Free Republic

Washington, DCJudicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2009 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.”  The list, in alphabetical order, includes: 1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT):  This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 “Ten Most Corrupt” list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him.  In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat.  In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against...

Obama's Big Wall Street Sellout The president has packed his economic team with Wall Street insiders intent on turning the bailout into an all-out giveaway Barack Obama ran for president as a man of the people, standing up to Wall Street as the global economy melted down in that fateful fall of 2008. He pushed a tax plan to soak the rich, ripped NAFTA for hurting the middle class and tore into John McCain for supporting a bankruptcy bill that sided with wealthy bankers "at the expense of hardworking Americans." Obama may not have run to the left of Samuel...

On Saturday, joined by hundreds of friends, family and colleagues on a snowy December day in Yonkers, NY, we celebrated the life of Mark Pittman. Readers of The IRA who wish to express their thanks to Mark and show support for his family may make contributions to the Pittman Children’s College Fund, c/o Dr. William Karesh, 30B Pondview Road, Rye, NY 10580. Bob Ivry from Bloomberg News gave a remembrance of Mark, including reading the letter that his daughter Maggie Pittman posted on zerohedge to dispel rumors that her dad might have been murdered. Some members of the zerohedge family...

The recent bombshell that Rep. Kanjorski dropped gets bigger and bigger. Atlas reader Suzanne picked up on a mindblowing "detail" in my blog post: "RIGHT BEFORE THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT HUSSEIN: "A $550 Billion Electronic Run on the Banks". Paul Kanjorski describes the closed door session of Congress where it was revealed that there was a $550 billion electronic run on the banks and that was what caused the economic crisis. In the video, Kanjorski says this occurred on Thursday, September 15, 2008. September 15th was a MONDAY. THURSDAY was .......SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 This was a Financial Terrorist Attack on...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 27, 2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE U.S./CHINA STRATEGIC AND ECONOMIC DIALOGUE Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Washington, D.C. 9:35 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Good morning. It is a great honor to welcome you to the first meeting of the Strategic Economic Dialogue between the United States and China. This is an essential step in advancing a positive, constructive, and comprehensive relationship between our countries. I'm pleased that President Hu shares my...

"They're writing laws on income tax, but not for me..." A musical salute to Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, who for five years avoided paying a significant part of his income taxes.

<p>May 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury will tell banks to increase transparency in the over-the-counter derivatives market by making prices available on centralized computer platforms, according to people familiar with the plan.</p> <p>Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner may announce the decision as soon as today, said the people, who declined to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Geithner laid out a framework in March for increasing regulation of financial markets as the worst credit crisis since the Great Depression caused more than $1.4 trillion in writedowns by banks and financial companies worldwide.</p>

Grab yourself a bowl, kids! WTF! The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, as promised, has released a white paper enlightening the common peasants to the Fed methodology of stress tests - thank goodness because otherwise the idiots down here at Ground Zero might have no idea what the hell is going on and God forbid the Fed allow that to happen! Skeeze on over to the Board's website and take a look for yourself if you have no life, actually believe what these bastards have to say, or find yourself laid off with too much time on your hands and...

If we don't rise up and stop this Joker now, we will be in a depression, close to famine and at war with China, Russia, Syria & Iran by 2012. The Axis of Evil is going to wait for the Cap n Trade to cause our agriculture sector to grow for fuel or not at all and then China (through Venezuela), after it stops importing to the US, will force Brazil (Third Largest Exporter in the World) & Other Central/South American Countries to stop exporting to the US (20% of total distribution). The damage of removing Farm Subsidies coupled with...

***The following are excerpts. It is far better to read the entire commentary (long but good). The graph is scary - it will make sense if you read the whole commentary .*** Last week, the U.S. Treasury Secretary advanced two proposals; one was a call for regulatory reform that is absolutely essential to the resolution of the current financial crisis. The other was a recipe for the insolvency of the FDIC, which would squander public funds to subsidize private speculation in troubled mortgage securities. [snip] Indeed, the only way for the toxic asset sale to increase shareholder equity is if...

The U.S. dollar slid against the euro Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner expressed openness to expanded use of an IMF currency basket even as he said the greenback would remain the world's reserve currency for a long time. Investors initially interpreted his remarks as negative for the dollar, sending it to a session low against the euro. China's central bank governor said earlier this month said the world should consider the special drawing right (SDR), a basket of dollars, euros, sterling and yen, as a super-sovereign reserve currency. Geithner, responding to a question at a Council of Foreign...

It’s been a recurring question about the young Obama administration: Why have so many of its nominees come down with tax problems? Timothy Geithner, Tom Daschle, Ron Kirk, Nancy Killefer, and a number of others who didn’t make it to the nomination stage — all have been felled, or tainted, by unpaid tax bills ranging from a few hundred dollars to more than $140,000. After the first few cases, Republican Rep. Eric Cantor quipped that “it’s easy for [Democrats] to sit here and advocate higher taxes because — you know what? — they don’t pay them.” For their part, some...

US officials are examining ways gradually to convert government stakes in banks into ordinary shares as banks accumulate losses, according to people close to the discussions. The point would be to provide a drip-feed of additional common equity as needed to cover losses – without the government owning a larger stake in the banks than is necessary. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will announce the financial sector rescue plan on Monday along with a set of policies designed to reduce foreclosures and boost the housing market. Treasury refused to comment on its deliberations. One idea that has been considered by policymakers...