GAO audit of the Federal Reserve Board’s emergency loan programs and actions during the recent financial crisis

GAO audit of the Federal Reserve Board’s emergency loan programs and actions during the recent financial crisis

http://www.scribd.com/doc/75285818/GAO-audit-of-the-Federal-Reserve-Board%E2%80%99s-emergency-loan-programs-and-actions-during-the-recent-financial-crisis-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9CFederal-Reserve-System-Opportuniti

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2011/12/gao-audit-of-federal-reserve-boards.html

Labels: Bus Econ 2008 Subprime Crisis, Bus Econ Federal Reserve Board, Business Economics, US Govt GAO

Federal Reserve System: Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Policies and Processes for Managing Emergency Assistance  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696

GAO-11-696 July 21, 2011

Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 266 pages)   Accessible Text   Recommendations (HTML)

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696

Summary The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act directed GAO to conduct a one-time audit of the emergency loan programs and other assistance authorized by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board) during the recent financial crisis.  This report examines the emergency actions taken by the Federal Reserve Board from December 1, 2007, through July 21, 2010. For each of these actions, where relevant, GAO's objectives included a review of (1) the basis and purpose for its authorization, as well as accounting and financial reporting internal controls; (2) the use, selection, and payment of vendors; (3) management of conflicts of interest; (4) policies in place to secure loan repayment; and (5) the treatment of program participants. To meet these objectives, GAO reviewed program documentation, analyzed program data, and interviewed officials from the Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Banks (Federal Reserve System). On numerous occasions in 2008 and 2009, the Federal Reserve Board invoked emergency authority under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 to authorize new broad-based programs and financial assistance to individual institutions to stabilize financial markets. Loans outstanding for the emergency programs peaked at more than $1 trillion in late 2008. The Federal Reserve Board directed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) to implement most of these emergency actions. In a few cases, the Federal Reserve Board authorized a Reserve Bank to lend to a limited liability corporation (LLC) to finance the purchase of assets from a single institution. In 2009 and 2010, FRBNY also executed large-scale purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities to support the housing market. The Reserve Banks' and LLCs' financial statements, which include the emergency programs' accounts and activities, and their related financial reporting internal controls, are audited annually by an independent auditing firm. These independent financial statement audits, as well as other audits and reviews conducted by the Federal Reserve Board, its Inspector General, and the Reserve Banks' internal audit function, did not report any significant accounting or financial reporting internal control issues concerning the emergency programs. The Reserve Banks, primarily FRBNY, awarded 103 contracts worth $659.4 million from 2008 through 2010 to help carry out their emergency activities. A few contracts accounted for most of the spending on vendor services. For a significant portion of the fees, program recipients reimbursed the Reserve Banks or the fees were paid from program income. The Reserve Banks relied more extensively on vendors for programs that assisted a single institution than for broad-based programs. Most of the contracts, including 8 of the 10 highest-value contracts, were awarded noncompetitively, primarily due to exigent circumstances. These contract awards were consistent with FRBNY's acquisition policies, but the policies could be improved by providing additional guidance on the use of competition exceptions, such as seeking as much competition as practicable and limiting the duration of noncompetitive contracts to the exigency period. To better ensure that Reserve Banks do not miss opportunities to obtain competition and receive the most favorable terms for services acquired, GAO recommends that they revise their acquisition policies to provide such guidance. FRBNY took steps to manage conflicts of interest for its employees, directors, and program vendors, but opportunities exist to strengthen its conflict policies. In particular, FRBNY expanded its guidance and monitoring for employee conflicts, but new roles assumed by FRBNY and its employees during the crisis gave rise to potential conflicts that were not specifically addressed in the Code of Conduct or other FRBNY policies. For example, FRBNY's existing restrictions on its employees' financial interests did not specifically prohibit investments in certain nonbank institutions that received emergency assistance. To manage potential conflicts related to employees' holdings of such investments, FRBNY relied on provisions in its code that incorporate requirements of a federal criminal conflict of interest statute and its regulations. GAO makes seven recommendations to the Federal Reserve Board to strengthen policies for managing noncompetitive vendor selections, conflicts of interest, risks related to emergency lending, and documentation of emergency program decisions. The