Let Them Eat Nothing!

Acting en masse in a genuine Marie Antoinette moment, the US Senate has once again set a new low point for partisan politics trumping the needs of the people. And this time both sides seem to have gone out of their way to be particularly dishonest about it.

Yesterday, the Senate - along mostly party lines (duh) - failed to vote cloture and allow a real vote on a bill to give small businesses a large tax break and access to an additional $30 billion in SBA loans. This is a bill that, until yesterday, had pretty solid bipartisan support. In fact, the bill itself reads like a Republican concept, based on their accurate position that small business needs more attention from the Obama administration.

Republicans have been correctly hammering Obama and the hopeless Dems in Congress since day one about the need to give small business a break and let them create jobs. So what happened? Well, surprise, surprise, surprise. Partisan election year politics happened.

Look at the reason given by Senate Minority Leader McConnell. He complained that Republicans could not get enough amendments added to the bill. Let me say that again - Republican Senators blocked an opportunity to help small business because they could not add enough amendments to a bill they had already said they liked.

To be fair, Senate Majority Leader Reid did limit them to 3 amendments, which is silly to start with. However, many of the ideas that Republicans wanted were already in the bill itself. Democrats are easily guilty of overplaying the power hand on this and not working more to resolve what is - at the end of the day - a stupid procedural dispute. And the Dems are wrong for once again fearing that Republicans might try to add an amendment that they don't like.

However, Senate Republicans should be ashamed for once again putting election year politics ahead of the needs of the people. This was not about the bill itself. Or paying for it. Or if it is needed. Both sides agree that the bill is needed. This is about the ongoing GOP strategy of not allowing any progress on the economy so that they have a campaign issue.

Democrats are doing the same thing. Would a tax break really be on their agenda in a non-election year? The folks that brought you mandatory health care? Of course not.

Once again, the Senate proves to be an almost pointless body that has degenerated into nothing more than an endless campaign stop for a very spoiled and uncaring 100 plutocrats who put themselves and their corrupt political parties above the people that elect and pay them.

So, small business, no soup for you! McConnell and Reid are too busy making sure the soup is all theirs. The only small businesses these guys care about are the ones that they use to hide their own money. Next time a smarmy Democrat talks about job growth, remind them that they killed job growth over petty partisan nonsense. And the next time some self-righteous Republican blabbers about how small business creats most of the new jobs, remind them that they killed that job machine to further their pathetic ambitions.

Better yet, come November, vote the entire stinking lot of them out. If they were employees, they would have been fired already. The United States will be a much better place without this collection of tired corrupt career party hacks. On November 2, vote for anyone but the incumbent. Your nation will thank you.

To drive home that message, I am offering T-Shirts with this message:


As a capitalist and a free market person, I am selling them for both profit and with the intent of donating to those candidates that are willing to step outside the parties and declare a concern for the Constitution and the people.

You can order them here: http://www.itisnotagame.spreadshirt.com

On the Surface..

Sometime early next week, BP will begin pumping mud down into the well in the Gulf of Mexico. This is supposedly intended to help plug the hole once and for all in conjunction wit the relief wells being drilled. This operation is dubiously named "static kill." I suspect the intent is to kill any potential of getting an accurate measurement of the oil that has already flowed into the gulf and thus mitigating the fine.

As a quick aside, for some inexplicable reason the relief wells were renamed relief tunnels last week. This makes little or no sense. They are mot tunnels. They are wells. I guess to some PR flack working for BP or Thad Allen, tunnels sounded cooler.

While the preparations for "static kill" are ongoing, retired admiral Thad Allen proudly declared that there is little oil on the surface as if that was the end of the problem. Of course, he fails to mention that he authorized the use of epic amounts of toxic chemicals to keep the oil from rising to the surface in the first place. Just like his new pals at BP, he was all about the imagery and not the reality.

In case anyone has forgotten, the stated reason for the use of over 2 million gallons of dispersant underwater was to keep the oil from the surface. And the only reason to do that was to prevent the images of millions of gallons of oil hitting every beach in the Gulf region. It was never about keeping the oil out of the ecosystem.

