Category: Campaign Finance

The New Labour, Now Without Labour!

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The new head of the British Labour Party is moving to sever financial ties with unions and to diminish their influence in decision making:

Ed Miliband is to distance Labour from its trade union paymasters by diluting the party’s financial dependence on them and reducing their role in electing the party leader.

Labour has proposed introducing a ceiling on donations to any political party which could be as low as £500, The Independent has learnt. The move could break the long-running deadlock between the parties on agreeing a new system of financing politics.

Seems reasonable, if he can get the Tories to forswear big money from the rich bankers who fund them, but there is also this:

He also wants to change Labour’s culture by allowing the public a vote when the party chooses its leader. He plans to give 25 per cent of the votes to non-party members who register as Labour supporters. MPs, trade unionists and party members would also each have a quarter of the votes in Labour’s electoral college. At present, MPs, union and party members each have a third of those votes.

Mr Miliband’s moves are bound to cause tensions with the unions. They are all the more surprising because he depended on union support to defeat his brother, David, for the Labour leadership in September.

So, it appears that Milibrand’s vision of the Labour Party is one in which actual labo(u)r has a significantly diminished role.

I suggest that he look south and east to Israel, where the Israeli Labor party most recently polled in 4th place in elections, as compared to a party, ad its predecessors, that controlled the government for the first 29 years of Israel’s existence.

Basically, if you take labor out of a labor party, you have nothing left.

Remember That Justice Department Crackdown of Financial Fraud?

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Round up the usual suspects

It’s all theater, with a bunch of run of the mill low level grifters being rounded up being sold as real law enforcement:

The “Broken Trust” target list resembles that of the President’s “Interagency Financial Task Force,” which has concentrated on minor criminals while studiously avoiding the big (and still deadly) fish (see “A Banker Can’t Get Arrested In This Town”). Most of the Task Force’s indictments involved a category of financial criminal we call “ABB” — “anybody but bankers.” There were software entrepreneurs, family investment firms, some Florida retirement advisors … even a fraudulent psychic who claimed he could predict stock performance! (And no, it wasn’t Jim Cramer.)

Holder’s list of alleged “Broken Trust” victories is a similarly Faginesque assemblage of small-time grifters. It would make an ideal cast of characters for a Damon Runyon story or a Bertolt Brecht musical: There’s a Miami-based Ponzi schemer who used his loot to buy basketball tickets and make yacht payments, a retired Ohio cop who scammed fellow police officers and some firefighters, and the New Jersey hustler who scammed people so he could buy three luxury cars and two country club memberships.

This is clearly top down policy.

You see it from Treasury, you see it from the Department of Justice, you see it from Obama’s entire domestic policy team.

George Soros Implies Support for a Primary Challenge

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Or maybe not, since his people are walking it back a little bit:

According to multiple sources with knowledge of his remarks, Soros told those in attendance that he is “used to fighting losing battles but doesn’t like to lose without fighting.”

“We have just lost this election, we need to draw a line,” he said, according to several Democratic sources. “And if this president can’t do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else.”

……

While Soros’s comment gave some attendees the impression that he’d cheer a primary challenge to the president, the point, sources say, was different. Rather, it is time to shuffle funds into a progressive infrastructure that will take on the tasks that the president can’t or won’t take on.

“People are determined to help build a progressive infrastructure and make sure it is there not just in the months ahead but one that will last in the long term,” said Anna Burger, the retired treasury secretary of SEIU. “Instead of being pushed over by this election it has empowered people to stand up in a bigger way.”

“There was frustration,” said one Democratic operative who attended the meetings. The main concern was about messaging. I think they are frustrated that the president isn’t being more direct. But I did not get the sense that anyone’s commitment to the progressive movement was wavering… The general consensus is that support has to move beyond being about one person and more about a movement. I don’t know if we’ve moved beyond there.”

So, it could be that Soros is saying that he thinks that liberals should disassociate themselves from the Obama political operation, and go back to funding people 3rd party political operatives, because you can’t trust the Obama team to fight for you, or to fight period. (true)

It’s been well known that the Obama administration, and the associated political operation, has been tremendously hostile to 3rd party political operations, both out of a need to micromanage the message, and because of their ceaseless focus on process at the expense of results.

I think that the message, particularly as put forward by a billionaire, is a shot across Obama’s bow.

I think that there was the intention to tell the Obama White House that if they kept trying to veal pen and defund independent groups, then there is a billionaire out there who is willing to dump a significant chunk of change on making his life difficult in 2012.

For myself, I support a robust primary challenge.

Obama’s weakness, and his eagerness to please the malefactors in this situation (do nothing Republicans, dishonest bankers, etc.) while casting his behavior as liberalism could cripple the party, and the solutions that our country needs, for decades to come, much as Herbert Hoover crippled Republicans and conservatism for a generation.