Federal Reserve Board agreed that GAO's recommendations would benefit its response to future crises and agreed to strongly consider how best to respond to them. Recommendations Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work. Director: Orice Williams Brown Team: Government Accountability Office: Financial Markets and Community Investment Phone: (202) 512-5837 Recommendations for Executive Action Recommendation: While creating control systems at the same time that the emergency programs were being designed and implemented posed unique challenges, the recent crisis provided invaluable experience that the Federal Reserve System can apply in the future should the use of these authorities again become warranted. Going forward, to further strengthen policies for selecting vendors, ensuring the transparency and consistency of decision making involving the implementation of any future emergency programs, and managing risks related to these programs, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board should direct Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Bank staff to revise Reserve Banks' formal acquisition policies and procedures to provide additional guidance on the steps staff should follow in exigent circumstances, specifically to address soliciting as much competition as possible, limiting the duration of noncompetitive contracts to the period of the exigency, and documenting efforts to promote competition. Agency Affected: Federal Reserve System: Board of Governors Status: In process Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information. Recommendation: While creating control systems at the same time that the emergency programs were being designed and implemented posed unique challenges, the recent crisis provided invaluable experience that the Federal Reserve System can apply in the future should the use of these authorities again become warranted. Going forward, to further strengthen policies for selecting vendors, ensuring the transparency and consistency of decision making involving the implementation of any future emergency programs, and managing risks related to these programs, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board should direct Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Bank staff, as part of the Federal Reserve System's planned review of the Reserve Banks' codes of conduct given their expanded statutory authority under the Dodd-Frank Act, to consider how Reserve Banks' experience managing employee conflicts of interest, including those related to certain nonbank institutions that participated in the emergency programs, could inform the need for changes to the Reserve Banks' conflict policies. Agency Affected: Federal Reserve System: Board of Governors Status: In process Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information. Recommendation: While creating control systems at the same time that the emergency programs were being designed and implemented posed unique challenges, the recent crisis provided invaluable experience that the Federal Reserve System can apply in the future should the use of these authorities again become warranted. Going forward, to further strengthen policies for selecting vendors, ensuring the transparency and consistency of decision making involving the implementation of any future emergency programs, and managing risks related to these programs, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board should direct Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Bank staff to finalize a comprehensive policy for FRBNY's management of risks related to vendor conflicts of interest that formalizes FRBNY practices and lessons learned from the crisis. This policy could include guidance on when to include contract protections that were not always found in FRBNY's vendor contracts, such as requirements for higherrisk vendor firms to provide a written conflict remediation plan and certify compliance with this plan. Agency Affected: Federal Reserve System: Board of Governors Status: In process Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information. Recommendation: While creating control systems at the same time that the emergency programs were being designed and implemented posed unique challenges, the recent crisis provided invaluable experience that the Federal Reserve System can apply in the future should the use of these authorities again become warranted. Going forward, to further strengthen policies for selecting vendors, ensuring the transparency and consistency of decision making involving the implementation of any future emergency programs, and managing risks related to these programs, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board should direct Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Bank staff to strengthen procedures in place to guide Reserve Banks' efforts to manage emergency program access for higher-risk borrowers by providing more specific guidance on how Reserve Bank staff should exercise discretion and document decisions to restrict or deny program access for depository institutions and primary dealers that would otherwise be eligible for emergency assistance. Agency Affected: Federal Reserve System: Board of Governors Status: In process Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information. Recommendation: While creating control systems at the same time that the emergency programs were being designed and implemented posed unique challenges, the recent crisis provided invaluable experience that the Federal Reserve System can apply in the future should the use of these authorities again