Consumer Advocates Call For Geithner’s Resignation

Turbo Tax TimFollowing the AIG bonuses debacle, two prominent consumer advocates have called on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to resign.
Harvey Rosenfield and Jim Donahue have written to President Obama to express their lack of confidence in Geithner’s ability to grapple with the ongoing financial crisis due to his previous association with Wall Street while chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and an author of the first round of bailouts.
They believe the Treasury Department was aware of the controversial bonuses and retention payments but failed to act until after AIG paid some $180 million worth of them.
"It is clear that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner cannot provide the requisite independence that is required in an environment in which financial institutions and other businesses are demanding trillions of dollars of taxpayer money," the letter to the President states. "With respect, we urge you to ask for his resignation."
Recently, WallStreetWatch.org issued a report identifying policy decisions by the federal government that led to the current financial meltdown and how those policies were dictated by Wall Street through $5 billion in campaign donations and lobbying fees between 1998 and 2008.
It states that many of these firms are now receiving American taxpayer dollars.

Harry Reid: Justice Roberts lied to Congress..Look Who Is Calling Who A Liar!

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. lied to Congress during his confirmation hearings by pretending to be open-minded about his judicial philosophy.
"We got into a little jam with Roberts. Roberts didn't tell us the truth. At least [Justice Samuel A.] Alito told us who he was," Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, said, comparing President Bush's two successful Supreme Court nominees.
"We're stuck with those two young men," Mr. Reid said, though he said they hope to try to balance out the judiciary overall by "having some moderates in the federal court system as time goes on."
The Senate's top Democrat also vowed never to use the so-called nuclear option to change the rules to prevent filibusters of judicial nominees. Republicans under then-Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, were poised to employ the tactic in 2004 but were headed off by a bipartisan deal.
"The nuclear option is only one of the things the Republicans in power at that time did or tried to do to ruin our country," Mr. Reid said. "There is no way that I would be part of using the nuclear option. I want every Republican to hear that."
Mr. Reid joined fellow Democrats in voting to filibuster the nomination of Justice Alito, and on final passage voted against confirming both Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts. The chief justice did not face a Democratic filibuster.
Former Sen. Fred Thompson, a Tennessee Republican who shepherded the chief justice's nomination through the Senate, said Mr. Reid's charge was off base.
"Senator Reid has compiled quite a catalog of mean and irrational statements about various people," Mr. Thompson said.
"The chief justice was very forthright in explaining that he would not tell the senators how he was going to vote but that he would follow the law and the intent of the framers. He's done exactly that, and that, of course, is anathema to Harry Reid."
Liberal critics have said that the chief justice's claim of being open on issues of law during his confirmation hearings have been proven wrong by his penchant for siding with conservatives on high court decisions.
President Obama has already moved to try to temper the heat surrounding judicial nominations, making sure he had the support of both Indiana senators — one Democrat and one Republican — before nominating someone from their state to a federal appeals court.
Fielding questions from reporters at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Mr. Reid said he hopes the major bills the Senate has worked on so far this year have shown there's a benefit to Republicans helping out.
"When we do things, there's credit to go around all the way," he said.
He also dismissed reports of divisions among Democrats on the major issues in the budget, saying flatly "there's no split." He said that would be proved next week when they vote on the budget.
Mr. Reid was coy when asked whether he would try to push for major health care changes under the budget reconciliation process, which would mean it could without having to face a Republican filibuster in the Senate.
"That remains to be seen," he said.
Mr. Reid was elected to the Senate in 1986 and has been Democrats' leader since 2005, when he took over for then-Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who lost his bid for re-election.
Mr. Reid could face his own tough challenge next year, and he said he's preparing for a difficult race similar to the 1998 election in which he barely beat his Republican challenger, John Ensign. Mr. Ensign went on to win Nevada's other Senate seat in 2000.
Like Mr. Daschle, Mr. Reid leads a caucus that is more liberal than his own stances and voting record were before he became leader, and that could be a liability. But Mr. Reid said he's learned to have a good fundraising operation.
"I've been fortunate to raise quite a bit of money. I think I raised $2 million last quarter, so I'll be okay," he said.

