It’s likely that as they huddle in the back room deciding who’s going to be the bad guy, those who are not facing the electorate in November will draw the short sticks.

Makes sense. Opening those books stands to embarrass (at least) some very powerful people. Good. Give them a healthy dose of sunlight and watch ‘em scurry like cockroaches.

Just listening to Geithner being questioned by Wyden, refused to say that bank customers have the right to know if the company is betting against an investment they’re urging on them.

Just disgusting.

I’m sure that looks shouldn’t matter, but Geithner appears to be sly and crafty. I don’t trust him at all.

Geithner is nothing more than a rapacious thief.

Just got off the phone with Herb Kohl’s (DINO-WI) office. Herb has not made up his mind about auditing the Fed.

Herb has not made up his mind about auditing the Fed.

In other words, he’s waiting to see the how much he can drive up the size of the bribes before he decides against opening the books.

dog forbid we get to see behind the curtain.

McCaskill, Durbin, Kohl, Hagan, Pryor, Tester, Casey

all extremely reliable WH surrogates

although freshmen Udall, Begich, & Merkley could easily fall under WH sway if pressed

In matters of economics (and many other issues), by now the Democrats in Congress (and certainly those who call themselves “progressives”), must realize that it isn’t in their best interests to follow the corporate neo-liberal President and his administration. Will be interesting to see the final votes.

Why would we want to audit the Fed when we could just pass Dodd’s bill instead. Obviously Dodd is on the side of your average Americans and low-income Americans. And his bill is fixing everything. So we should just go with the Dodd bill and not be distracted by audits.

Yes.

Audit the pentagon too!

Citizen Hamsher:

Is there a House bill? If Reid is makin’ noises about gettin’ bankin’ reform done by next week and there is “bi-partisan” support for a Fed audit (at least from the lunatic Paulite faction) it seems to me that with the issues hangin’ out there and the November elections looming, the politics of this sets up very nicely for Congress to estanblish it’s own power center in the face of the White House. We already have the beginning of a real progressive coalition in the House with Latinos, labor and a few “safe” progressives so if Reid really wants to save his electoral ass and get his seat back in the Fall he will get in bed with Sanders and a few fascist lunatics, ram a finance bill through with no 60 vote thresholds on amendments and get an immigration bill to the floor before June. If there is a successful insurrection in the Senate then we have power centers in both houses that can direct legislative policy.

These fraudsters are at war with the American people and even Congress. Poor people getting uppity mortgages and Congress is to blame. Wall street has the grown ups who get huge bonuses for their brilliant understanding of economics. Reform is dangerous. Funky financial instruments remain funky.

A top executive at JPMorgan Chase told clients Monday that senators displayed “an unnerving ignorance of fundamental principles of market economics”

“Reform is dangerous–it produces unintended consequences–if we don’t understand the connection between incentives and economic behavior.

“Folks may like to hear that someone else is to blame for the mistakes they made, but everyone knows–including those who bought houses far beyond what they could afford and then walked when the promise of endless capital gains died and including the investors who bought funky financial instruments that enabled the housing bubble out west and in Florida to inflate–that Wall Street isn’t the only culprit in the housing debacle.

“Sir, Goldman was no more culpable in the housing debacle than Congress…

“Now that the financial reform debate is in the final innings, it’s time for the grownups to step in.”

P.S. This is what I have been hollerin’ about out here in the wilderness…it seems to me that the only way to break the corporate control of the White House and both party national structures is to cultivate lasting coalitions in both houses that can stand up to the White House instead of tryin’ ta play games with the lunatic Paulites and fake libertarians from issue to issue.

WHEW! at least murray and cantwell aren’t doing anything to jeopardize their hard fought reputations as go along get along doormats!

can you imagine if they stood for anything important, AND,

WOW – fought for it!

then the righties would lie, then the dems would start their diaper messing cuz the david gergens-boorks-broders might say that the dems aren’t nice and aren’t bipartisan, then the fake independents and fake middle would be persuaded by the relentless righty lies and the relentless dem diaper shitting,

then we’d have AHIP-Care !! LOMG!

