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Pols’ ‘rank hypocrisy’ slammed

Upped payouts by $200G
Thursday, March 21, 2013 By:Hillary Chabot

Members of the Bay State’s congressional delegation, who have been warning the sky is falling over the federal sequester cuts, were busy feathering its own offices with nearly $200,000 in bonuses, pay hikes and new hires in a timeworn tradition of end-of-the-year handouts, a Herald review found.

The 10-member delegation pumped up their personnel payouts — which includes a mix of new staff, salary boosts and other bonuses — by a total of $196,000 in the last three months of 2012, despite their vocal concerns about closing the federal deficit, according to records kept by the House clerk’s office.

The review found:

• U.S. Rep. Michael E. Capuano led the pack, boosting his staff’s pay by $70,966;

• U.S. Rep. William Keating’s staff shared a $44,360 boost;

• U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey, the front-runner in the special Senate race, boosted his payroll by $41,187;

• U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, who is vying with Markey for the Democratic Senate nomination, upped his payroll by $27,889; and

• U.S. Rep. John Tierney, who fought back a GOP challenge last year, doled out another $19,853.

“Congressman Markey values his staff and their hard work for the people of Massachusetts,” said Markey spokesman Eben Burnham-Snyder when asked about the bonuses.

Alison Mills, a spokeswoman for Capuano, said the bonuses are deserved. “Staffers have not received cost-of-living adjustments in three years,” she said.

Lynch and Keating did not respond to requests for comment. A Tierney spokeswoman cited severance packages to departing staffers.

Markey led the sequestration fear-mongering last month, releasing a report on the devastating local impacts of the long-anticipated, across-the-board cuts that began to take effect March 1.

“If these automatic budget cuts go into effect, health care, home heating and education for Massachusetts’ middle-class families would all suffer,” Markey warned.

The sequestration deal, agreed upon by Congress and President Obama a year and a half ago, was supposed to be an incentive for Democrats and Republicans to reach a compromise on the issue. The measure levels a total of $1 trillion in across-the-board cuts over the next 10 years.

Local Democrats tried to place the lion’s share of the blame on House Republicans for forcing the sequestration because they hold a majority in the House.

“Most of them come to Washington because they don’t like government, they don’t think government should play a role in our lives. Maybe they don’t know anybody who needs heating assistance,” Capuano said at a local anti-sequester rally in February.

Ian Prior, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said, “The fact that the delegation is bemoaning all the cuts and saying they are standing up for the working class while they are passing out bonuses and beefing up their staff is rank hypocrisy.”

The year-end handouts are a tradition for both Republicans and Democrats. Garrett Snedeker of the legislative watchdog group Legistorm said, “Ed Markey is without a doubt one of the Hill’s more generous bequeathers of bonuses, and looks like Lynch is much more average and middle of the road.”
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http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us_politics/2013/03/pols_rank_hypocrisy_slammed
 
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Nexis4jersey said:
Explains your sense Entitlement , not surprising either.... I'm tired of people like you thinking their entitled to more , when your clearly not. How many hours of work a week do you do?
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Yeah. I be clearly not.

Answer: A lot.
 
Maybe he should try a little gun control himself.
 
Another day, another Massachusetts Democrat caught with his pants down.
 
They are out to ban pitchforks and torches for a reason

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinio...missions_meeting_on_openness_closed_to_herald