become warranted. Going forward, to further strengthen policies for selecting vendors, ensuring the transparency and consistency of decision making involving the implementation of any future emergency programs, and managing risks related to these programs, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board should direct Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Bank staff to document a plan for estimating and tracking losses that could occur under more adverse economic conditions within and across all emergency lending activities and for using this information to inform policy decisions, such as decisions to limit risk exposures through program design or restrictions applied to eligible borrowing institutions. Agency Affected: Federal Reserve System: Board of Governors Status: In process Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information. Recommendation: While creating control systems at the same time that the emergency programs were being designed and implemented posed unique challenges, the recent crisis provided invaluable experience that the Federal Reserve System can apply in the future should the use of these authorities again become warranted. Going forward, to further strengthen policies for selecting vendors, ensuring the transparency and consistency of decision making involving the implementation of any future emergency programs, and managing risks related to these programs, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board should direct Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Bank staff, in drafting regulations to establish the policies and procedures governing emergency lending under section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act, to set forth the Federal Reserve Board's process for documenting, to the extent not otherwise required by law, its justification for each use of this authority. Agency Affected: Federal Reserve System: Board of Governors Status: In process Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information. Recommendation: While creating control systems at the same time that the emergency programs were being designed and implemented posed unique challenges, the recent crisis provided invaluable experience that the Federal Reserve System can apply in the future should the use of these authorities again become warranted. Going forward, to further strengthen policies for selecting vendors, ensuring the transparency and consistency of decision making involving the implementation of any future emergency programs, and managing risks related to these programs, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board should direct Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Bank staff to document the Federal Reserve Board's guidance to Reserve Banks on types of emergency program decisions and risk events that require approval by or consultation with the Board of Governors, the Federal Open Market Committee, or other designated groups or officials at the Federal Reserve Board. Agency Affected: Federal Reserve System: Board of Governors Status: In process Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information. +++++++++++++++++++++++ (November 22, 2011 Hat Tip: James M. Graham III: “This is a bit scary! If this does not anger you, you don't understand the corruption. Please send this to everyone you know that wishes to keep their property and live in a free country. http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/10.11/gaoaudit.html) The Silver Bear Café: Audit of the Federal Reserve Reveals $16 Trillion in Secret Bailoutsunelected.org The first ever GAO(Government Accountability Office) audit of the Federal Reserve was carried out in the past few months due to the Ron Paul, Alan Grayson Amendment to the Dodd-Frank bill, which passed last year. Jim DeMint, a Republican Senator, and Bernie Sanders, an independent Senator, led the charge for a Federal Reserve audit in the Senate, but watered down the original language of the house bill(HR1207), so that a complete audit would not be carried out. Ben Bernanke(pictured to the right), Alan Greenspan, and various other bankers vehemently opposed the audit and lied to Congress about the effects an audit would have on markets. Nevertheless, the results of the first audit in the Federal Reserve’s nearly 100 year history were posted on Senator Sander’s webpage earlier this morning. What was revealed in the audit was startling: read on -  http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/10.11/gaoaudit.html) […] The list of institutions that received the most money from the Federal Reserve can be found on page 131 of the GAO Audit and are as follows.. Citigroup: $2.5 trillion ($2,500,000,000,000) Morgan Stanley: $2.04 trillion ($2,040,000,000,000) Merrill Lynch: $1.949 trillion ($1,949,000,000,000) Bank of America: $1.344 trillion ($1,344,000,000,000) Barclays PLC (United Kingdom): $868 billion ($868,000,000,000) Bear Sterns: $853 billion ($853,000,000,000) Goldman Sachs: $814 billion ($814,000,000,000) Royal Bank of Scotland (UK): $541 billion ($541,000,000,000) JP Morgan Chase: $391 billion ($391,000,000,000) Deutsche Bank (Germany): $354 billion ($354,000,000,000) UBS (Switzerland): $287 billion ($287,000,000,000) Credit Suisse (Switzerland): $262 billion ($262,000,000,000) Lehman Brothers: $183 billion ($183,000,000,000) Bank of Scotland (United Kingdom): $181 billion ($181,000,000,000) BNP Paribas (France): $175 billion ($175,000,000,000) And many many more including banks in Belgium of all places … http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/10.11/gaoaudit.html)

