willing to do the work. Maybe even a domestic company.
4. "About 30 percent of America’s production of oil and gas coming out of the Gulf of Mexico." Actually, 8% of America’s daily liquid fuel production comes from the Gulf (and 10% of crude oil), and none of that will be impacted by the moratorium, which applies to new drilling, not existing production sites.
5. "And the loss of production that we’re going to suffer will make us even more dependent on the Middle East, on Venezuela, on people that aren’t our friends." See #4, and then answer this: why, Haley, are you opposed to a massive national effort to develop alternative sources of energy that we can produce domestically?
6. "And let me tell you one other little thing environmentalists ought to think about. Of the 10 worst oil spills in American history, seven of them were from ships." I haven’t fact-checked that, but even it’s true, the largest spill — by far — was from deepwater exploration. You can’t simply ignore that.

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Inserted from <Daily Kos>

As I considered the problem yesterday, afternoon, I had a 💡 moment.  I suddenly realized that I have been inaccurately thinking of the GOP Gusher in two dimensions.  The sane view is to respond to it as a three dimensional problem.  Last night I saw two segments that endorse that view.

The first is from Rachel Maddow with Dr. Samantha Joye.

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The second is from Keith Olbermann with Philippe Cousteau.

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As sad as it is, I accept that the technology to prevent the damage we can see on the surface will ideally capture 20% of the surface oil.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

We need to save everything we can, but we also need to go to work to learn how to restore the environment, including the part we can’t see, which is the majority of the damage.

Captain Kirk is going where no man has gone before!

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There’s a special word for anyone who lies so much: Republican.

This week the House and Senate will appoint their conferees and begin work to merge the House and Senate versions of Financial Reform.  The stakes for America are high.  This article by Robert Kuttner previews the key issues:

…Despite the David-Goliath nature of this fight, a lot of good provisions are in either the House or Senate bills, and the challenge will be to make sure that the final law includes the stronger rather than the weaker version. Among the key fights:

Derivatives: Senator Blanche Lincoln’s language requiring that all derivatives trades be cleared on public exchanges, that no banking company with deposit insurance may also trade derivatives, and that sundry other loopholes be closed, survived fierce industry opposition and only lukewarm support from the administration. Whether or not Lincoln wins her own primary Tuesday, this measure has increasing support of House and Senate progressives. A companion measure by Sen. Maria Cantwell, which did not make it into the senate bill, would close more loopholes and require adequate capital for all such trades. This approach now appears to have the support of both Senate Banking Chair Chris Dodd and House Chair Barney Frank, as well as Gary Gensler on behalf of the administration. Banks want to continue their gambling games, and this is the number one target of the big banks to kill.

Consumer Protection: The House bill includes a free standing consumer financial protection agency, but it would be hobbled by the requirement that it report to a committee as well as limits on its jurisdiction. The Senate version nests the proposed agency as an independent body inside the Federal Reserve, but without many of the restrictions. This is one of the few provisions that enjoys the hands-on personal support of President Obama. The challenge of the conference is to retain the best features of both bills.

Credit Rating Agencies: It was the corruption of credit rating agencies that made possible the sub-prime meltdown. Reform of these private agencies, such as Moody’s and Standard and Poors, was not even part of the original legislation. But a surprise amendment by Sen. Al Franken requiring random assignment of agency ratings rather than payment of the agencies by clients narrowly passed the Senate and was included in the bill. There is no House counterpart, and industry is gunning for this one. But the House does provide that credit rating agencies are legally liable for deceptive practices.

Cover Auto Dealers: New and used car dealers are among the most notorious purveyors of deceptive bait-and-switch financing. But the auto industry, which operates in every congressional district, worked with Senate Republicans on a parliamentary maneuver to win an exemption for car dealers; a similar provision is in the House bill. There is an outside chance that this could be reversed. Both Dodd and Frank are sympathetic to reversing this outrageous carve-out.

Bring Back Glass-Steagall: Among the crucially important provisions that did not make it into either final bill is the Merkley-Levin amendment which would draw a bright line separating taxpayer-insured commercial banks from financial firms that gamble and trade derivatives and other risky other securities for their own accounts (the "Volcker Rule.") There is still a decent chance that this could make it into the final bill.

Break up the Biggest Banks: Another key provision that developed significant support but that was defeated in a floor right was the Brown-Kaufman amendment to limit the percent of deposits held by any one bank, and thereby break up the biggest banks. But this measure will be back another day.

Duty to Clients: Among the most instructive revelations of the hearings, investigations and debates was the disclosure that big Wall Street houses routinely bet against their own customers. An amendment providing that investment banks have a fiduciary duty to their clients was not included in the final senate bill, but has increasing support.

Fix the Mortgage Mess: The House and Senate bills both have modest reforms to tighten mortgage standards but no major breakthrough to end the logjam on refinancing distressed mortgages so that besieged homeowners can keep their homes. This is also a fight for another day.

Despite its limitations, the financial bill is a start that progressives need to defend. Given where we began, this process has come a long way. At the outset, the administration was backing a far weaker bill. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank was hobbled by the presence of fifteen pro-industry "New Democrats" on his committee who weakened the bill at every opportunity. As recently as March, Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd was on the verge of making a bipartisan deal with Committee Republicans for a measure that would have been reform in name only.

But as the public has begun paying more attention, as AFR has grown into the most effective financial reform coalition ever; and as heroic progressive legislators have moved their colleagues, the bill has gotten better over time. Other progressive leaders such as Elizabeth Warren and AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka have pushed public opinion, key legislators, and the Obama Administration. All of this is no small achievement, given how esoteric most of these issues are to most voters… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

On Derivatives, I predicted that conference would be delayed until after Lincoln’s primary runoff and that her amendment would then  Please let me be wrong on that!  It needs to stay.  We need an independent CFPA without the rules in the House version.  Support the Franken Amendment reforming the selection of credit rating agencies.  Auto Dealers should be covered, but I don’t expect it.  Glass-Steagall should be added, but won’t.  Breaking up TBTF banks should be included, but won’t.  Clients should be informed if their banks are betting against then, but won’t.

Tomorrow, the conferees will be selected.  If your Senator or Representative is one of them, call them.  Ask them to support these issues please.

I hope this has helped make the subject a little less esoteric.