Last week, when Tropical Storm Bonnie was approaching, the ever inaccurate Jim Cantore at the Weather Channel came up with the analogy that the wave action created by the storm would have the same effect on the oil as shaking a bottle of vinaigrette. The oil emulsifies with the rest of the ingredients. Up to that point, Cantore was actually right. However, he then implied, as does Thad Allen, that the oil then magically disappears. It does not. Taking Cantore's bottle of salad dressing analogy, the oil is still there. It ends up on your salad.

The same applies to the Gulf. The oil is still there, no matter how badly Thad Allen and his real masters at BP want us to think otherwise. No matter how much the administration wishes, the oil will not simply go away just because we cannot see it. In fact, it is a bigger problem because we cannot see it and cannot collect it like we can surface oil.

That was BP's plan all along. Hide the oil. Hide the true depth of this disaster. Avoid the ugly photos and avoid paying for the damage they have really done. By keeping the oil hidden, they can create the illusion that the crisis is over once they plug the well. And the Obama team of failed bureaucrats led by Thad Allen can declare victory and run home.

Ask any Gulf fisherman. He will tell you that the problem is in the water and on the bottom. Yes, some of the toxic compounds in the oil dissipate and yes, some biological entities eat some of the oil. But none of that accounts for the level of toxic dispersant or the sheer volume of oil present in the water column. That same fisherman will tell you that he is concerned about next year's catch, if there is to be any. He is worried about the edibility of that catch, given the chemistry experiment that BP conducted in the Gulf with Obama's permission.

Plugging the hole is not the beginning of the end as so many media types are fond of saying. It is barely the end of the beginning. It will be years before the mess is cleared. Years for the Gulf to recover form the reckless and unchecked chemical pollution intentionally added. Years for the mess that the administration authorized to be cleaned up. EPA allowed the dispersant at Allen's insistence. NOAA continues to hedge on the amount or concentration of oil and dispersant. Obama's team continues to go with quick visuals during overflights of the are and BP is happy to go with all of that.

Here is an easy way to know it is bad - if BP and Thad Allen like it, it is probably bad for everyone else. This has been the way through this entire disaster. BP acts in its own interests and Thad Allen, on behalf of Obama, endorses it. Every time.

Once that well is plugged, they are all going home. Allen, BP, the media. All of them. And those who depend on the Gulf for a living will just have to figure it out. Because destroyed lives don't make good video and ruined family businesses don't make for dramatic headlines.

This will be Obama's "Mission Accomplished" moment. He will declare victory while the enemy - in this case the oil - remains out there. His administration and the rest of our government will walk away feeling good. Sadly, the folks that live there will still be fighting and pushing. They will know that the mission is barely started.

Get that "Mission Accomplished" banner ready now. It will make a much better visual than the truth.



I am offering shirts with this design and will be sending the profits directly to the Plaquemines Parish Fund that is set up to help the folks most hurt by this mess.

I spoke to the good folks at Plaquemines and I have to say that for people living a horror show, they are some of the nicest and most grateful people you would ever want to talk to.

Please help out and get the message out at the same time.

You can order them here: http://www.itisnotagame.spreadshirt.com

Spenders, Tax Cutters and Liars. Oh My!

According to the US Constitution, Congress has the power to tax and spend. And they do know how to exercise those powers. It is a bipartisan activity, although the 2 parties will both happily lie to you about which they are doing more of. And both parties do plenty of both...and plenty of lying about it.

Now that it is time for this joke of a Congress to actually deal with the soon to expire Bush tax cuts, the flow of dishonesty and misdirection from all sides is just blinding. Start with the basic positions. Democrats want to pretend to end tax cuts for the "wealthiest Americans," so they can spend more and Republicans want to cut more taxes so they can pretend to spend less.