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http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2011/12/gao-audit-of-federal-reserve-boards.html

Labels: Bus Econ 2008 Subprime Crisis, Bus Econ Federal Reserve Board, Business Economics, US Govt GAO

http://www.scribd.com/doc/75285818/GAO-audit-of-the-Federal-Reserve-Board%E2%80%99s-emergency-loan-programs-and-actions-during-the-recent-financial-crisis-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9CFederal-Reserve-System-Opportuniti

GAO audit of the Federal Reserve Board’s emergency loan programs and actions during the recent financial cr...

[20110700 TARP GOA FED d11696]

GAO, Federal Reserve System, TARP, banks, banking, bailouts, Dodd-Frank, Wall Street, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

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[ 20111122 July 2011 GOA FED Tart Hat Tip Graham]

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

CEI and Freedom Action Propose $300 Billion in New Revenues to Break Super Committee Impasse

Contact:
Christine Hall, (202) 331.2258

CEI and Freedom Action Propose $300 Billion in New Revenues to Break Super Committee Impasse

Washington, DC, November 16, 2011 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute and Freedom Action on Tuesday proposed to Congress’s Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction that a minimum of $300 billion in additional revenues be raised by unlocking non-performing and under-performing federal assets.

The $300 billion would be raised through a combination of sales of federal lands and other assets, expedited oil and gas production on federal lands and in federal offshore areas, returning the National Forest System to profitability by increasing timber sales, increasing coal leasing on federal lands, and auctioning broadband spectrum.

“We offer our suggestion of adding $300 billion in revenues without raising taxes in the hope that it can help break the impasse in the Super Committee,” said Myron Ebell, director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment and president of Freedom Action.

The federal government owns almost 30% of the land in the United States, most of which is controlled by the four federal land agencies and the Department of Defense.  Many of these lands and other federal properties have high commercial potential.  Selling some federal lands and buildings will put money in the federal treasury and put unproductive assets to use, thereby increasing local property taxes as well as corporate and personal income taxes.

Federal lands and offshore areas have huge oil and gas resources, most of which are closed to production.  In addition, federal lands have enormous coal, timber, and mineral resources.  Expedited oil and gas leasing and permitting will add federal revenues through lease auctions and royalty payments once production begins.  National Forest timber sales can be increased from roughly two billion board feet per year to their historic, sustainable level of twelve billion board feet per year.

“Rather than gaining additional revenue through tax increases, which depress economic activity, unlocking federal assets will provide a huge boost to the American economy, far beyond the additional $300 billion in federal revenue,” Ebell continued.  “Putting federal lands and resources to use will also lead to trillions of dollars of new economic activity and put millions of people to work in real jobs—that is, jobs that are not subsidized by taxpayers.

“When companies or families get into financial trouble, one of the first things they do is see if they have anything they aren’t using or don’t need that can be sold or put to use,” Ebell continued.  “The federal government, which has colossal potential assets that are locked up, should be doing the same thing.”

The letter from CEI and Freedom Action to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction may be found at http://cei.org/supercommitteeletter.

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CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.organd OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

The Heritage Foundation - Derek Scissors, Ph.D. and J.D. Foster, Ph.D.: Avoiding America’s Lost Decades

Avoiding America’s Lost Decades

By Derek Scissors, Ph.D. and J.D. Foster, Ph.D.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/10/Avoiding-Americas-Lost-Decades

October 18, 2011

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The warning bells were sounded in early 2009: The U.S. government had to act swiftly and forcefully to avoid repeating Japan’s painful experience of sustained economic stagnation.[1]The Obama Administration’s policies have failed to this point, and Japanese-style long-term stagnation may well ensue unless a fundamental course correction and decisive steps are taken. The two most important steps are to halt the federal government’s regulatory onslaught and to put the federal budget on a credible path toward balance by cutting spending quickly and steadily.