Commission's meeting on openness closed to Herald

Friday, March 22, 2013 Chris Cassidy




The State Ethics Commission preached transparency and accountability in a closed-door training session with scores of House lawmakers yesterday, but practiced old-fashioned back-room politics as it booted a Herald reporter hoping to witness ethics reform in action — a bizarre encounter that ended with the state ethics chairman ducking simple questions and refusing even to identify himself.
“Some would argue the first rule of ethics reform is transparency ...” a man later identified as Ethics Commission Chairman Charles Swartwood III was asked by the Herald as he boarded an elevator after the session.
“Can I tell you — don’t argue with me,” Swartwood responded.
Swartwood, a former federal judge magistrate, also scolded a Herald reporter for snapping his photo as he walked out of the State House and refused to give his name and his exact job title.
“I’m not saying,” he said, “because that’s a private matter.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers left the close-door session — the first since the 2011 ethics overhaul — more confused than when they entered, complaining that ethics officials seemed to contradict themselves over new rules governing writing recommendations for state job seekers.
It all began with a reporter’s desire to monitor the training session in hopes of seeing an exercise in open government. The session convened at 1 p.m. in Hearing Room A1.
But in a matter of minutes, an aide to state Rep. William Galvin told the reporter to scram.
“It’s for House members only,” said the aide who also refused to give her name.
When the reporter was slow to depart, officials summoned Chief Court Officer Gene DiPersio.
“It’s a closed meeting, and they told me only members are allowed,” said DiPersio, “so that’s why I’m asking you to leave.”
As lawmakers filed out of the two-hour presentation, the reporter walked in again, but was quickly escorted back out by state Rep. Cory Atkins (D-Concord). “We’re not done yet,” she said. “We’re having private discussions. So we’re not done.”
Office of Campaign and Political Finance Director Michael Sullivan also refused to divulge any details of the transparency-promoting event. “I’m sure you’re a good guy,” Sullivan said, “but I’m not telling you.”
One lawmaker leaving the meeting even tried to pass himself off as an innocent bystander.
“I’m not a rep,” state Rep. Tim Toomey (D-Cambridge) said. “I just was in there for a second. … No, no, just passing through. … Just a friend.”
And that was how it ended — the first ethics training session since lawmakers on Beacon Hill passed what were trumpeted as major new reforms after the Probation Department patronage scandal.
The session was prompted after the Ethics Commission put out an advisory opinion earlier this year that some lawmakers found too vague. Several stopped writing recommendations altogether until the new rules were made clear.
Yesterday, baffled lawmakers said the training session only created more headaches as they struggled with the definition of a constituent and whether they could recommend someone they know.
“There was just rampant confusion,” said state Rep. Ellen Story (D-Amherst). “There was no clarity on what the rules are. … It would not be especially edifying to anyone to be there — that would be including the press.”
 
Re: They are out to ban pitchforks and torches for a reason

Lurker said:
“I’m not a rep,” state Rep. Tim Toomey (D-Cambridge) said. “I just was in there for a second. … No, no, just passing through. … Just a friend.”
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That one ranks right up there with the perv in the Prius attempting to pass himself off as another state rep after having been caught without pants on in public.
 
What a total shit show this fucking thread is. I feel filthy just reading it.
 
Look on the bright side. Today we still have a heavily ideologically biased but free press in the US while the UK just had their muzzled by government authority.

Orwell, despite being an unapologetic socialist, was a prophet when it came to the UKs future.
 
Can you link to the source for this UK media censorship story? Thanks.
 
This sums up the future of America's path.

The fact that the government controls the money printing presses allows them to be irresponsible and shuns making them responsible for their actions because they keep pushing off the consequence and payment onto the next generation. Some where in the future this long term trend has to end... and probably will end with disaster striking. Some think that this settlement day is fast arriving ... and we are collectively like scared rabbits caught in the headlines of an on rushing financial monster of our own making. Do you like mix metaphors? I got a whole sack full of them. !

Basic commonsense and prudent management of economic tools to assist the guidance of our economic goals seems to have gotten lost in the morass of special interests groups with their army of lobbyists aided by politicians of questionable ethics and willing to sell integrity for reelection votes. The current outcome of this long running tradition is that greed and unethical actions of bankers, and abetted by government agencies that failed to do the job of oversight and enforcement of laws already on the books, were allowed to run amok , then bailed out by tax payers money, which they used partly for huge obscene bonuses (considering the source of the funds), and as yet after five years none taken to wood shed to be punished.