The difference is that Barack Obama’s PPUT (Post Partisan Unity Schtick) is a refutation of liberalism, while Hoover’s activities were an endorsement of conservatism.

Not Enough Bullets

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The high frequency trading firms are ramping up their lobbying efforts to keep their front-running of markets legal:

The high-frequency trading industry is stepping out of the shadows in Washington.

Closely held companies with undisclosed profits and obscure names like Getco LLC, Hard Eight Futures LLC and Quantlab Financial LLC, are beginning to act more like Wall Street banks, cutting checks to politicians, forming trade groups and hiring lobbyists and ex-regulators. They’re looking to fend off tighter rules and appease lawmakers who say the firms disadvantage small investors and contribute to wild swings in stock prices.

While the companies, which use high-powered computers to execute thousands of trades in milliseconds, aren’t approaching the big banks in Washington spending, they have more than quadrupled their political giving over the last four years, a Bloomberg News analysis shows. The top recipients include Eric Cantor, set to become House majority leader, and several incoming senators who won in last week’s Republican rout.

Among other things, they are worried that the SEC will limit their ability to manipulate stocks by doing things like submitting large number of orders and then canceling them.

Well, This is Shaping Up to Be a Crappy Day

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First, I have to put my cat to sleep, and now Keith Olbermann has been suspended by MSNBC for making campaign contributions:

Keith Olbermann, the pre-eminent liberal voice on American television, was suspended Friday after his employer, MSNBC, discovered that he made campaign contributions to three Democrats last month.

The indefinite suspension was a stark display of the clash between objective journalism and opinion journalism on television.

Many prominent liberals and conservatives immediately called on MSNBC to reinstate Mr. Olbermann, who is usually outspoken but who had no comment on his suspension Friday.

The contributions came to light in an article by Politico Friday morning. Mr. Olbermann acknowledged in a statement that last month he donated $2,400 to the campaigns of Representatives Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and Attorney General Jack Conway of Kentucky, who lost his Senate race to Rand Paul.

I think that this is a stupid standard to hold straight journalists to, much less someone who is clearly an talking-head opinion type.

In the article, there is a suggestion that this is an attempt to make brand differentiation with Fox, where, for example, Hannity gave to Michelle “I used to be the nuttiest person in Congress, but the elections moved the bar” Bachmann, but I don’t live in media executives heads, nor would I ever want to.

It does appear that Keith will be back at some point in the not to distant future, though.

H/t DC at the by invitation only Stellar Parthenon BBS.

Here is a Big Surprise

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The astroturf group Concerned Taxpayers of America represents just two of said taxpayers:

A few weeks ago, a group called Concerned Taxpayers of America emerged out of nowhere and started to spend large sums of money attacking Rep. Peter DeFazio (D) in his re-election bid in Oregon. At the time, both DeFazio and his opponent, Tea Party favorite Art Robinson, claimed complete ignorance of the group, and DeFazio even tracked it to a townhouse in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington to demand that the group identify itself — but to no avail.

Friday’s FEC filings, however, finally reveal that the Concerned Taxpayers of America consists of exactly two concerned taxpayers:

………

This sh%$ really needs to stop.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?!?!?

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Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Administrative Law Judge George Painter is retiring, and he has filed a formal complaint of bias against his fellow judge, Bruce Levine:

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Administrative Law Judge George H. Painter made serious allegations regarding fellow CFTC judge Bruce Levine in announcing his retirement.

In a notice sent to complainants and their attorneys, Judge Painter claims that Levine told him that he had promised former CFTC Chair Wendy Gramm “that he would never rule in a complainants favor”. Painter’s notice goes on to say, “A review of his rulings will confirm that he has fulfilled his vow.”

He is invoking 5CFR§930.208, Administrative Law Judge Loan Program–detail to other agencies to request that his remaining cases be assigned to someone, anyone, else, because Levine is the only other administrative law judge at the CFTC.

You can find the PDF of his complaint, along with a copy of an old WSJ article which details a long history of Mr. Levine’s wrong-doing, like ex-parte contact with litigants, here.

It would have been nice if someone had ratted out this rat years ago.

H/t Streetwise Professor

Kochtopus

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The Koch brothers, who have been using their Stalin derived fortunes* to back the teabaggers, have steadfastly denied any involvement in the movement.

Well, let’s role tape:

David Koch told New York Magazine earlier this year, “I’ve never been to a tea-party event. No one representing the tea party has ever even approached me.”

But the Guardian reports that footage has emerged showing David Koch at the podium during an AFP gala receiving direct and detailed reports from his astroturf AFP army on their efforts to organize tea parties around the nation.

It appears that, “Never been to a tea-party event,” means getting reports from the people you are bankrolling on stage in right wing speak.

*Really, patriarch Fred Koch made his fortune setting up refining for Josef Stalin.