Japan’s Fall

It is hard to exaggerate the shift in Japan’s fortunes over the past two decades. The Japanese economic miracle lasted over 40 years and saw the country climb out of true devastation from World War II to have the globe’s second-largest economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP). Many observers thought it was only a matter of time before Japan replaced the United States as the world’s leading economy.

How times have changed. The conventional wisdom now is that Japan suffered a “lost decade.” Actually, it has been almost two decades, and there is no end in sight to the stagnation. In 2010, the Japanese economy looks to have been smaller than it was in 1992, an incredibly poor result. It is not just a matter of a decline in output; it is also a remarkable decline in total wealth. In 1991, excluding micro-states like Luxembourg, Japan was the fourth-richest country in the world as measured by GDP per capita. In 2010, it was no longer in the top 20, was below the OECD average, and would have likely fell further but for Europe’s own economic troubles.[2] … http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/10/Avoiding-Americas-Lost-Decades

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

The Daily Grind: Will the U.S. and China Crush Germany into Submission? and other stories

November 10th, 2011 The Daily Grind: Will the U.S. and China Crush Germany into Submission? and other stories Will the U.S. and China Crush Germany into Submission? Anti-democratic dominoes threaten the free peoples of Europe. History's Records Not many presidents with Obama's record have been reelected. Kasich's defining moment The question is whether this was a battle lost due to the mistaken tactic of including highly popular police and firefighter unions into the reforms or whether it is a lost war. Rising income inequality? The cries from people such as the Occupy Wall Street protestors over a wide gap existing between the rich and poor are greatly exaggerated. Will the U.S. and China Crush Germany into Submission? By Bill Wilson There has been no clearer articulation of the coming tyranny to be imposed on the once-sovereign nations of Europe — and what may be in store for the debt-addled U.S. should it fail to restore order to its fiscal house — than a recent piece from the UK Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, "America and China must crush Germany into submission". In it the columnist advocates that the U.S. and China essentially force Germany to bail out financial institutions that bet poorly on Greek, Italian, and other troubled sovereign debts, writing, "it would not surprise me if U.S. President Barack Obama and China's Hu Jintao start to intervene very soon, in unison and with massive diplomatic force." "One can imagine joint telephone calls to Chancellor Angela Merkel more or less ordering her country to face up to the implications of the monetary union that Germany itself created and ran (badly)," he writes.  He accused the Germans of "lacking in deep understanding of what it has got itself into." At issue is just who will be bailing out the banks that lent the money to Greece and others in the first place.  The consolidated debts of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain, the so-called PIIGS, total more than €3 trillion.  Evans-Pritchard wants that somebody to be the European Central Bank. In the way, Germany has vetoed the use of the ECB to leverage the €440 billion European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) upwards to perhaps €1.4 trillion — since such a decision would violate a recent German constitutional court ruling declaring that "the Bundestag, as the legislature, is also prohibited from establishing permanent mechanisms under the law of international agreements which result in an assumption of liability for other states' voluntary decisions, especially if they have consequences whose impact is difficult to calculate." Moreover, such a move would violate Article 123 of the Lisbon Treaty that brought the Eurozone into being, which expressly prohibits the ECB from printing money to buy sovereign debts.  Get full story here. History's Records Get permalink here. Kasich's defining moment By Rick Manning Ohio Governor John Kasich faces a moment in history where his major initiative to reform the relationship between public employee unions and the taxpayers who pay for them has been soundly defeated in a state referendum. The question Kasich must answer is whether this was a battle lost due to the mistaken tactic of including highly popular police and firefighter unions into the reforms or whether it is a lost war, dooming the state of Ohio to spiraling public employee costs that are political suicide to attempt to contain. Public employee unions spent close to $30 million to defeat Kasich's reform.  Ironically, those unions got that money from mandatory dues collected from public employees who are paid by taxpayers.  In a nutshell, $30 million of tax dollars that were paid to public employees were then used to convince the voters of Ohio that public employee union reforms should be rejected. Public employee unions legally used their member's dues to paint a picture of an Ohio where public safety is at risk due to changes in the relationship between police and firefighter unions and their taxpayer employers. And Ohio voters, by a 61 percent majority bought it. Now, reality strikes. Get full story here. Rising income inequality? By Adam Bitely Numerous reports have come out over the past many days (here, here, and here) disputing the new claim from progressives everywhere that a recent CBO report finally proves that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. Well, it seems that those who have closely studied the data believe that claims of an ever widening wealth gap seem to be, well, not exactly true. As Sheldon Richman put it, "Today low-income people have things the middle class didn't dream of 40 years ago — and even some things the rich couldn't have had at any price because they hadn't been invented yet. And this is not primarily due to consumer debt." Even further, as GMU economics professor Don Boudreaux explained several years back, people that bang the drum loudly that the wealth gap is beginning to widen out of control forget to consider that even though the wealthy get wealthier, the poor get wealthier too: Get full story here.