Yeah I DO KNOW that is an over simplification of a very complex and interlocking series of events starting with congress aim to let everyone have their chicken in every pot.... only this time the chicken was ownership of your own home. Great idea but the poor execution was a path that fell straight into the financial crisis that some say would of sank the system, ruined the economy of this nation and had repercussions around the world if massive amounts of money from the fed had not been forthcoming. Does this propaganda fit the facts? In retrospect I would of like to have seen a little more pain experienced by the perpetrators of this crisis and crash. A few more judicial bankruptcies as a warning to future miscreants .

But it seems that the cure and ongoing adjustments to this crisis is more of the same mismanagement and hidden agendas kept in the dark from the public with even the Fed constantly given reassurances that everything is under control. But that statement does not really inform or tell what is happening and what the most likely consequences will be. The very same bankers, insurers , rating agencies , federal watch dogs of these firms, lobbyist and congress members who in concert brought about the crisis in the first place are the ones sent to fix (coverup ?) it now. Not sure if this will play out as a comedy of errors are a grim tragedy by greed, deception, and ineptitude wrapped up with good intentions.
Would like to believe the intentions were good... or was it some good ole boy system where your buddies in the housing and forest industries and local bankers --who could make and then sell questionable mortgages to the government ( a system where they kept the fees and profits but transferred the risk and write offs to Freddie and Fannie ) could all exploit a profitable gravy train with little risk thanks to "friends" in congress?. Conveniently the government watch dogs were asleep and the bankers who were savvy businessmen cannot claim they did not know the consequences and still maintain that they are astute financial managers worthy of their reputations and bloated salaries and bonuses, nor can the builders of housing who eagerly took the government ball and run it up to an overextended bubble that had a spectacular burst escape scott free from the consequences or blame of their part in this folly.

OK you foxes, I know you raided the chicken coop and ate half the hens but now , as punishment, I am putting you in charge of guarding the other half. -- Your government and tax dollars at work..... I fear the end of this story ends badly for the hens.

As always in a "one in a lifetime crisis" (which seem to happen more frequently or else I am getting older than I know) the politicians and industry moguls take advantage of the situation by forcing new laws and new labor conditions onto our economy and society. Changes that have very long term effects ... and often unintended consequences.

Like a tale of two cities the five years have created a split personality in our financial economy.
Banks got 'saved' and now have large reserves ...........................but will not loan out the money so small business men and industry need to be self financing or go without.

Banks got zero interest loans from the Fed... so with this cheap money... buying even the low Federal bills , gives them a zero risk income stream. No need to loan the funds to take on unwanted risks.

The mantra of american companies was to cut expenses and payrolls, .........so thousands were either laid off or took pay cuts... and this helped the bottom line which caused earnings to go up... and so too the stock price. But this also made keeping the mortgage payments up difficult and many new bad loans hit the bankers as unemployed or under paid folks lost their incomes which then meant they lost their homes. Notice how large the number is of companies that increased earnings on the bottom line (and their stock prices) but on the top line... revenue growth languished or even dipped. We are reaching a time when further cutting expenses and laying off workers or cutting wages of the surviving work force can no longer be done and revenues and sales must grow to keep the P/E ratios up or the stock prices will fall. ... dramatically since a certain amount of ever growing earnings is factored into the stock prices.

Unemployed folks also lost their health insurance or could not keep the payments up... but still got sick ... sometimes brought on by stress and poverty. ... while those who still had jobs or got bonuses for perpetrating the crisis got richer by comparison to the ever shrinking middle class ... slipping into the status of being the working poor or jus plain poor. Funny how many of the working poor still consider themselves as middle class. A classic case of denial of a new reality.

So why hasn't the market fallen back?
(1) Well one reason was the crisis in Europe taking money out of that market and putting it into the USA.. odd that we would be looked at as a "safe haven " after 2008 fiasco ... but as one politician said... "The USA was the best looking broken down horse in the glue factory". So the money poured in from Europe and Asia and the basic economic supply / demand took place and you had too much money chasing too few stocks... and the market went up.

However need I point out that these funds from overseas are very fickle and whenever the perception changes and a newer and better "safe haven" appears that the sucking sound you hear will be the rushing stampede toward that exit door with very interesting impact on the USA stock market as it plunges down the drain. But it is based upon the same principle of demand/supply - only the other side of this coin.