Pelosi’s Approval Rating Takes Major Hit

By: David A. Patten
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s popularity has fallen to a new low for the year, with 60 percent of likely voters now viewing her unfavorably according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Friday.
Even worse news for the California Democrat: A whopping 42 percent characterize her job performance as “very unfavorable.”
The trend looks bad for Pelosi as well. Just two weeks ago, 53 percent of those surveyed viewed Pelosi somewhat or very unfavorably, and her “very unfavorable” rating was 36 percent. A 7 point favorability decline in two weeks suggests Pelosi’s popularity is in a serious tailspin.
Despite this week’s rally on Wall Street, pundits say Democrats are taking it on the chin over the bad economy and the fallout over AIG bonuses.
“Congress is feeling voter anger over executive bonuses paid by AIG after it received a massive taxpayer bailout,” the Rasmussen organization reports in its analysis of the results.
Several other findings suggest voters’ patience with Democrats’ handling of the economy could be wearing thin:
# Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid is also suffering from weak poll numbers. Of the 1,000 likely voters Rasmussen polled March 24 and 25, some 45 percent rated Reid unfavorably, compared to 23 percent who gave him a favorable assessment.
# Even among Democrats, the popularity of both Reid and Pelosi is sinking. A growing number of Democrats are now critical of their performance.
# In the past two weeks, Pelosi’s favorability among Democrats has dropped from 65 percent to 57 percent.
# Reid’s favorable rating among Democrats has also taken a serious dip, from 51 percent two weeks ago to 43 percent in the survey released Friday.
# One issue plaguing Democrats, Rasmussen says, is that two-thirds of Americans now believe Obama is likely to raise taxes on those earning less than $250,000 a year.
# Democrats have shown recent weakness relative to Republicans in generic-ballot surveys of voters’ partisan leanings.
Other Rasmussen survey results suggest Republicans should temper any temptation to wallow in schadenfreude over Democrats’ recent miscues, however.
Although the popularity of Democratic leaders has been falling sharply, the favorability ratings of GOP leaders has remained flat.
Approval numbers for Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner have remained basically unchanged – perhaps indicating voters remain unconvinced that Republicans’ proposals on how to fix the economy are any better.

Wonder if Congress will be passing any unconstitutional bills of attainder to confiscate Rahm "Dead Fish" Emanuel's ill-gotten wealth:

Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the current housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal that led to a management shake-up, huge fines and scalding condemnation of passive directors by a top federal regulator.
One of those allegedly asleep-at-the-switch board members was Chicago's Rahm Emanuel — now chief of staff to President Barack Obama — who made at least $320,000 for a 14-month stint at Freddie Mac that required little effort.
As gatekeeper to Obama, Emanuel now plays a critical role in addressing the nation's mortgage woes and fulfilling the administration's pledge to impose responsibility on the financial world.
Emanuel's Freddie Mac involvement has been a prominent point on his political résumé, and his healthy payday from the firm has been no secret either. What is less known, however, is how little he apparently did for his money and how he benefited from the kind of cozy ties between Washington and Wall Street that have fueled the nation's current economic mess. …
He was named to the Freddie Mac board in February 2000 by Clinton, whom Emanuel had served as White House political director and vocal defender during the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals.
The board met no more than six times a year. Unlike most fellow directors, Emanuel was not assigned to any of the board's working committees, according to company proxy statements. Immediately upon joining the board, Emanuel and other new directors qualified for $380,000 in stock and options plus a $20,000 annual fee, records indicate.
On Emanuel's watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments. The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass.
The accounting scandal wasn't the only one that brewed during Emanuel's tenure.
During his brief time on the board, the company hatched a plan to enhance its political muscle. That scheme, also reviewed by the board, led to a record $3.8 million fine from the Federal Election Commission for illegally using corporate resources to host fundraisers for politicians. Emanuel was the beneficiary of one of those parties after he left the board and ran in 2002 for a seat in Congress from the North Side of Chicago.
"Political muscle" describes what Emanuel provided in exchange for his ride on the gravy train.
Financial disclosure statements that are required of U.S. House members show Emanuel made at least $320,000 from his time at Freddie Mac. Two years after leaving the firm, Emanuel reported an additional sale of Freddie Mac stock worth between $100,001 and $250,000. … One of Emanuel's fellow directors at Freddie Mac was Neil Hartigan, the former Illinois attorney general. Hartigan said Emanuel's primary contribution was explaining to others on the board how to play the levers of power.
He was respected on the board for his understanding of "the dynamics of the legislative process and the executive branch at senior levels," Hartigan recalled. …
Another focus of Freddie during Emanuel's day — and one that played to his skill set — was a stepped-up effort to combat [Republican] congressional demands for more regulation.
Dead Fish's Freddie connection continued after he left to join the Leviathan as a congresscrook.
Federal campaign records show that Emanuel received $25,000 from donors with ties to Freddie Mac in the 2002 campaign cycle, more than twice the amount collected that election by any other candidate for the U.S. House or Senate.
Emanuel joined the House in January 2003 and was named to the Financial Services Committee, where he also sat on the subcommittee that directly oversaw Freddie Mac. A few months later, Freddie Mac Chief Executive Officer Leland Brendsel was forced out, and the committee and subcommittee launched hearings to sort out the mess, spanning more than a year. Emanuel skipped every hearing, congressional records indicate.
As for the Obamination administration's loudly promised "transparency"…
The Obama administration rejected a Tribune request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel's time as a director.
But not to worry:
Sarah Feinberg, a spokeswoman for Emanuel, said there was no conflict between his stint at Freddie Mac and Obama's vow to restore confidence in financial institutions and the executives who run them.
Let's not single out Dead Fish. He was hardly the only Democrat in Congress to help create the Freddie/Fannie fiasco that is snowballing into a depression. He's not even the only one who went on to the White House.