/snark tag, for the really stupid.

rmm.

Right on, though I suspect they are still looking for the 2.3 trillion$ Rumsfeld said could not be accounted for a few hours before 9/11. *g*

This has to be hands-down the dumbest thing that I’ve ever watched Rahm do. There’s no way that the public isn’t going to figure out we’ve been screwed if the Fed isn’t audited.

And even if we are now in an oligarchy, there’s still a certain level of public support necessary to keep a civil society functioning.

I’m generally the apologist around here for Rahm [or name your Elected]. But this is hands-down the dumbest political move that I’ve seen in years.

It’s so dumb that I can’t even begin to fathom it.
And it’s turning the Fed into political poison on a scale undreamed of even a few weeks ago.

Baseline Scenario yesterday had an anecdote from Michael Lewis, who is on a book tour for “The Big Short“. Evidently, he’s describing ‘angry professionals’ turning up at his book signings; people who ‘played by the rules’ only to wake up and see Wall Street laughing at all of us, and we’re pissed. That’s exactly what I’ve seen in recent weeks; so why is the WH willing to piss off the very people who were writing campaign contributions to Obama?

This sure seems like a political version of ‘an underwater volcano spewing [toxicity]‘.

The public distrust is going to be phenomenal.
On that level alone, Rahm’s conduct is just bizarre.

Rahm Emanuel is working AGAINST this sensible bill?

But…but…aren’t Democrats the good guys?

ha ha ha ha ha ha…belated April Fool’s!

For this much of your comment, Norske:

P.S. This is what I have been hollerin’ about out here in the wilderness…it seems to me that the only way to break the corporate control of the White House and both party national structures is to cultivate lasting coalitions in both houses that can stand up to the White House…

I say, AMEN.

On the floor dynamics of the amending process for this legislation, in a comment I just made here I tried to explain how the Democrats can quite easily avoid, if they want to, both the need for unanimous consent for a vote on the Audit the Fed amendment, and a 60-vote threshold for it in the absence of a real filibuster.

The villains rotate but the victims always stay the same: us.

Notice how everyone here is blaming Rahm? Rahm doesn’t pee without instructions from O.

This is O doing the bidding of his “savvy guy” buddies…err…bosses.

“There’s no way that the public isn’t going to figure out we’ve been screwed if the Fed isn’t audited.”

Sigh… much as I would LOVE to agree with you on that statement, with respect, I totally disagree. I doubt that the public will notice one blessed thing in re to auditing the Fed, esp given that we have that there “natural” disaster in the Gulf, plus the “terrorist” attack in NYC. There’s loads of things to distract from this reality.

Nope, don’t think we can count on the “public” to notice or care much about this. Just ain’t that sexy. I would love to be proven wrong, however.

Great post Jane!

You can email your Senator and tell him/her to audit the Fed at http://www.BanksterUSA.org

Michael Lewis made a very, very interesting observation and FWIW, his observation synchs with what I’ve seen: ‘professionals’ (accountants, attorneys, educators) read a lot, they check their retirement accounts. They realize their savings have plummeted, despite all their savings.

Will the entire public wake up? No.
Will that part of the public that tends to be involved in local organizations and governance wake up? They have started, and it will only get worse.

I cannot fathom Rahm’s objective.
He’s making entire social groups who pay attention, who have resources, and who ‘played by the rules’ have to ask themselves why the WH is in collusion with hiding fraud.
Bizarre.

“Revolving villains.” and other tools, mascots notably Sanders,, Honerary …”socialist” how does he exist other than as a clown and token? Dennis give back any money, or is he hiding.. out of sight out of mind. out of favor..

I wonder if it is getting to a point that just plain doing what they want and putting it right in the puplics faces that it doesn’t have to be popular anymore. Flagrant errogance can be the auxillary message. It works to pave a way for further coming attractions.

