Warren Buffett to host fundraiser for Obama in Chicago

Warren Buffett to host fundraiser for Obama in Chicago

Billionaire U.S. investor Warren Buffett will help raise money for President Barack Obama's re-election effort at a $35,800-a-ticket fundraiser next month in Chicago, an Obama campaign official said on Wednesday.

Buffett will attend the Oct. 27 event at a private home on Chicago's North Shore that is expected to include major donors to Obama's 2008 presidential run. The Democratic president, who is not expected to attend, is running for re-election in 2012.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-warrent-buffett-to-host-fundraiser-for-obama-in-chicago-20110921,0,2294.story

Roubini : A presidency heading for a fiscal train wreck

Roubini : A presidency heading for a fiscal train wreck

By Nouriel Roubini

Published: October 28 2010 20:48
Last updated: October 28 2010 20:48

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dd140d16-e2c2-11df-8a58-00144feabdc0.html

What has been the fiscal performance of President Barack Obama? He inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, as well as a budget deficit that – after much needed bail-outs and a series of reckless tax cuts – was already close to $1,000bn. His stimulus package, together with a backstop of the financial system, low rates and quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve, prevented another depression. Mr Obama also deserves credit that the US, alone among advanced economies, currently supports a “growth now”, rather than an “austerity now” path.

But this is but one half of the picture; we must also judge his first two years on his ability to anticipate what the economy will need tomorrow. Here the picture is much less positive. Given the likely path of fiscal policy after next Tuesday’s election – with the expiration of existing stimulus and transfer payments, and even with most of the 2001-03 tax cuts being kept – the US economy will soon experience serious fiscal drag just when it needs a further boost. Problematically, the administration’s failures leave it relying on the Fed, which is bent on further QE, likely to be announced next Wednesday. But studies show this will have little effect on US growth in 2011, so fiscal policy should be doing some of the lifting to prevent a double dip recession.

 In an ideal world Mr Obama would also have been able to move towards reforming and reducing entitlement spending, with commitments to measures that could be phased in over the next few years, therefore avoiding short-term fiscal pain. He would also have committed to increase, gradually over the next few years, less distortionary taxes such as a VAT and a carbon tax. This would have reduced the fiscal deficit, and created a climate in which no investor would worry about additional stimulus.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dd140d16-e2c2-11df-8a58-00144feabdc0.html

BP was a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a lobby dedicated to passing a cap-and-trade

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Once-a-government-pet-BP-now-a-capitalist-tool-95942659.html

...

There’s a problem: BP was a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a lobby dedicated to passing a cap-and-trade bill. As the nation’s largest producer of natural gas, BP saw many ways to profit from climate legislation, notably by persuading Congress to provide subsidies to coal-fired power plants that switched to gas.

In February, BP quit USCAP without giving much of a reason beyond saying the company could lobby more effectively on its own than in a coalition that is increasingly dominated by power companies. Theymade out particularly well in the House’s climate bill, while natural gas producers suffered.

But two months later, BP signed off on Kerry’s Senate climate bill, which was hardly a capitalist concoction. One provision BP explicitly backed, according to Congressional Quarterly and other media reports: a higher gas tax. The money would be earmarked for building more highways, thus inducing more driving and more gasoline consumption.

Elsewhere in the green arena, BP has lobbied for and profited from subsidies for biofuels and solar energy, two products that cannot break even without government support. Lobbying records show the company backing solar subsidies including federal funding for solar research. The U.S. Export-Import Bank, a federal agency, is currently financing a BP solar energy project in Argentina.

Ex-Im has also put up taxpayer cash to finance construction of the 1,094-mile Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline carrying oil from the Caspian Sea to Ceyhan, Turkey—again, profiting BP.

Lobbying records also show BP lobbying on Obama’s stimulus bill and Bush’s Wall Street bailout. You can guess the oil giant wasn’t in league with the Cato Institute or Ron Paul on those.