Let's start with the party in power. Seems fair - they are currently in charge of the Congressional honeypot. And the Democrats are in trouble on the tax issue. Seems that the recently former chair of the House Ways and Means Committee that actually has to initiate all tax laws (Article 1, Section 7) was himself apparently evading taxes like a Wall Street pro. Charlie Rangel is currently waiting for the full House to hear what amounts to a trial for the ethics violations he committed with his multiple residences, unpaid taxes on revenues and money he just "forgot" he had. In other words, false queen Nancy's hand chosen tax writer was actually a tax cheat. Oh, and a big fat liar.

This tosses a wrench into Pelosi's plan to raise taxes on high income folks and also raise taxes more deviously on everyone else. And that makes it almost impossible for her to keep handing out billion dollar gifts to get legislation passed. The House has gotten into the habit of simply waiving their own rules regarding spending. According to the rules, expenditures or tax cuts (they are actually the same thing) have to be paid for with an offsetting reduction in spending elsewhere. Incovenient.

Now that Rangel is no longer in charge of Ways and Means, false queen Nancy has to find another way to fund her corrupt empire of greed and nonsense. Seems that Rangel was willing to do whatever she wanted as long as he didn't have to own up to his own crimes. Remember, Pelosi kept him in that position for 2 years before finally moving him out.

This would normally be good news for Republicans, who believe that cutting taxes is the magic answer to everything. The GOP position on taxes versus spending was summed up best most recently by Mike Pence. When asked by legacy qualified interviewer Chris Wallace why the unemployment benefit extension was stalled, Pence said it had to be paid for with an offset in spending. That made sense, but Pence's next answer totally negated any logic momentarily present. Wallace asked the redoubtable Pence how extending the tax cuts would be paid for. This sent pence off into a long explanation of economics that I suspect Pence did not fully understand. When brought back down to Earth and pressed for a real answer, Pence said tax cuts pay for themselves in stimulus and job growth. And that is perhaps the lie of the millennium.

See, tax cuts are spending. the same Republicans who decried Obama's stimulus plan as unpaid for spending want to spend almost a trillion dollars on more tax cuts for high income folks. Now I have no problem with cutting taxes. None at all. However, I do have a problem with the false belief that tax cuts somehow stimulate anything and are not really spending. I have an even bigger problem with all of this targeted tax cut garbage.

Tax cuts are spending. I am saying this again because liars like Pence and Cantor can't seem to grasp this. A tax cut removes money from the government just like spending does. It costs someone. Just like spending. But the Republicans never seem to want to admit that. Just like Democrats never seem to want to admit that spending endlessly does not solve anything.

While Pence and company push to cut taxes to somehow magically increase revenue, Democrats are pushing to spend money to somehow magically save money. Only in Congress does this make any sense.

What those 535 boneheads should do is level the taxes to a single rate flat tax. No deductions, credits, exemptions or other trickery. Then they should simply only spend what they have. No deficit spending. If they need more, then let them raise taxes and justify it to the people. Same with the endless tax cuts. Tell us what programs and spending are getting cut to cover those tax breaks.

I am all for lower taxes and less spending. I think the estate tax is an obscenity and the capital gains tax is a deterrent to investing. I think the current multi-tiered tax structure with the bazillion deductions, credits and exemptions is stupid and ineffective. I fully support a one line flat tax with no breaks. Same rate for everyone. Imagine how easy it would be for business if they knew in advance exactly how much of each dollar was tax. Imagine the real dollar savings in paperwork alone.

Here in Florida, we know all about unwise tax cuts. Ask Marco Rubio - the current darling of the reduce taxes and not spending movement. As Florida Speaker, he pushed tax cuts through the legislature with no matching spending cuts. His attitude was to let the counties figure it out since he was leaving the Florida House anyway to run for US Senate. He knew he wouldn't have to deal with the fallout of his irresponsible and unpaid for tax cuts.

And that is exactly what spenders and tax cutters in Congress are doing now. Democrats keep spending in the belief that somehow all of it magically comes back. Republicans keep yelling for tax cuts in the belief that cutting revenue will somehow magically increase revenue. Do any of these morons have a working checkbook?

I think they all need to go. If they worked in private industry, they would have been fired long ago for incompetence and lying. Well, come November, we can do just that. Fire the whole stinking lot of them.

