Too Big to Fail: Sanders Says "Break These Babies Up"

Sen. Bernie Sanders makes some very good points. Whether you agree with his assessment that the "to big to fail" companies need to be broken up, the point that these companies are costing us all is irrefutable.

More than a year has gone by since Congress passed the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. The Federal Reserve has committed trillions of additional dollars in virtually zero-interest loans and other assistance to large financial institutions resulting in the largest taxpayer bailout in the history of the world.

President Bush and Ben Bernanke told us we needed to bail out Wall Street because we could not allow big financial institutions and insurance giants to fail because if they failed it would have led to the collapse of the U.S. and global economies.

Today, most of the huge financial institutions still standing have become even bigger — so big that the four largest banks in America (JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup) now issue one out of every two mortgages; two out of three credit cards; and hold $4 out of every $10 in bank deposits in the entire country.

If any of these financial institutions were to get into major trouble again, taxpayers would be on the hook for another massive bailout. We cannot let that happen. We need to do exactly what Teddy Roosevelt did back in the trust-busting days and break up these big banks.

That is why I introduced legislation that would give the Secretary of the Treasury 90 days to identify every single financial institution and insurance company in this country that is too big to fail and to break up those institutions within one year.

If it’s too big to fail, it’s too big to exist.

Rental Help Available for Iowans

I received this from State Representative Vicki Lensing:

As part of the federal economic recovery program, Iowa has received $11 million to help qualified Iowa renters pay their rental and utility bills. To qualify, you must be at risk of homelessness and your income must be at or below 50% of the local area median income, although in some areas of the state, the criterion is stricter.
The program, called Iowa Rental Help, can help current renters, and families and homeowners who are moving into rental properties. The homeless are also eligible for help. The goal is to help recipients gain stability and adequate housing.
Iowa Rental Help can provide qualified Iowa renters with rent and utility payments for up to 18 months (including up to six months in arrears), moving expenses, security deposits, rental deposits,and more.
When individuals contact Iowa Rental Help, they will be connected with a case manager to determine whether they qualify. If so, the case manager will help develop a plan that will best benefit them. The case manager will also meet with them every six months to reassess the situation. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development administers the program nationally; the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) administers the program in Iowa. For more information on the program, Iowans can call 877.386.9104, visit www.IowaRentalHelp.com, or text RENT to 30644.
A large number of calls have been coming into the program and Iowans should expect some delays in speaking to a case manager.

City Council Election: A Sleeper and A Squeaker

Today's Iowa City election netted the lowest turnout since 1985. The Iowa City precincts during September's school board election reported 4,394 voters at the polls, while the City Council election today saw 4,682 voters turn out. As expected Susan Mims and Terry Dickens won the at-large race with 75% and 70% of the vote over The University of Iowa students Dan Tallon and Jeff Shipley. Mark McCallum gave Connie Champion the closest race she has ever had in her four elections as Champion narrowly defeated McCallum by 172 votes.

Gitmo Detainees: Where Are They Now?

One of the earliest Obama pledges was to close the detention camp at Guantanamo. After Congress moved to block any Guantanamo detainee from entering the United States, the courts appear to be relocating the detainees to exotic places like Herzagovinia, Palau, and Chad.

Chisun Lee wrote this as an Op-Ed for the NY Times:

As the Obama administration and Congress try to forge a legal framework for detaining suspected terrorists, they might want to take a close look at what's happening at the federal district courthouse just a short walk down Pennsylvania Avenue from both the White House and the Capitol.

Trial judges there have quietly decided 31 of some 200 cases brought by Guantánamo inmates seeking freedom. Dossier by dossier, the jurists have answered the core questions that policy experts have been addressing in theory: When can the president place someone in preventive detention, and how solid does the evidence need to be?

President Obama, like George W. Bush before him, has claimed the power to detain not only Qaeda and Taliban members, but also those who "support" them. Last year the Supreme Court ruled [2] (PDF) that the courts can scrutinize these detention decisions and overturn them if they are invalid. But the court didn't say exactly what a valid detention looks like, and Congress hasn't stepped in to make it clear.

Nonprofit news source Propublica, has a chart of where 36 of the, as of January 17, 2009, approximately 245 detainees have ended up. Here is what happened to detainees prior to 2009.

It's a Beautiful Day to Exercise Your Vote For Nobody

Some and John Deeth are predicting a miserable voter turnout for the elections in Johnson County. I don't much care what people plan to do, the right to vote or not vote is "democratic" in the literal sense. My hope is that after the dust clears, folks will figure out how their vote woulda, coulda, shoulda mattered, had they informed themselves about the consequences of their inaction.

Generally when people don't vote, it is because they don't see much difference between the leading candidates (sorry Susan and Terry, but blue and white or white and blue signs are not much of a difference maker) or they are so burnt out on all things political that they leave it to the habitual voter to make the decision for them.