BP has more Democratic lobbyists than Republicans. It employs the Podesta Group, co-founded by John Podesta, Obama’s transition director and confidant. Other BP troops on K Street include Michael Berman, a former top aide to Vice President Walter Mondale; Steven Champlin, former executive director of the House Democratic Caucus; and Matthew LaRocco, who worked in Bill Clinton’s Interior Department and whose father was a Democratic congressman. Former Republican staffers, such as Reagan alumnus Ken Duberstein, also lobby for BP, but there’s no truth to Democratic portrayals of the oil company as
an arm of the GOP.

Two patterns have emerged during Obama’s presidency: 1) Big business increasingly seeks profits through more government, and 2) Obama nonetheless paints opponents of his intervention as industry shills. BP is just the latest example of this tawdry sleight of hand.

Once a government pet, BP now a capitalist tool.


Timothy P. Carney is The Washington Examiner's lobbying editor. His K Street column appears on Wednesdays.


Follow Timothy P. Carney on Twitter

Sign up for Timothy P. Carney's weekly K-Street email digest

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Once-a-government-pet-BP-now-a-capitalist-tool-95942659.html#ixzz0qyV48aPS

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC

While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve taken from the oil and gas giant over the years.


BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

On top of that, the oil giant has spent millions each year on lobbying — including $15.9 million last year alone — as it has tried to influence energy policy.

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html#ixzz0n6Jl7r2j

Financial Reform ?

Is this some kind of a joke the same person who single handily profited from the global financial crisis is the author of the current financial reform bill? Chris Dodd has no business being in government let along regulating the industry which he profited from all of its wrong doings .

What I also find peculiar is that the industry being regulated is so accepting of this this regulation ? Remember these are the same people who watched porn instead of Bernie Maddoff. Is it simply because Wall Street has heaped millions of dollars in support of Obama and his drive to merge corporate and government interests? Or because Obama has taped so many Goldman Sacks alumni to mastermind his big government takeover of your life.

This whole financial reform bill stinks to high heaven and with all the usual suspects lining up in support of this legislation its no wonder most folks are eyeing the November congressional elections instead of focusing on the day to day operation of the US Government.

Goldman's White House connections raise eyebrows

WASHINGTON — While Goldman Sachs' lawyers negotiated with the Securities and Exchange Commission over potentially explosive civil fraud charges, Goldman's chief executive visited the White House at least four times.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/21/92637/goldmans-connections-to-white.html#ixzz0lv4chbKS

White House logs show that Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein traveled to Washington for at least two events with President Barack Obama, whose 2008 presidential campaign received $994,795 in donations from Goldman's employees and their relatives. He also met twice with Obama's top economic adviser, Larry Summers.

No evidence has surfaced to suggest that Blankfein or any other Goldman executive raised the SEC case with the president or his aides. SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said in a statement Wednesday that the SEC doesn't coordinate enforcement actions with the White House or other political bodies.

Meanwhile, however, Goldman is retaining former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig as a member of its legal team. In addition, when he worked as an investment banker in Chicago a decade ago, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel advised one client who also retained Goldman as an adviser on the same $8.2 billion deal.

Goldman's connections to the White House and the Obama administration are raising eyebrows at a time when Washington and Wall Street are dueling over how to overhaul regulation of the financial world.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/21/92637/goldmans-connections-to-white.html#ixzz0lv4chbKS

Goldmangate?

GOP seeks SEC records on Goldman

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36097.html#ixzz0ljawpunI

Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight committee, is demanding a slew of documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission, asserting that the timing of civil charges against Goldman Sachs raises “serious questions about the commission’s independence and impartiality.”

Issa’s letter, addressed to SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro and signed by eight other House Republicans, asks whether the commission had any contact about the case, prior to its public release, with White House aides, Democratic Party committee officials, or members of Congress or their staff.

“[W]e are concerned that politics have unduly influenced the decision and timing of the commission’s controversial enforcement action against Goldman,” Issa writes.

Issa implied that the timing was a bit too convenient, saying President Barack Obama’s push on Wall Street reform “neatly coincided with the commission’s announcement of the suit.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36097.html#ixzz0ljagSXS7

Obama administration and Democratic Congress : “not industry friendly"

Internal Toyota documents derided the Obama administration and Democratic Congress as “activist” and “not industry friendly," a revelation that comes days before the giant automaker's top executives testify on Capitol Hill amid a giant recall.

