So High Above

The New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo seems to be the only elected leader who sees through the web of deception that is AIG. When the bonus furor came to the forefront, many elected leaders including President Obama feigned disgust in public but sought little legal remedies. Congress held hearings to publicly ridicule the AIG Executives, the President and Secretary of Treasury Geithner made public pronouncements but none of them began investigations. Not only did New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo begin an investigation into the AIG Bonus Scandal, he issued subpoenas, set deadlines and demanded answers. Attorney General Cuomo was relentless in demanding the names and figures associated with the bonuses, and he was successful in shaming a majority of the recipients to publicly announce that they would return the bonuses. Of more significance is another investigation that Andrew Cuomo is pursuing in regards to AIG. Mr. Cuomo is seeking the answer that Secretary of...

Billed as an online Town Hall Meeting, President Obama answered questions submitted online. Similar questions received votes and a question that received a lot of votes was about legalizing Marijuana which led President Obama to quip, "I don't know what this says about the online audience. The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow the economy". President Obama missed a golden opportunity to modernize America's archaic drug laws. To have a President who has written about his marijuana use and cocaine use, it is an abomination not to want to lead the Nation in a more civilized direction about drug laws and policy. In Congressional Testimony on March 14,1995, David Boaz, Executive Vice President of the Cato Institute revealed some startling statistics, and although over a decade old, these figures are still mind-boggling. In 1995, Mr. Boaz revealed to Congress that drug enforcement efforts in the United States accounted for 15 Billion Dollars i...

President Obama held his second Prime Time Press Conference on March 24,2009, his second Prime Time Press Conference since taking office on January 20, 2009. Mr. Obama presented a brief statement about the various efforts of the Administration to heal the economic wounds left by the previous Republican Administration, they thoughtfully and politely answered inquiries from the press. Unlike the previous President, Mr. Obama seems able to address questions from all segments of the 4th Estate regardless of their political leanings. In this regard, Mr. Obama selects questioners from a wide range of media outlets and political persuasions throughout the conference. Most of the questioners focused on specifics and reasons of certain programs and the effect that the Administration hoped to achieve through their implementation. Chuck Todd, from NBC, asked " Thank you, Mr. President. Some have compared this financial crisis to a war, and in times of war, past presidents have called for ...

The Obama Administration is stuck on the rebuilding of the banks as the way to solve the current economic situation. That might be a necessary element, but it is far from the only response that is needed. After eight years of neglect by the Bush Administration, there is a dire need to address the downward mobility of the American Family. Not only has the income disparity grown throughout the Bush years to the point of creating two classes and almost making the middle class non-persistent, but the disparity among racial segments of American Society suffered greatly under the Republican Regime of George W. Bush to the point the wealth quotation of Black Americans is on 10% of the wealth quotation of White Americans. But this is not just a racial issue, the disparity between rich and poor has widened at an alarming rate throughout the Bush Administration and nothing that the Obama Administration has proposed will address this disparity. Even if the Banking System is the priority at this m...

Communiqué Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, United Kingdom, 14 March 2009 We, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, met today to prepare for the Leaders’ London Summit. We agreed further action to restore global growth and support lending, and reforms to strengthen the global financial system. Restoring Global Growth 1. We have taken decisive, coordinated and comprehensive action to boost demand and jobs, and are prepared to take whatever action is necessary until growth is restored. We commit to fight all forms of protectionism and maintain open trade and investment. 2. Our key priority now is to restore lending by tackling, where needed, problems in the financial system head on, through continued liquidity support, bank recapitalisation and dealing with impaired assets, through a common framework (attached). We reaffirm our commitment to take all necessary actions to ensure the soundness of systemically important institutions. 3. Fiscal expans...

Ann Coulter appearing on the new Sean Hannity Show on Fox News, entitled Hannity's America, dared to call the current financial crisis, " The Obama Recession", with Hannity concurring. Both of these two right-wing talking point hosts are shills for the Republican Party and continue to plant the seeds of divisiveness and hatred through their appearances and statements. We are lucky that History is not written by the likes of Hannity and Coulter, according to their remembrance of History, the economy was just fine until President Obama took office just a few short weeks ago, and it is his fault that unemployment continues to rise. Ms. Coulter even said that Wall Street Executives are basically Democrats, not Republicans. Talk about reconstructing reality and as far as can be seen Ms. Coulter does not use hallucinogenics. Ms. Coulter and Mr. Hannity continued to feed each other through a segment entitled The Great American Panel, which on Sunday Night consisted of Ms. Coul...

Senator Gregg, a Republican from NH, who accepted then declined President Obama's appointment to Secretary of Commerce, as a guest on State of the Nation on Sunday and declared that the Obama Budget would Bankrupt the Nation. Does Senator Gregg realize that the Nation was Bankrupt by the Republican Economic Policies, the unwarranted invasion of TWO sovereign nations, and the deregulation of the Financial, Investment, and Insurance Industries by the Republicans since 1981. Senator Gregg bowed out of being the Commence Secretary after the Republican Leadership made disparaging comments about Republicans who joined the Obama Administration and by right-wing ideologues who have talk radio shows. Now Senator Gregg is spitting out the rhetoric that these right-wing radio hosts spew daily. When President Clinton left office the Nation had a surplus and a growing economy, with the population rising through the economic classes at a rate never before seen in the History of America. Within o...