To drive home that message, I am offering T-Shirts with this message:


As a capitalist and a free market person, I am selling them for both profit and with the intent of donating to those candidates that are willing to step outside the parties and declare a concern for the Constitution and the people.

You can order them here: http://www.itisnotagame.spreadshirt.com

Avoiding the Fine

So now BP has a scheme to pump mud into the new cap to stop the oil flow. This after repeated delays in collecting oil via the new cap, which was the original plan. In case everyone - especially administration point man and chief BP toady - Thad Allen forgot, the idea was to get to tighter seal to stop the leakage, but never to stop the oil from being collected. At least that was the fiction BP kept putting out there.

The original plan called for 48 hours of leak testing and then a resumption of bringing the oil to the surface via a maze of new pipes and hoses. That was the plan. Well, we are now almost 7 days into that 48 hours and BP keeps convincing Allen that this was their plan all along. Sadly, Allen keeps going along with whatever lies they tell him. Seems the former admiral is just like his boss in the White House - lacking in any kind of spine to stand up to anyone about anything.

While Allen keeps extending the time they can pretend the well is sealed, BP is quietly moving in ships to collect 80,000 barrels per day if they have to. That is 20,000 more per day than the highest bogus estimate. And estimates are all we have since BP - with Allen's tacit endorsement - continues to refuse to allow any type of empirical measurement of the oil flow. Thus the plan to pump mud into the new cap.

Before I get into the why, let me say that this cap does not seal the well. There are leaks. Allen describes them as drips. He calls them insignificant. Well, they are significant enough to warrant dispersant. Thad Allen simply reads whatever BP hands him. The oil coming from the floor of the Gulf? Not this well, according to Allen. Actually according to BP as relayed by Thad Allen.

So why is BP so determined to prevent any measurement of the oil flow? Because any fine or penalty will be based on how much oil was spilled. The maximum fine is $4,300 per barrel if gross negligence is proven, and it does look like BP was amazingly negligent. As long as there are just estimates based on video and partial collection, then BP can fight any fine in court until the dinosaurs return. Without an empirical measurement, the fine is negotiable and subject to challenge.

It is not like the government has not ordered BP repeatedly to put instruments down there to measure the spill. They have. Multiple times. But Thad Allen has repeatedly let them off the hook. He has claimed that there is too much submersible traffic around the well, that it would slow the work of closing the well and so on. All of which are pure nonsense. BP knows exactly how much oil is coming out of that well. They knew on day one and they know today. The new cap actually has measurements for that. But Thad Allen is not interested in enforcing the orders of the government he pretends to work for.

In fact he has allowed BP to dictate this process all the way. Remember his promise of transparency? Never happened. Remember how he promised to get the flow rate measured. Never happened. And on and on. It was Thad Allen that green lighted the dispersant despite the EPA's order banning it. And it has been Thad Allen that has extended the "testing period" for the new cap repeatedly. In 24 hour increments.

If Allen had stuck to his word and forced BP to start collecting the oil, we would now know exactly how much oil was running hourly or daily. But BP does not want that to ever be known. To them that is the big secret and the big cover up. That flow rate number is their worst fear since it will determine the multi-billion dollar fine.

I thought Thad Allen was supposed to work for us. Obama put him there to represent the government. He is supposed to make sure that BP is following the rules. Instead, Obama and Allen allow BP to make the rules. And break them when it is convenient. Allen refers to him and BP as "us" and "we" but never them. He does not have our best interests at heart any more than any of BP's executives do.

In this regard, Thad Allen has failed. Just like the blowout preventer failed on the well itself. The very thing meant to protect us has turned out to be the very thing that is doing the damage. Another in a growing line of failed Obama appointees allowed to keep failing. And another that seems to think transparency is synonymous with secrecy.

When history writes this sad chapter, it will be called, "When government fails and people suffer."



I am offering shirts with this design and will be sending the profits directly to the Plaquemines Parish Fund that is set up to help the folks most hurt by this mess.

I spoke to the good folks at Plaquemines and I have to say that for people living a horror show, they are some of the nicest and most grateful people you would ever want to talk to.

