Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
IAEA Reports On Increasing Uranium Stockpile In Iran
The Financial Times reports:
"Iran is forging ahead with its nuclear programme, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog reported on Wednesday, deepening the dilemma facing US president-elect Barack Obama over his campaign promise to engage with Tehran. The latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency reveals that Iran is rapidly increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium, which could be rendered into weapons-grade material should Tehran decide to develop a nuclear device. The agency says that, as of this month, Tehran had amassed 630kg of low enriched uranium hexafluoride, up from 480kg in late August. Analysts say Iran is enriching uranium at such a pace that, by early next year, it could reach break-out capacity – one step away from producing enough fissile material for a crude nuclear bomb. 'They are moving forward, they are not making diplomatic overtures, they are accumulating low enriched uranium,' said Cliff Kupchan, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy in Washington. 'These guys are committed to their nuclear programme: if we didn’t know that, they just told us again.' The IAEA report also says there has been a breakdown of communication between the agency and Iran over alleged research on an atomic weapon. 'The Iranians are making good progress on enrichment but there is absolute stone-walling on past military activities,' said Mark Fitzpatrick of the International institute for Strategic Studies. 'It’s very disappointing.'”
For the full article visit http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4eeacd78-b663-11dd-89dd-0000779fd18c.html"
Tweet
California Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Challenge To Prop 8 Constitutional Amendment Defining Marriage
The AP reports:
"California's highest court has agreed to hear legal challenges to a new ban on gay marriage, but is refusing to allow gay couples to resume marrying until it rules. The California Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted three lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8. The amendment passed this month with 52 percent of the vote. The court did not elaborate on its decision."
I hope the arrogant California Supreme Court does not dare to overturn the will of the people as enshrined in the State Constitution. It would be an outrage of the highest magnitude.
Tweet
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Mitt Romney: If Automakers "Get The Bailout That Their Chief Executives Asked For Yesterday, You Can Kiss The American Automotive Industry Goodbye."
Mitt Romney writes in a New York Times op-ed that "if General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed." For the full article see http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19romney.html?_r=1"
Tweet
Monday, November 17, 2008
Hillary Clinton To Accept Obama's Offer To Be Secretary Of State
The Gaurdian reports that "Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama...Since being elected senator for New York, she has specialised in foreign affairs and defence. Although she supported the war in Iraq, she and Obama basically agree on a withdrawal of American troops. Clinton, who still harbours hopes of a future presidential run, had to weigh up whether she would be better placed by staying in the Senate, which offers a platform for life, or making the more uncertain career move to the secretary of state job."
Tweet
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Republican Senator Jim Inhofe: "Congress Abdicated Its Constitutional Responsibility By Signing A Truly Blank Check Over To The Treasury Secretary"
Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe told the Tulsa World, "It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money he (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) has given away to anyone. It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don't know. There is no way of knowing." Inhofe's comments came in response to the bait and switch from Henry Paulson recently in which the Treasury secretary announced he was abandoning the plan to free up the nation's credit system by buying up toxic assets from troubled financial institutions. "He was able to get this authority from Congress predicated on what he was going to do, and then he didn't do it. So, that's enough reason right there," Inhofe said. He went on to say, "I have learned a long time ago. When they come up and say this has to be done and has to be done immediately, there is no other way of doing it, you have to sit back and take a deep breath and nine times out of 10 they are not telling the truth. And this is one of those nine times.''
The following is the full text of a letter Ihofe to his colleagues in the Senate, dated November 15, 2008:
Dear Colleague,
I write to inform you of the actions I will be taking during the lame duck session of Congress regarding the funding status of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Given the recent news about Secretary Paulson's execution of the TARP program, I firmly believe action is required by Congress. I plan to push for legislation that will require Secretary Paulson's plan for the remaining $350 billion in authorized TARP funds to be ratified by an affirmative vote in the U.S. Congress.
In my statement opposing the Paulson Plan last month, I laid out two primary reasons why I voted ‘no.' The first is that I wasn't convinced that asset-purchase program was the right way to do this, and the second is that it would lead to increased lobbying for handouts and bailouts by any industry facing financial trouble.
I stated at the time that my vote was against the Paulson plan - not against taking extraordinary action to provide necessary confidence to financial markets. I stated that "The Paulson plan would have Washington take $700 billion worth of toxic Wall Street assets from financial firms' balance sheets and put them on the balance sheet of the federal government.... I'm not confident in its success."
The critics were right. On October 14th, in a significant shift, Treasury outlined a plan to directly purchase equity stakes in of major financial institutions. The Wall Street Journal noted that "critics...say Treasury should have formulated a comprehensive plan earlier in the crisis." This past week, Secretary Paulson announced that he has completed a remarkable about face, as summarized by November 13th Investor's Business Daily front page headline, which read, "In Major Reversal, Treasury Won't Buy Bad Mortgage Debt." This is a complete reversal. Why did Paulson reverse course? Thursday's Los Angeles Times provides the answer. "Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson's decision to abandon plans to buy troubled bank assets shows that he has come to two conclusions about what was once the chief focus of the government's $700-billion bailout: The first is that it wouldn't work."
I know many of you have serious concerns about how Secretary Paulson has executed the financial rescue program and I share them with you. Congress abdicated its Constitutional responsibility by signing a truly blank check over to the Treasury Secretary. However, the lame duck session of Congress offers us a tremendous opportunity to change course. We should take it.
During the lame duck session, I will be taking the following actions. First and foremost, if Secretary Paulson submits his plan to Congress in order to access the remaining $350 billion while we are in session, a doubtful prospect, I plan to immediately introduce the disapproval resolution pursuant to Section 115 of the EESA and push for its enactment. I will also introduce and actively pursue enactment of legislation to do two things: First, it will amend Section 115 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) to require an affirmative vote on the part of Congress to approve Treasury's plan for the remaining $350 billion, instead of the current statutory process which gives Secretary Paulson far too much latitude. Second, it will require a freeze on any remaining funds of the first $350 billion. It is imperative that we not allow that amount of money to be added to a deficit approaching $1 trillion this year without any input from the legislative branch.
Secretary Paulson stated in a CNBC interview at 2:00pm on Friday, November 14th that "the financial markets have been stabilized." If that is the case, it is Congress's duty to have a say in what happens with the remaining authorized amount of $350 billion. It is clear that it was a mistake to sign a blank check to one man for such a tremendous amount of money. Though there are still significant challenges in financial markets, it appears that the threat of a catastrophic financial crisis, which was the justification for the grant of such sweeping authority, has subsided. Perhaps the additional $350 billion should not be added to the deficit. Congress should have a debate.
I appreciate your time and attention to this matter and look forward to working with you in the coming week.
Sincerely,
Senator Jim Inhofe
Tweet
President Bush WSJ Article: "'If You Seek Economic Growth, Social Justice And Human Dignity, The Free-Market System Is The Way To Go"
To read the full article by Presiden George W. Bush that appeared in the Wall Street Journal visit http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122670648178429695-lMyQjAxMDI4MjE2NjcxMDY2Wj.html"
Tweet
RSS Feed (xml)