On Tuesday the BOR community read about how Reg Reform legislation addresses "Consumer Finance Protection and the Derivatives Market," while on Monday the community read about the concept of "Too Big to Fail." Today I want to examine the strategies that both Party's have now engaged in with regard to Regulatory Reform. Today's edition is the third in a four part series about proposed Reg Reform Legislation.
Yesterday the BOR community read about how the current Reg Reform legislation plans to address the concept of "Too Big to Fail." Today I want to focus on the legislations efforts to craft a Consumer Finance Protection Agency and address the issue of the derivatives market. Today's edition is a second in a four part series about proposed Reg Reform Legislation.
Public Mark Up has the first two pieces of actual legislation floating around to fix our economic plight.
The Treasury Department (read Paulson) proposal is here. Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee has his proposal here.
Public Mark Up is taking comments, thoughts, and notes on each section of each proposal. Take a look, and please post first, second, third, and fourth thoughts here (and there).
It appears Sen. Biden will join Dodd in withdrawing from the race after their Iowa showing.
Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina appeared headed for second place, relegating Clinton, the former first lady, to a close third. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut dropped out after his poor showing.
[...]
Among other Democrats, Dodd, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson got little to show for their effort. It seemed possible the field would grow even smaller before New Hampshire votes on Tuesday.
This shows the issues with a front loaded calendar. Both Senators had good issues and brought experience to the campaign, especially in the realm of foreign policy.
With only one state down and 49 to go, two highly qualified men have dropped out. Even though neither got much traction, it would have been good to see both in the New Hampshire debate. This specifically benefits Clinton and Edwards who need more time to plead their case after Obama's strong showing.
The real questions are, who will the two men endorse and will they do it before the first primary in New Hampshire.
Tomorrow we will go back to our state focus, but tonight was too interesting not to write about.
A number of your were probably paying attention to the huge FISA debate today in the Senate. Chris Dodd led the effort to block a version of the bill being put up for debate which included provisions to give amnesty (retroactively, no less) to telecom companies for potentially violating privacy rights to assist government surveillance efforts. Complicated sounding for the un-initiated so for more background information you may want to go here or here.
In short, "retroactive immunity", would wipe out a series of pending lawsuits alleging violations of privacy rights by telecommunications companies that provided telephone records, summaries of e-mail traffic and other information to the government after Sept. 11, 2001, without receiving court warrants. Bush had repeatedly threatened to veto any legislation that lacked this provision.
In Sen. Dodd's opinion (and many others) that doesn't quite square with the Constitution which is why he took to the floor and was prepared to filibuster. But luckily (at least until January), the Senate has chosen not to suspend reality or the Constitution resulting in a win for Chris Dodd and the progressive movement. We can have security (which many other parts of the FISA bill grant us) without having to sacrifice our liberties and privacy.
Rick Noriega backed up those thoughts today in this rather unique statement in support of Sen. Dodd's efforts.
"On Christmas morning 2004, outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, my buddies and I drove to our base camp to use the computers. We wanted to be with our kids when they woke up that Christmas. To get there we drove through a near ambush--anytime we drove on the Jalalabad Road, it was risky, and we had an incident on our way.
That Christmas morning, I suspect the government listened to our conversations. They occurred between two countries; Afghanistan and the US. They probably didn't realize the difference in tone in my voice as I spoke to my wife and children that morning as my heart raced still from our encounter on the road. My wife did.
I fought to defend our country and our constitution in Afghanistan. I fought for the right to privacy for every Texan. Mr. Cornyn must now stand up for the privacy of every Texan and American too. We as a nation cannot grant anyone sweeping amnesty if they violated the law.
Americans understand the need for safety and the need for intelligence gathering. What they will not accept is an abuse of power, of crossing the line on American's privacy.
I would join Sen. Dodd in opposition to any retroactive provisions that allow a "get out of jail card" for violating the Constitution. If Mr. Cornyn had ever had the opportunity to have his Christmas conversation listened to by the government, on a day that he feared for his life in a convoy on Jalalabad Road, he would do the same."
I am proud to report that the Texas Democratic Party's ePrimary Poll has been a huge success. Because of your help spreading the word to our fellow Democrats, in just five short days, over 7,200 Texas Democrats have cast their vote for President!
That's over five times the number of Texas Republicans who cast their vote in last weekend's exclusive Straw Poll. And we're not done yet! With one more day left to vote, all Texas Democrats still have a chance to make their voices heard in the next presidential election.
The enormous participation in the TDP ePrimary Poll is evidence of a Democratic Party on the rise in the Lone Star State. While Texas Republicans had only third-string candidates and embarrassingly low turnout at their VIP-only Straw Poll last weekend, Democrats from every corner of the state are energized by our Party's strong field of presidential candidates and showing their excitement for 2008 in the ePrimary Poll.
Democrats believe our state and nation are better served when more people participate, and the ePrimary Poll is a way for all Texas Democrats to get involved in the primary process and weigh in as our Party selects a presidential nominee. Tell the country which Democrats you want to see take over the White House!
If you haven't voted in the ePrimary Poll, there's still time. Texas Democrats have until TOMORROW at 11:59pm to cast their vote for any one of our Democratic presidential candidates.
During the Texas Democratic Party’s recent Town Hall Tour, I traveled nearly 10,000 miles and visited with thousands of Democrats. And I am proud to report that Texas Democrats are unified, energized and eager to win in 2008!
Like most Americans, Democrats from Texarkana to El Paso are tired of George Bush’s failure and ready for a change in the White House. That’s why I am very pleased to announce that the Texas Democratic Party is holding our first-ever ePrimary Poll, a weeklong online event that will give Texas Democrats a chance to support their favorite candidate for President.
Starting today, Democrats across the Lone Star State have the opportunity to cast their vote for any of our outstanding presidential candidates at the TDP website. After Republican leaders weakened the influence of Texas voters by failing to move up our state’s primary election, the TDP is doing everything we can to ensure Texas Democrats have a say in determining the next president of the United States. Now is the time to make your voice heard!
I watched and listened to the health care forum earlier today. I recorded the show and created 7 podcast- one for each of the candidates. I had planned to be like cspan and not comment but I am opinionated. LOL
Expanding the field of progressive ideas is never easy. We are a mixed bunch with many causes and sometimes it can be tough to figure out which ones are worth going for. Here is one suggestion I will pose to my fellow Texans.
I am working with a group called the Merchants Payments Coalition, a collection of retailers from restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores. They don't have a lot in common -- their markets are diverse and sometimes competitive, but one thing they agree on happens to be something U.S. PIRG and other progressive groups have been talking about.
The issue is Interchange Fees, a very complex (this is on purpose) fee imposed by the banks that issue credit cards for MasterCard and Visa. The fee is charged directly to merchants -- so their interest should come as no surprise -- but it is important to remember that ultimately this fee gets passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices on all products.
(Vote in our poll on the right-hand side of the page. - promoted by Burnt Orange Report)
Now that Obama has officially entered the Presidential potato sack race, I think it is fitting we do a quick straw poll among BOR readers as to who they would support in the Democratic Primary at this point and time. While Edwards continues to run a slight lead in DailyKos polling, what do BOR readers think?
In the interest of my own biased science, Zogby style, I am not going to include candidates that have not announced their intentions. But I will choose "other" as an option in case you don't like anyone at the moment or you think Bill Clinton will find a way to run for office again.