Please help out and get the message out at the same time.

You can order them here: http://www.itisnotagame.spreadshirt.com

The Racism Race

The last week or two have been nothing if not filled with crossing charges of racism. Oddly, none are correct and all are politically motivated and hurled by lazy politicians and pundits looking for a quick sound byte or ratings boost.

I will spare all of us (especially me) a recitation of the growing misuse of the accusations of racism that started over the 2008 election. We all watched and saw and know better. In a nutshell, supporters of Obama label everyone opposed to them as racists and opponents of Obama seize on every minor opportunity to point out racism among Obama's supporters. In other words, racism is the new corruption or sex scandal.

Recently, however, the charges have gotten way out of control and even further out of proportion to the reality.

The first salvo in this new standoff came from the NAACP. At their annual convention, they passed a resolution calling on the Tea Party to end racism in their ranks. OK. Except the Tea Party movement is not racist. At all. What the NAACP was overreacting to was the presence at some Tea Party rallies of a very few individuals who took the opportunity to put their racist message on a poster and join the rally. These were not actual Tea Party signs and not at all part of the Tea Party agenda.

To be fair, you can find racist messages at the NAACP convention, the Democratic and Republican conventions, probably even the Jewish Federation. None of these organizations - including the Tea Party - is racist. None. Yet somehow, the media decided to focus on those one or two at Tea Party rallies, thus branding lots of good folks unfairly. And the Tea Party organizers were already doing everything they could under law to remove those signs and messages.

The NAACP was asking them to do what they were already doing. An unnecessary action by an organization desperate for relevance. Most serious Tea Party folks just waved it off. Like them or not, the Tea Party movement is not about race. It is about the Constitution and smaller government.

Sadly, one responded. Tea Party Express founder and leader Mark Williams issued a nauseating racist screed on his blog (later removed) that among other things accused the NAACP of being racist for having the word "Colored" in its name. Williams later called it parody and sarcasm. It wasn't. Rightfully, the rest of the Tea Party leaders told Mr. Williams to go away. As they have told other race baiters to go away.

Not content with this, some on the far right started looking for a black person being racist to somehow embarrass the administration. And they thought they had one. An old tape of USDA official Shirley Sherrod (a black woman - sadly it matters in this context) speaking many years ago was edited to sound like she was denying white farmers full services. This was not the case, but too late for that.

The pundocracy swung into motion without any fact checking, which caused the Obama administration to panic before checking all the facts and they forced this woman to quit her job. Because they were afraid of the publicity. Even though there were no official complaints and in fact many good reviews of her work. The NAACP, still trying to recover from the Tea Party embarrassment jumped in and - with no fact checking again - condemned this woman as a racist.

As it turns out, she was not and her remarks, when viewed in totality are obviously not even vaguely racist. Too late, though. She had already been forced to resign while driving home. Seriously. And thus, the damage was already done. To make it worse, the NAACP - again looking rather bad - blamed conservative pundits and bloggers for their error. No mention that they never looked into the matter themselves or even bothered to call this woman. They didn't. They - just like the Obama White House - jumped to head off some bad PR and to look proactive.

Well, they just look stupid. All of them the NAACP, Williams, The White House, the pundits - all of them. None of them researched anything and none of them was honest about it. And why is this now the new battleground? Because Congress is moribund and intellectually bankrupt. How can I pin Congress for this? Easy.

If members of Congress would actually take on real issues and have real debates with real substance, then that would be what we all talked about. That would drive the pundits and press. Those would be the headlines. Since Congress has locked itself into this eternal partisan p***ing contest pointed solely at the next election, not much of substance happens and certainly nothing surprising.

Every debate is predictable, every vote countable days in advance along hard party lines. Every utterance of the self proclaimed leaders is a rerun of the day before and nothing ever really gets done. Both sides have conspired to derail public policy in favor of political gamesmanship. Since Congress has become a permanent campaign festival, the rest of the body politic follows suit. And as the extremes in Congress go further out on the ledge, so does the rest of the gang.