According to a presentation obtained under subpoena by the House Oversight and Government Relations committee, Toyota referred to the “changing political environment” as one of its main challenges and anticipated a "more challenging regulatory" environment under the Obama administration's purview.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33248.html#ixzz0gGgjFBwS

Obama Seen as Anti-Business by 77% of U.S. Investors

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. investors overwhelmingly see President Barack Obama as anti-business and question his ability to manage a financial crisis, according to a Bloomberg survey.

The global quarterly poll of investors and analysts who are Bloomberg subscribers finds that 77 percent of U.S. respondents believe Obama is too anti-business and four-out-of-five are only somewhat confident or not confident of his ability to handle a financial emergency.

The poll also finds a decline in Obama’s overall favorability rating one year after taking office. He is viewed favorably by 27 percent of U.S. investors. In an October poll, 32 percent in the U.S. held a positive impression.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20100121/pl_bloomberg/a8uii1bcrdmy

GE looks to bring new profits to life :Obamanomics

It seems to blatantly obvious that GE and their media outlets NBC, MSNBC, CNBC etc. are incestuously in bed with the Obama Administration’s Socialist Agenda and Obamanomics.

But look a little deeper and even a casual observer would notice that not only are GE’s media properties propping up the Obama administration but GE Capital has received billions in bailout money , GE alternative energy and GE carbon trading units will benefit from Cap and Trade and GE’s medical technologies unit will benefit massively from Obamacare .Even GE’s Defense Units look to benefit when President Obama signs a defense bill approving funds to build a second GE engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program .On foreign Policy GE received an invite to site down with Vladimir Putin after the abrupt foreign policy change made by President Obama on the European Missel Shield.

Jeffery Immelt, Chairmen of GE is a member of Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Mr. Immelt is not only an Obama supporter and financier but he has become a big proponent of “Global Warming” with GE being one of the prime beneficiaries of the proposed “Cap and Trade “ legislation.

GE is building major businesses in a lot of industries that should benefit from an Obama presidency ,wind power and other sustainable energy sources, healthcare technologies, railways. Power generation, aviation and clean water technologies.

GE looks to gain from virtually every aspect of the Obama agenda weather its nationalized medicine ,cap and trade, bank bailouts and perhaps with all their falling ratings a main stream media bailout. After all FOX News now has higher ratings than all its competitors combined and one wonders if the their current war with the white house has more to do with Obama’s attempt to prop up his media buddies and help GE.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) is the parent company of the major media conglomerate NBC Universal, which owns media outlets NBC, MSNBC and CNBC. At times that has led to the lines between corporate advocacy and journalism being blurred. While NBC is now the mouth piece for the Obama administration MSNBC and CNBC continue to front for the socialist agenda unfolding in Washington. Over and over again Immelt has used his platform at CNBC to make the case for a cap-and-trade program to curb emissions something Obama has called for and the one a Congressional committee is debating this week.

So this all begs the question : does GE own the Obama administration?

Recent moves in the market continue to indicate that the move left will not have the lasting impact some claim and many fear.

Maket rallies as Federal drug agents told not to pursue pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers in states that allow medical marijuana, under new legal guidelines to be issued Monday by the Obama administration.

REPRINT FROM 5/07/2009 Major indexes still are not indicating anything more than a very oversold rally at this juncture .New bank "stress tests" seem to be reassuring the market as regulators finally seem to be getting there hands around the problem .Bank stocks have continued to recover as the need for massive mounts of capital seems to be subsiding .Commodities have begun their long slow some would say inflationary climb upward were over regulation and scarcity policies are already putting upward pressure on prices. While at the same time a slow economy exerts a contrary influence .

Recent moves in the market continue to indicate that the move left will not have the lasting impact some claim and many fear.The transitory nature of the current situation continues to push the market slightly higher .Though the main stream media continues to "hero worship" the new administration ,huge increases in many of the contrary news sources such as Fox News or Rush Limbaugh in both earnings and audence size indicate that much of the public simply is buying .

Greenspan calls economy a "dull face" we say If socialism is the new “N” word than it looks like , “RECESSION” has become the new “F” word.