Rambo Rahm… Man in tights… He don’t look so smart sometimes, like when he was on tv talking about his plans or dreams of running for the Mayor of wind city. Tinkerbell with a mean side…

Rahm has no objective. He pursues Obama’s objective. Which is to protect the banking cartel at all costs. The WH is in collusion with hiding fraud because the WH is part of the fraud. Obama is expendable. If the increasingly impotent electorate manages to turn him out the cartel will have provided the money and the corporate media the rationale that installs his successor.

Forgive me but as I seem to remember the ww1 and part 2, were about finance, and they were cataclismic and considered at one point to be “the war to end wars” But that was even then at a time when cavalry still was a piece of it, and not yet did they even have the tools of destruction, bad as it was, mechanized, machine gun, tank, gas, infuenza strains. etc.

If it was finance then, and you see where finance is headed again, Not toward these little police actions in bananastans etc, but another world war. Now with all the tools to really bring on the end.

We haven’t (I have not, yet,) heard any thoughts that the oil blowout is other than an industrial accident, ( some bs by Limp bat,to the side,) but it must be in the minds of those with hate in their eyes, that such accidents could be on purpose. like in the gulf w 1.

Not only the weapons but the envirenmental fragility is held hostage now, and the world allows these hollow shirts to ponce around even in mock of leadership. Why don’t the puppet masters step out of the shadows? Are they really David Icke’s 7 ft. tall green geckoes like, Where did the humans go wrong?

This is still good news:

But this rapid growth is based on more than just a feel-good mentality. An emerging body of economic research shows that doing business with local independents is the fastest way to restart and reshape our economy. Civic Economics, a leading research firm, published the LocalWorks study, commissioned by LocalFirst in Grand Rapids, MI. That study revealed that a 10% Shift from non-local to local purchasing would provide significant and fast economic paybacks. If the 600,000 people in the Grand Rapids metro area shifted 10%, they would:

* Create 1,600 new jobs, reducing unemployment by .5%
* Create 53 million in new wages
* Create 137 million in new economic activity for the region

The study results have since been replicated in New Orleans, and spawned the 10% Shift campaign in New England, and now in more than 10 US States.

You all seem to forget that if this does somehow squeak through, the Corporate Stoogie one in Chief can issue his Bambi veto.

Well, maybe, but I suspect the rotating villains necessary can be found to save him the embarrassment.

I cannot fathom Rahm’s objective.

At a guess, a large private island with Blackwater security.

Have you moved your money to a smaller bank?
Do you pay attention to where you shop and what you buy?

I agree that as individuals it is easy to feel ‘powerless’, but I don’t buy that as a reason to throw up my hands.

If 10,000,000 Americans took their money out of BoA and/or WF and/or any other bank this week, it would ‘send a message’. There’s a lot of cleanup work to be done. Feeling powerless is not going to help.

Have you called your Senators offices?
Because they do track the number of calls, and what people are asking about.

I have no idea what Rahm is up to, but I doubt that he’s dumb enough to throw in his interests with Eric Prince. Whether I like Rahm is beside the point; I don’t think he’s that dumb.

But I do see his actions on protecting the Fed as shooting the Admin in the foot. It doesn’t make sense in terms of public opinion, as near as I can tell.

….Or maybe he’s got a plot on the Bush ranch in Paraguay? Who knows. Perfect country, where many ex fascist strongmen go to live out their quiet years. Nice consulting jobs available on repressing peasants, and advancing the cause of plutocracy. And no laws at all to speak of. At least not any applied to the rich. It’s a Rahm/Bambi/Bushie/Cheney kind of place, to get away from those annoying American sefs who are too dumb just to accept their place in the grand scheme of things and cut Rahm’s grass without complaining.

Rahm’s objective is to do damage. To destroy. And to take. Above all to take for himself. As much as he can carry, and then more. Rahm exists to hurt other people and enrich himself. He does both with pleasure, happy in his work.

I got e-mail from Kay Hagan just today saying she wouldn’t be supporting an audit. Quotes from her e-mail, with my (somewhat snarky) comments, are here.

Not for the first time, my junior senator has left me with the feeling that she believes I am a complete and total idiot.