Wall Street Bill has passed the Senate
5-20-2010
Today the financial reform bill has passed the senate (59-39). Four
Republican senators voted for the bill. Among them Scott Brown and
Olympia Snowe.
The senate version is tougher on Wall Street, than the House bill. One
of the important changes is for instance the introduction of a consumer
protection agency.
Wall Street bill nearing finish line as Senate
passes legislation 59-39 - The Hill
Senate Passes Broader Rules for Overseeing Wall
Street-New York Times
A Summary of the Senate Bill
More good news from the job market.
05/07/2010
In April 290000 new jobs were created. That is 90000 more than the
200,000 that were expected.
Some commentators are trying to downplay the numbers.
According to them, a lot of this surge has to be
attributed to the hiring of census workers by the government. They also
stress the fact that
the unemployment rate went up to 9.9% (was 9.7%).
But even if you do not count the census jobs as "real" jobs (I really
do not see why you would not), there are still 224,000 new jobs
left, created by the private sector.
The unemployment rate went up because a lot of unemployed people, who
had given
up looking for jobs, are getting more optimistic, and re-enter the
labor market.
The job number for March (162,000 new jobs) was revised upwards to
230,000.
An important positive effect of the growing job numbers for the economy
will be increased consumer spending.
LINK: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Do we need new rules for the financial markets?
4/27/2010
More regulation of the financial markets, yes or no? That's what it is
all about in congress in the coming weeks.
After the near collapse of the (world)economy in 2008 and 2009, the
high unemployment rate, the home foreclosures, the loss of retirement
income for many seniors, the answer should be simple: yes, of course.
But, this is all about ideology. The democrats are more likely to
support far reaching regulation. The republicans have a problem with
that.
The GOP is against "big government" and more friendly towards Wall
Street.
LINK: G.O.P. Blocks Debate on Financial Oversight
Bill - New York Times
Republicans don't want Obama to end unemployment problem
4-10-2020
The Associated Press reports that Obama's jobs agenda is stalled in
congress, because the Republicans don't want to spend any money on it.
Diminishing the budget deficit is more important than diminishing
unemployment.
click here
Dutch
translation: click here
Yahoo offers a daily podium for Fox.
4-5-2010
Today I went to the political video section in my yahoo portal.
This evening the first four political video's were anti-liberal
attacks. The first one was a video clip in which Obama answers a woman,
who has a question about health care and taxes. He talks for seventeen
minutes and Fox cuts more than fifteen minutes.
What is left (only one minute and forty seconds!) is a couple of lines
that are totally taken out of context.
Maybe Yahoo wants to be Fair and Balanced too.
Link: Cut and paste by Fox News Channel
Bad news for the Republican Party
April 2, 2010
Most Republican politicians had to swallow some bad news today. The
prospects for the US economy are looking better than expected.
Employers added 162,000 jobs in March.
Signaling Jobs Recovery, Payrolls Surged in March
The Ugly Republican
3-24-2010
So now we have death threats against House Democrats who voted for the
bill.
Already during the presidential election campaign in 2008, there were
red flags everywhere. See for instance HERE:
The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama - NYT
Of course the GOP leaders don't want to take any responsibility for
what is happening.
Read: The backlash: Reform turns personal-Politico
The Party of "No"
Polls suggest many Americans are opposed to the health bill, but
Republicans face portrayals as the
“party of no.â€