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Center for Economic and Policy Research: The NYT Can't Find Anyone to Say Anything Good About Argentina

The NYT Can't Find Anyone to Say Anything Good About Argentina

Sunday, 23 October 2011 22:47

That is sort of striking since its President Cristina Kirchner seems headed for re-election with a clear majority of the votes. Argentina has also enjoyed the strongest growth over the last decade of any country in Latin America. Nonetheless all 5 of the NYT's sources in an article discussing the election were critical of Kirchner...

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-nyt-cant-find-anyone-to-say-anything-good-about-argentina?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+beat_the_press+%28Beat+the+Press%29

Center for Economic and Policy Research: The NYT Can't Find Anyone to Say Anything Good About Argentina

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-nyt-cant-find-anyone-to-say-anything-good-about-argentina?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+beat_the_press+%28Beat+the+Press%29

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El New York Times no encuentra a nadie para decir algo bueno de Argentina

Domingo, 23 de octubre 2011 22:47

Que es una especie de sorprendente ya que su presidenta Cristina Kirchner parece ir a la reelección por una clara mayoría de los votos. Argentina también ha disfrutado de un mayor crecimiento durante la última década de todos los países de América Latina. Sin embargo, todos los 5 de las fuentes del New York Times en un artículo sobre las elecciones fueron críticos de Kirchner ...

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Business Insider - CHARTS: Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About...

CHARTS: Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About...

Henry Blodget | Oct. 11, 2011

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-wall-street-protesters-are-so-angry-about-2011-10?op=1

The "Occupy Wall Street" protests are gaining momentum, having spread from a small park in New York to marches to other cities across the country.

So far, the protests seem fueled by a collective sense that things in our economy are not fair or right.  But the protesters have not done a good job of focusing their complaints—and thus have been skewered as malcontents who don't know what they stand for or want. 

[...]

So, what are the protesters so upset about, really?

Do they have legitimate gripes?

To answer the latter question first, yes, they have very legitimate gripes.

And if America cannot figure out a way to address these gripes, the country will likely become increasingly "de-stabilized," as sociologists might say. And in that scenario, the current protests will likely be only the beginning....

[...]

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-wall-street-protesters-are-so-angry-about-2011-10?op=1

Business Insider - CHARTS: Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About...

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Obama Administration’s Own Public Data Show Job-Crushing Regulatory Agenda Set to Increase, Not Decrease

Obama Administration’s Own Public Data Show Job-Crushing Regulatory Agenda Set to Increase, Not Decrease

Posted by Speaker Boehner’s Press Office on August 26, 2011  http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?postid=257372

By law, the Executive Branch is required to annually document the number of new regulatory actions it plans for the coming year, and to make this information publicly available.  A search of this year’s information, posted online in recent days, reveals that the Obama Administration’s job-crushing regulatory barrage is not being scaled back, but rather expanded, appearing to contradict White House rhetoric this week about President Obama’s intent to reduce the regulatory burden on job creators.