According to Bloomberg -- Former FED Chief Alan Greenspan said, “ he sees the U.S. economy slowing next year as the surge in stocks comes to an end.”“The odds are we flatten out,” Greenspan said today in a Bloomberg television interview, referring to the equity market. “That flattening out will put some sort of dull face on 2010.”
Hummmm “dull face” that’s what they are calling it ? Lets see according to the Commerce Department GDP, which measures the total goods and services output within U.S. borders, fell at a 0.7 percent annual rate instead of the 1.0 percent decline reported last month. This is the fourth straight quarter of decline in real GDP. While the Institute for Supply Management said its business barometer fell to 46.1 in September from 50.0 in August; indicating a further contraction.( A reading above 50 indicates expansion.) ADP Employer Services showed private employers cut 254,000 jobs in September, more than the 210,000 layoffs financial markets had been expecting.

So Mr Greenspan it seems like a little more than a “dull face” what ever that is ,but I have one question ; If socialism is the new “N” word than it looks like , “RECESSION” has become the new “F” word.

Odds are unless there are major changes in policy by the US Government and the Obama administration we are looking at a prolonged period of stagnation for the forcible future.

CNN: More View Obama's Presidency as a 'Failure' Than Bush's

After 6 Months, More View Obama's Presidency as a 'Failure' Than Bush's

http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2009/08/06/after-6-months-more-view-obamas-presidency-as-a-failure-than-bushs/


A rather surprising finding from the newly released CNN poll. Question three on the national survey of 1,136 adults (which includes an oversample of African-Americans) asks, "Do you consider the first six months of the Obama administration to be a success or a failure?"

Thirty-seven percent (37%) said they believe the Obama administration is a "failure," while 51% consider it a "success" and 11% say it's still "too soon to tell."

An identical question was asked of the Bush administration in an August 2001 CNN/Gallup/USA Today survey. At the time, 56% said the Bush administration was a "success" while only 32% considered it a "failure."

http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2009/08/06/after-6-months-more-view-obamas-presidency-as-a-failure-than-bushs/

the Summer of Discontent Continues

Although I remain very skeptical until Obamanomics runs its course and people come back to their senses. There have been some peculiar events in recent weeks that have sent the market upward and onward. Mind you the Dow Jones Industrial stood at 12000 in 2000 so a substantive rally signifying a move toward more openness and individual freedom ie an improved economic picture would be a heavy volume move to new long term highs. However until the growth of government is curtailed and paired back I see little or no chance of this happening.

What’s happening now is that the market is reacting well to the prospect that Obamanomics will have no lasting impact on the economy except for the physiological damage that has been inflicted on the current generation. The second and pervasive trend is the old adage "you cant fall off the floor" . Try ,try and try as you will even this group of 70's generation egoists can’t make things worse ,its just not possible given the totality of the socio-political and economic situation in America.

You see "failure" as a philosophy is finite while success is infinite. History has proven time and time again that when government grows both the economy and equity markets decline or stall. Like it or not equity markets are like the heart beat of a healthy nation . What’s important for a casual observer to remember is the markets react in advance of future trends in the social political and economic environment. It no surprise that this rally began in March when this blogger pronounced Obama as a failed President.

So what are the events ? First I would not underestimate the significance of the 'Cambridge police are acting stupid" remark . For many this was the first look at the "real " Obama without the media filters and political spin. It was a kin to political Hari Kari . Second both "Obamacare" and "Cap and Tax" have been shown for what the truly are a ruse to nationalize and control more of the economy. While the White Houses rhetoric has fallen into repetitive " you'll get what ever you want and we will make someone else will pay for it" seems to be falling more and more on deaf ears as many finally realize that they too will be paying for it . Its as we used to say they have gone back to the well once to often and the public is becoming more and more weary as policy failures continue to mount. The net effect is the continued erosion of poll numbers leaving the White House with a very light bag of political tricks and a very small arsenal of policy options.