Well, This is Nice…

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Now if only he would continue his attacks on corrupt Republicans after the election:

The White House intensified its attacks Sunday on the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its alleged ties to foreign donors, part of an escalating Democratic effort to link Republican allies with corporate and overseas interests ahead of the November midterm elections.

………

David Axelrod, a top Obama adviser, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that secret political donations to the chamber and other groups pose “a threat to our democracy.”

Axelrod also took the unusual step of calling on the chamber to release internal documents backing up its contention that foreign money is not being used to pay for U.S. political activities. Democrats have seized on a report by a liberal blog alleging that dues from chamber-affiliated business councils could be used in that way.

“If the chamber opens up its books and says, ‘Here’s where our political money’s coming from,’ then we’ll know,” Axelrod said. “But until they do that, all we have is their assertion.”

The chamber has vehemently denied the allegations, characterizing them as part of a desperate strategy to stave off a GOP takeover of Congress. The business lobby has vowed to spend up to $75 million on the midterm elections, primarily in favor of Republicans.

On November 3, Obama will be back to kissing their asses.

They should be beating this drum every day.

Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United Case Allows Foreigners to Contribute to US Campaigns

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What a surprise. The US Chamber of Commerce is raising millions of dollars in foreign contributions, and spending them on political activities, though they are claiming that they are claiming that it’s on the up and up:

The US Chamber of Commerce has responded to this post in a statement to the Politico’s Ben Smith. The Chamber’s Tita Freeman did not dispute that the Chamber’s 501(c)(6) organization running attack ads receives foreign funds, and simply claimed, “We have a system in place” to prevent foreign funding for the Chamber’s “political activities.”

It’s called money laundering, and it’s illegal.

We also a complaint filed against Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS group with the IRS for misuse of their 501(c)4 tax status.

If Barack Obama really wanted to change the atmosphere in Washington, going after crap like this, where people are not just bending the rules, but are

I am not suggesting that Obama specifically get the FBI on the Chamber of Commerce and Rove, that’s Nixonian, but making it clear to the senior staff of the DoJ that there will be a zero tolerance policy on crap like this is both ethically sound and justified by the facts.

Don’t hold your breath though.

Not gonna happen……

Wouldn’t be prudent.

Your Moment of Schadenfreude

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If there is a bright spot this year it is the meltdown in the Colorado Gubernatorial race, where John Hickenlooper is cruising to victory as Republican Dan Maes and wingnut Republican turned 3rd party candidate Tom Tancredo pummel each other, but I did not think that it was much beyond that.

Well, I was wrong, because Maes appears to be polling near 10%, and if he gets less than 10% of the vote, then the Republican Party becomes a “minor party” in Colorado:

But a big win for Tancredo — or even drawing much closer — could spell a big loss for both the GOP and his adopted third party, the American Constitution Party, for the next four years.

If Republican nominee Dan Maes receives less than 10 percent of the vote in November, the GOP becomes a minor party and subject to rules that could cut in half the amount its candidates can collect in campaign contributions. [Because they cannot get a separate donation for the primary if it is uncontested for state and local positions]

As Republicans absorb the news, leaders of the 2,000-plus-person ACP worry about their potential promotion to the majors if Tancredo exceeds 10 percent at the polls, a status that comes with new and costlyorganizational requirements.

Former ACP chairman Doug Campbell reveled in the GOP predicament, if not that of his own party, which may have to host precinct caucuses throughout the state and mail out primary ballots.

Additionally, it would mean that the party would not be placed in the to ballot spots, but rather would be ranked down ballot on the basis of a lottery with crazies like the Monster Raving Loony Party:

“The effect of the designation of minor party status for the 2012 election would be that our candidate for president will not be in the top two lines which will be reserved for the Democrat and American Constitution Party candidates. We will be left to compete for ballot position with the Greens, Socialists, American Communist Party, Libertarians. Prohibitionists etc.

“Our state house and senate candidates will similarly be relegated to bottom positions. In 2014, when we have our US Senate, Governor, Attorney General, Treasurer etc races, again, we will be at the bottom of the ballot fighting the libertarians etc for ballot placement. As we all know, being at the top or toward the top can mean several percentage points in the vote, enough in a close race to secure victory.”

Admittedly, Maes is polling significantly above the 10% line, he is polling at 15%, and I think that when it becomes clear that neither of them will win that there will be the governor voters will hold their nose and vote for Maes to avoid chaos for the next 4 years in the Colorado Republican Party.

Still, heh.

I Write Letters

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So, the New York Times has an article where they bemoan the fact that Wall Street financiers could not buy 3 New York State Senate elections for “educational reformers”:

They were the candidates of riches, flush with hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wall Street investors who believed in the promise of charter schools.