(2) The stock market... "No other game in town to play".... gee I must of heard this a zillion times said in tones like it was from an ancient zen revelation . Meaning that real estate was still trying to get back on its feet and too soon to get into until a trend was better established, and the the fed policies had ruin the bonds, bank cds and money market funds... and has stated this policy would last for a couple of years into the future. So the newly retired and all the older retirees who's blueprints were based upon being diversified in prudent and safe investments were facing a drastic lowering of their standard of living and being forced into riskier venues to hang on to their self respect and living standards. Those 6% and higher return rates were replaced with 1% paper. Suddenly before the folks could react their income basically just vanished. It is simple to understand since it is basic math. A million dollars at a 6% rate yields you an income of $60,000. But at 1% you need to increase your capital by five million dollars to keep the same income that your blueprint calls for. Besides their kids have gotten out of expensive universities and colleges and could not find anything but minimum wage jobs or no job at all and had moved back in with mom and dad. ... and a fun time was had by all. Believe me, not all american families look like a Norman Rockwell illustration.

(3) Far more companies than the general public seems to be aware of are continuing the trend of cutting expenses and personal by creating a structural change in business and society that probably is not reversible once it becomes widespread business practice. It saves the company money and time consuming government paper work and ends raises, medical benefits, retirement benefits, and even vacation time off with pay. Once this becomes the norm it will be hard to go back paying these items. To point: firms have publicly stated that they will now no long have full time employees. Just part time employees who work a certain number of hours each week ... like 20 hours . Or contract labor for certain periods of the year in seasonal industries. Oddly this causes the employment figures to improve and go up while ignoring why this is happening. But this accounts for why the government employment figures are going up at the same time consumer sentiment is flat or falling. If this no full time employees trend gains momentum then discretionary spending will disappear since every penny will be needed to just cover the basics of living... rent, food, car payment, insurance, utilities. etc. And discretionary spending is needed if this economy is going to get back on track. Even two part time jobs will not equal one full time job's revenues since added expenses of a second job will impact the income.

(4) 2008 caused the middle class to shrink and this shift in the structure of society has long term implications . There are numerous examples in history to point to where a tiny percentage of the population had all the wealth, the land, the power and the means to abuse those who had nothing or very little. In the past this status could last for generations but in the end it always ended badly with social upheaval and revolution and massive death. But (of course) times are different now and doom and gloom not socially acceptable. Part of the prolong periods of the status quo were in part due to the acceptance of their fate and a lack of communication . Neither are a factor in our society now. Also our "ruling class" does not have a divine mandate of heaven to rule the rest of us mere mortals. Although some of our members of congress act like they have a hot line directly into the almighty realms . Using the reelection slogan "Trust ME , I know what is BEST for YOU !" as usual. arrogant and condescending. But back to point.... the rich are getting richer... and their ranks a tad bigger, but the middle class is getting poorer and some are no long even middle class ... they just have gotten down to being poor... and these changes are obvious ... but so newly acquired that society in general is still trying to adjust to this new reality. Interesting to see where this will take us.

(5) 2008 will be looked at in history books as an important watershed. The numerous culprits and perpetrators will not be treated lightly even though there is a wide range of blame to cover so many who acted in concert either actively or by inaction. Sadly, most were very smart, well educated men in positions of financial and political power who cannot say that they were surprised by the consequences of their actions and money grabbing greed. The rest of the public now is coping and living with the mess while a precious few living high in ill gotten feathered nests-- even if they were not active participates in the causes of the original crisis they still benefited.
This divisional split in our society will become more pronounce as time goes by unless some really dramatic action takes place to change the above trends.... and at the moment, with the usual cast of characters upon the stage... the play remains fixed upon its current plot and fate.
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We are on the verge of a golden era, and the last dozen years will be viewed retrospectively as an era of cleaning the stables. (Whether anything has been cleaned is another question.)
 