IRAN ELECTION : TWITTER

@RT from Iran: Plz ignore @FreeMediaNews - the person is spreading disinfo! #gr88 #iranelection

@Random quote of the day from angry youtube commenter: "FUCK the ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MONKEYS" Fuck em indeed. #iranelection

@help FIGHT propaganda re rebels confined to Tehran, VAST rally centre of Isfahan TODAY , pass it on http://twitpic.com/7ki6e

@many many arrests in tehran 2day. hundreds. - now is dark baseej start to make trouble. #Iranelection

@Help hide Iranian protesters: change your Twitter location to Tehran, time to +3:30 GMT. Please RT #IranElection

@CNN has set up a special Iran desk to monitor social networking sites, esp now that we're barred from reporting on streets of Tehran #iran

@RT from Iran : Yesterdays shooting outside Basiji HQ Tehran http://is.gd/13PXT #gr88 #iranelection

@HELP COVER THE IRANIAN BLOGGERS: CHANGE YOUR TWITTER SETTINGS SO THAT YOUR LOCATION IS TEHRAN AND YOUR TIME ZONE.. http://tinyurl.com/ls8zo7

@CNN & BBC, We have NUMEROUS eye witness accounts that the Basij militia are ransacking the city of Tehran, where are you? #iranelection @cnn

@RT from Iran ---> our lives are in real danger now - we are the eyes - they need to stop us - #Iranelection cont....

@"IRAN REVEALS US" Op-ed in the New Yorker about Obama's remarks yesterday http://bit.ly/BTXYG #iranelection

@New post: #iranelection http://tinyurl.com/n7qn2p Iran supreme leader under pressure ( Al Jazeera English ) #iran

@RT do NOT follow any instructions on twitter except from the trusted sources - cont...... #

Quote of the Day............................

"Giving away other peoples money does not make you generous it makes you a parasite"

"no good deed goes unpunished"

In the words of an old wall street sage, "no good deed goes unpunished" and seems bankers and auto companies have found out the hard way. The big banks Faustian deal with the government has not gone the way they had planned and now perhaps way too late there is an attempt to undue the damage.Auto companies tried but failed to stop their demise, for everyone except the UAW fell short and their attempts to save them selves.

With the 1970's ideology of failure taking hold ,the government appropriately reaches for someone with no auto experience to run an auto company but if you look at the level of gross incompetence of guys in Washington with one failure after the next stacking up it may not make any difference anyway. These are the same guys who want to tell you how much money you can make . I do have to laugh when even the administrations full blow attempt to destroy the US economy has in it self met failure, failing to fail sorta speak.

And this is where we sit only four months in ,huge deficits .increased taxation ,heavy regulation, zooming oil prices and absolutely no job creation what so ever! No administration not even Jimmy Carter failed so massively so quickly !

dare I say GO OBAMA ,keep on keeping on

Failure as an Ideology

The 70's generational worship of FAILURE as an ideology can only lead to crisis and chaos.Recent polls show only 53% of Americans now believe that Capitalism and freedom is better than Socialism and enslavement. That means the 47% of the population now think its Ok for people like New York's Mayor Mike Bloomberg , to tell them what to eat ,drink,smoke, when to sleep and where to go dancing. Some states like tech driven California is looking to BAN large flat screen TV's ,brilliant ! Clearly this is not an atmosphere for leadership

Seems Worshiping of FAILURE has become the new social disease where the power of envy will drive even the most well meaning people to shot the self's in the foot. What amazes me is how many people seem to buying the fantasy's about the Obama administration. Despite the massive tax increases ,unprecedented national debt and despite the massive increase in unemployment many are still blinded by the phony mainstream media Orwellian fantasy of big brother.

you cant lead from weakness and accommodation

With the making of the next "Hostage Crisis" both the Somali Pirates and the Great Leader of North Korea seemed to have learned more from history even recent history than most employees of the Obama administration or the US Stone Age Media or the Cult of Personality that has replaced the reporting of the information called the News seem to understand. The simple fact is that you cant lead from weakness and accommodation .

Actions have Consequences

Nothing more ridiculous than the idea of a politician who has never had a job thinking they know better and can run a company . History has proven over and over again that this is pure folly This weeks nationalisation of the auto industry looks like its going to lead to massive layoffs in the auto sector . Already workers complain they are being treated worse than wall street by the Obama administration .I think over the next couple of months many of Obama's biggest supporters are going to feel the same . Good to remember there are consequences to the way you think and act .