But when the election results came in on Tuesday, all three State Senate candidates supporting education reform — Basil Smikle, Lynn Nunes and Mark H. Pollard — lost by huge margins, with none cracking 30 percent of the total vote in primary contests against union-backed rivals.

The three New York races amounted to some of the country’s first proxy wars between labor groups and Wall Street financiers pushing for education reform, and in the end, the time-tested union machine prevailed.

You see the message here: something is wrong with America if a bunch of rich pukes from Wall Street cannot buy elections in order to privatize an essential public service, in this through for-profit charter schools, and generate taxpayer subsidized profits.

It’s worked so well for prisons, and for military contractors, that we must feed our children to feed the Wall Street beast yet again.

In any case, it pissed me off enough to write a letter to the editor on the subject, which is almost certainly not going to get published:

I found the article one sided. While it is clear that unions played a role in the elections, you make it sound as if this was somehow unfair, while relegating those who donated, “hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wall Street investors” to these candidates who lost as somehow simply being people of good will, “who believed in the promise of charter schools.”

The promise of charter schools that attracts ” Wall Street investors” is its creation of an educational-industrial complex and its associated revenue streams.

There have been numerous studies of charter schools over decades, and they do not meaningfully outperform public schools in properly constructed studies.

There are real problems in our schools, but neither the mindless focus on test scores nor bringing Wall Street profiteers into the equation are the solution.

Economics Update

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It’s jobless Thursday, and the initial claims numbers are out, with initial claims falling to 450,000, the 4 week moving average falling to 464,750 last week’s 478,250, continuing claims falling 84,000 to 4.49 million, and emergency claims fell by over 500,000, which is all a good thing, though the story also mentions that the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index missed expectations, remaining in the contractionary range, while the New York Fed’s Empire State Index fell but remained in positive territory.

In terms of other general measures, we have conflicting data, with inventories rising strongly, retail sales rising in more sedately, and the NFIB’s small business confidence rising modestly to an anemic 88, while on the other side we see industrial growth slowing in August.

Real estate, on the other hand is pretty grim in the post-tax credit days, with home repossession spiking, and CoreLogic’s home price index showing no year over year gain for the first time in five months, and home mortgage applications fell this week.

On the inflation front, the Producer Price Index came out, and while there is still little inflation in the core rate, but food and energy costs are rising more sharply, though still well below a 6% annual rate.

What Barack Obama Wants

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So, after Alan Simpson has repeatedly shown an implacable hostility to Social Security spanning decades, and referred to every person in the us as freeloaders sucking at the tits of society, the Obama administration has decided to double down on this biased nutjob:

But at the White House, Jennifer Psaki, the deputy communications director, said, “Alan Simpson has apologized and while we regret and do not condone his comments, we accept his apology and he will continue to serve.”

The only reason to appoint him in the first place, and the only reason to keep him on after this incident is because Barack Obama wants, and, based on his behavior, what he wants is to gut Social Security.

Billy and Barry, That Lincoln Endorsement Worked Out Really, Didn’t It?

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The DSCC is looking at cutting off Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, because with less than 3 months to go, she is down about 20 points in the polls.

These were her number before our current and former presidents went balls to the wall for her in the primary, and got a lot of money sent her way.

I don’t know why Barack Obama had decided on an unprecedented level of White House interference in primaries, I understand why Bill Clinton did, Lincoln is a protege of his, but the net results seem to be primary losses, weak candidates in the general, and a dispirited base.

Why the Chinese Will Continue to Eat Our Lunch

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Because they understand what is going on, and they are willing to do tough things to make sure that things don’t blow up in their faces:

China’s banking regulator told lenders last month to conduct a new round of stress tests to gauge the impact of residential property prices falling as much as 60 percent in the hardest-hit markets, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Banks were instructed to include worst-case scenarios of prices dropping 50 percent to 60 percent in cities where they have risen excessively, the person said, declining to be identified because the regulator’s requirement hasn’t been publicly announced. Previous stress tests carried out in the past year assumed home-price declines of as much as 30 percent.

(emphasis mine)

The Chinese understand that the purpose of stress tests is to identify problem institutions, not to reassure markets, so they will thoroughly investigate their banks, and then probably jail senior management at some of the worst run institutions.

It might be painful, but it gets ahead of the events, as opposed to our method, extend and pretend, which means that when future problems occur, the Chinese have better options available to them.

I guess that the leadership of the PRC aren’t worried about being called “Socialists,” because they call themselves socialists.

Economics Update

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We have a fair amount of news, most of it bad, with consumer spending and personal income flat, pending home sales falling sharply in June, and the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey falling more than expected, though the latter still indicates (rather anemic) growth.

Additionally, we have the Wells Fargo/Gallup survey of small business sentiment hitting a new low, while personal bankruptcy filings rose 9% in July.

As to the good news, we have…

We have…

We have…

We have…

Ummmm…A survey of economic mood in Europe hitting two-year high?