Ron Newman said:
Can you link to the source for this UK media censorship story? Thanks.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-0324-press-20130323,0,2382224.story
Britain's plan to regulate the press goes too far

The response to a 'phone-hacking' scandal involving tabloids gives the government too much power.

By the Los Angeles Times editorial board
March 24, 2013
​

Britain's three major political parties have agreed on a new system of regulating newspapers in the aftermath of shocking invasions of privacy by some tabloid journalists. In this case, unanimity doesn't equal wisdom. The London-based Index on Censorship was right to call the new system a "sad day for press freedom in the U.K."
The new arrangement will implement recommendations of a prominent British judge who conducted an inquiry into press conduct after a "phone-hacking" scandal in which journalists illegally accessed information from the telephones of celebrities, politicians and a kidnapped girl who was later found dead. The commission had proposed a new regulatory body to oversee Britain's newspapers; in the end, rather than having Parliament create one by statute, Queen Elizabeth II will issue a charter establishing a "recognition body" that will certify a new regulatory commission. That panel in turn will be able to direct newspapers to publish corrections and impose fines of up to a million pounds for unethical behavior. Newspapers that choose not to take part in the regulatory process will be subject to additional "exemplary" damages if they lose libel or invasion-of-privacy lawsuits.
The use of a royal charter, rather than a statute, doesn't alter the fact that the government is involving itself in regulation of the press. (Actually, Parliament will be involved in the system because it will legislate terms under which the charter can be revised.) Reporters and editors now must look over their shoulders not only at the new regulatory body but also at politicians who have demonstrated that they are willing to use the power of government to rein in the press. These are the same politicians whom journalists are in the business of covering.
A measure of humility is appropriate when Americans criticize the legal and political systems of other countries. Although Britain lacks a 1st Amendment — or any written constitution — it is dramatically more protective of individual liberties than many societies with elaborate charters of rights. It's also true that tabloid newspapers in Britain long have engaged in practices that are anathema to journalists in this country (and to many in Britain).
Even so, this new system of regulation interferes with the autonomy journalists need to serve the public. And it's an overreaction to the phone-hacking scandal, which involved alleged violations of criminal law that already have resulted in arrests.
Last year, Prime Minister David Cameron warned against writing press regulation into the "law of the land." Yet that is what Britain is about to do, and both the press and the British people will be the worse for it.

Copyright © 2013, Los Angeles Times
 
No thanks. The last thing this country needs is more rail nazis and euro wannabes.
 
No-Doc Mortgage Mods From Fannie, Freddie

By Shanthi Bharatwaj03/27/13 - 11:36 AM EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) --Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac will begin offering a simpler loan modification initiative to help troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure, the Federal Housing Finance Agency(FHFA) said on Wednesday.

Beginning July 1, servicers will be required to offer borrowers who are behind on their payments by 90 days or more an easy way to lower their monthly payments without requiring financial or hardship documentation.

Borrowers will only have to show willingness to pay by making three on-time trial payments, after which the mortgage will be permanently modified. Documenting income and financial hardship, however, could result in additional savings for the borrower, the FHFA said.

While executives at the agencies said the initiative will cut through the paperwork and ease the process, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President Leslie Peeler also warned that "all homeowners must know that we will be using all the tools available to us to screen for potential strategic defaulters."

Fannie Mae's guidance letter to servicers also points to plenty of exclusions when it comes to borrower eligibility.

Borrowers will have to be no more than 720 days delinquent. Modifications will be available only on first-lien mortgages and only on those mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio of 80% or more.

Those whose mortgage was modified two or more times previously will not qualify. Borrowers with mortgages less than 12 months old will also not be eligible for the initative.

For the complete list of eligibility requirements for Fannie Mae, click here. For more on Freddie Mac's guidance, click here.

The program is available to borrowers with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The program expires August 1, 2015.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have modified 1.3 million loans since being placed into conservatorship in 2008.

-- Written by Shanthi Bharatwaj New York.
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http://www.thestreet.com/story/1188...om-fannie-freddie.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
 
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