A simple scan of the Obama Administration’s current regulatory agenda indicates that the Administration currently has 4,257 new regulatory actions in the works, of which at least 219 will have an economic impact of $100 million or more.  That is an increase of nearly 15 percent over last year, when a similar search showed 191 new economically-significant regulatory actions by the Administration to be in the works.  Americans know from the Administration’s own statements that some of these new economically-significant regulations will have an economic impact of tens of billions of dollars.  But how many, exactly?  The Administration hasn’t said. 

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today sent a letter to President Obama noting the scheduled increase in regulatory action by the Administration and asking that the White House provide Congress with a list of all of the regulatory actions it plans that would have an economic impact of $1 billion or more.  The Speaker formally requested that the White House provide this information before Congress returns this fall, when the House is scheduled to resume work on legislation promised in the Pledge to America that would require congressional approval for any new regulatory action that is projected to have a significant impact on job creation. 

Boehner sent a similar request for information to the president last August, when he was serving as House Republican leader.  The requested information was never provided.

Susan E. Dudley, director of the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center, wrote about the 219 economically-significant regulatory actions planned by the Obama Administration this week in a guest op-ed for POLITICO in which she noted the president’s actions this week are unlikely to have much impact.  As Dudley noted: 

“The government’s most recent agenda of upcoming regulations (issued in July) does not indicate a slow-down in activity. It does list 4,257 regulatory actions under development — more than 300 more than last year at this time. Of those, 219 are expected to impose costs of $100 million or more — 28 more ‘major’ regulations than were listed by this time last year, and 47 more than in 2009.

“Some activity is required by new legislative mandates — particularly [Dodd-Frank and Obamacare].  Others, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, are based on new judicial interpretations of statutes passed 20 or more years ago — and don’t necessarily reflect the priorities of any recent Congress.  But some are discretionary actions, like EPA’s pending decision to tighten ozone standards.  This is likely to slow economic growth in thousands of counties across the nation and impose costs of $20 billion to $90 billion per year, according to the agency’s own estimates.

“The reform efforts detailed in the agencies’ retrospective plans pale in comparison.  Reforms that may promise real savings, like the Labor Department’s efforts to streamline some reporting requirements, at best offer paperwork burden reductions valued only in the millions.  Other reporting reforms --like replacing paper submissions with electronic reports — might as easily facilitate regulatory enforcement as grant relief.  Some agencies’ plans may actually increase uncertainty — like the Council on Environmental Quality’s commitment to periodically review its ‘categorical exclusions.’  These exemptions have traditionally provided potentially affected parties some certainty that projects would not face unexpected regulatory requirements.”

NOTE: You can also check it for yourself.  The Obama Administration’s newly-updated regulatory agenda is posted online athttp://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain.  Right on the front page is a graph showing that 4,257 new regulatory actions are in the works.  To dig a bit deeper on that number, one must go to the “Advanced Search” feature on the site, located at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaAdvancedSearch#.  To reach that search page, go to the “search” box in the upper right corner of the main page, check the “agenda” box, and hit the search button, then click on the “Advanced Search” link that appears on the page that subsequently comes up.  From there, check the option marked “Search most current publication only” and hit “continue.”  On the next page that comes up, select the option “All,” and hit “continue” again.  On the page that comes up, visitors are given the ability to break down the data based on a variety of different criteria.  To obtain a list of the regulatory actions currently planned by the Administration that will have an economic impact of $100 million or more, go to the “Priority” options about halfway down the page on the left, and check the box marked “Economically Significant.”  Hit the search button at the bottom of the page. 

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?postid=257372

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