Frankly the races in Coralville and University Heights have more riding on them than the Iowa City race because there are clear demarcations of differences on community growth in the UH race and Coralville now has the issue of what happens if Mayor Jim Fausett has to step down because of his health. Iowa City has so little at stake to the average lethargic voter that it is possible that Sara Baird could actually edge out one or both of the students running as a write-in candidate.

The game changer in IC could be if voters accidentally stumble into a voting booth and decide to exercise their privilege by turning in a blank slate. Sometimes a recorded vote for nobody is the best vote of all. It would be extremely amusing to learn that nobody won the IC at-large race. But that isn't likely to happen. Tomorrow's headline-- "A Victory for Apathy."

Palin Too Pricey for Iowa Conservatives

An effort to bring Sarah Palin to the Iowa Family Policy Center's banquet next month has left a bad taste in the mouths of many state's conservatives. The group's plan to raise a $100,000 payday to bring Palin to the state has the hair of GOP activists' necks on end at the thought of paying to land a politician's speaking appearance.

The Iowa Family Policy Center's effort would be a departure from its usual practice in the first-in-the-nation state, these Republicans believe, as White House hopefuls have traditionally paid their own way to boost their party and presidential ambitions.

I guess that's just Sarah being all mavaricky and letting the free market do it's thing.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/palin-speaking-fee-shocks_n_338231.html

Obama Expands Federal Hate Crimes Act

Attached to the $680 billion defense authorization bill, President Obama on Wednesday signed a law that makes it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. The expanded federal hate crimes law now, which also covers crimes motivated by disability, is hailed by supporters as the first major federal gay rights legislation.

The hate crimes measure was named for Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming teenager who died after being kidnapped and severely beaten in October 1998, and James Byrd Jr., an African-American man dragged to death in Texas the same year.

"No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love. No one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are or because they live with a disability," Obama said, referring to Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.

Johnson County: Let Voters Fill in the Blank

There is no good way to say this, but Johnson County, we have a problem. When Larry Meyers passed away after his long battle with cancer, he inconveniently did it with nine months before the next Board of Supervisor's primary. But wait, the special commission that is made up of elected leaders (read: Democrats)decided not to hold a special election citing the cost of holding the special election is not worth the 11 months the person would actually hold the seat and invite people to apply for the job.

With an applicant pool that turned up sixteen potential candidates of various political persuasions, that is a heck of a lot more than usually run for the office if the normal campaign rules applied. The special commission then magically whittled down the field to eight (perhaps using the irrefutable "eenie-meenie-minie-moe" method?).

Now the special commission is going to select that special somebody to fill the seat by next Friday. If people don't like the commissions choice, they have two weeks to turn up about 7,000 people's signatures who are qualified to vote and call for a special election. And here's the thing--someone is going to object because it is likely that the kinds of people who want a special election have a history of being soundly trounced when they occur.

All frivolity aside, we have elections that turn out less than 5% of the public out and, yet we still have those elections. Is it fair for three people to decide who will be the potentially tie breaking vote on the BOS for even 11 months? No. Would it be nice to combine the special election with the regular election and elect someone for one term and 11 months? Yes, but it violates state election laws.

Because I value transparency in elective government, I believe that we need to suck it up and have a special election. Doing so has a financial cost, but to not do so has a higher cost--the suspicion that democracy is being usurped or, more simply, we are being cheated.

Do I believe that it will change the dynamics of the county government? No. I suspect a Democrat would be elected based on the usual voting patterns of the county. But do I think that all Democrats (or Republicans) are the same? No. I'd like the choice to vote for the person I feel is best qualified. One of the reasons I voted for Larry was he was part of a group of people who said "Don't Tread on Me" when they felt they didn't have the BOS's ear. Well guess what--our elected officials are treading on us again.

No matter who the commission selects, I hope people will support a special election. Democracy is a good thing.

Energy Star: Greenwashing at It's Worst?

Under the federal stimulus bill, $300 million will go to rebates for consumers who buy Energy Star products. In theory, a great idea--trading in energy guzzling appliance "clunkers" for more energy efficient ones. But are they? Maybe not. The EPA and Energy Departments have a small problem with accountability. Apparently manufacturers are certifying the energy savings of their products with little oversight. According to a Time article:

The Energy Department admits it doesn't properly track how and when manufacturers put Energy Star labels on products. The labels' ratings, which are supposed to indicate a product's energy efficiency, were "not accurate or verifiable," according to the agency. In other words, products that are supposed to save you money, and that are supposed to minimize environmental impact, may in fact do neither.

The Energy Star label is one of several "innovations" that are supposed to make consumers' lives easier—but in fact complicate them because the technology is flawed and misleading. The outcome is that unsuspecting consumers can and do get ripped off.

The NY Times explains that the Energy Department has poor oversight over the Energy Star ratings system. In many cases, the manufacturer—and the manufacturers alone—are responsible for testing and evaluating their own products. That's like letting junior high students decide what grades they should get on their report cards. From the Times:

While the Energy Department requires manufacturers of windows and L.E.D. and fluorescent lighting to have independent laboratories evaluate their products, the report said, companies that make refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters and room air-conditioners, which consume far more energy, can certify those appliances themselves.