Thus, the American discourse has devolved - pretty much by an act of Congress - to a name calling spat not worthy of an elementary school playground. Until those 535 clowns are replaced by serious people, this idiocy and this "gotcha" strategy will rule the roost. I actually don't care about party or liberal/conservative. The only difference between Democrats and Republicans these days is whose picnics they attend.

I care about issues and those serious about actual governance. Those willing to set aside the permanent campaign and actually do the job they were elected to.

We can send a lot of them home for food on November 2. Come election day, do something really good for America and vote to fire your Congress Critter. The nation and world will be a better place for it.

To drive home that message, I am offering T-Shirts with this message:


As a capitalist and a free market person, I am selling them for both profit and with the intent of donating to those candidates that are willing to step outside the parties and declare a concern for the Constitution and the people.

You can order them here: http://www.itisnotagame.spreadshirt.com

Party Line Moronics

Yesterday, almost at the same time that BP announced that oil had stopped pouring into the Gulf for the first time in 3 months, a Congressional committee announced that the partisan trash would keep pouring into the nation unabated. The trash flow in question has to do with legislation revamping the horribly failed MMS. Something that literally every Congress Critter except Joe Barton agrees on publicly. But when it is time to actually go on the record with a vote, same old party line nonsense.

The bill in question is HR 3534, intended to divide MMS into three agencies with distinct responsibilities and reporting, prevent the corruption that was found to exist in the last administration and endorsed when Obama rehired the same corrupt failed team and to try to stem the flow (pun very much intended) between regulator and regulated by enacting a 2 year ban on going from regulator to oil company executive.

This is one of those pieces of legislation that should move right through without the partisan rancor. It is something that almost every member of Congress that has been interviewed for the last 90 days has called for. Not one member of Congress actually has a reason to oppose this.

It is something the American people want done rapidly. It is something overdue and overlooked by an administration that seems to rehire failures (see Obama economic team) and a dysfunctional Congress that only looks to the next election cycle.

Remember the hearings? With the exception of BP property Joe Barton, every member of that committee had sharp words for BP and even harsher words for the MMS. All except BP Joe pledged to reform the agency and made marvelous statements to that effect. But once the hearings were over and the cameras off, the partisan idiocy was firmly put back in place.

The legislation passed the committee on mostly straight party line, by a 27 to 21 vote. Yep, 21 members of this committee voted to reject cleaning up MMS. All Republicans, all automatically opposing any Democratic legislation. This bill could have been to rename an office building after Ronald Reagan and Republicans would oppose it as long as a Democrat is Speaker.

Democrats should not be giggling right now. They are just as bad if not worse, having spent years opposing all things when they were the minority in the House. This is not new at all. It is just worse than ever. And it is never about the actual legislation. This vote was not about MMS.

It was not about correcting one of the worst agencies our government has ever had. It was not about trying to actually regulate the drilling industry in a fair and effective way. It was not even about trying to prevent the next disaster. It sure as heck was not about you and me or the folks who live on the Gulf coast. Not even close.

The only thing those bought and paid for talking puppets in Congress care about is themselves and their precious 2 party system. The only thing these charlatans are focused on is the next election. And that pathetic blind ideology says to vote party line regardless of the issue. The goal is not to govern, but to ruin.

In this case, the minority, led by "Mr. Repeal" Boehner is going to vote no on everything that comes along on the simpleton's theory that they can then say they opposed the false queen Pelosi's majority. Boehner and his masters at the Republican Party seem to think that 'NO' is a good answer to everything Democrats propose. Even common sense stuff like fixing the failed regulatory agency that allowed BP to drill an unsafe well and pollute the Gulf of Mexico.

On the flip side, the majority led by the false queen seems to think that being the majority gives them the right and privilege to steam roll the minority and ignore their input. False queen Nancy's masters at the Democratic Party seem to think that passing legislation willy nilly because they can without regard for the public or the rest of Congress is a great idea.

Therein lies the problem. The tired, corrupt 2 party system is struggling to keep itself in command of all that happens. The differences between them are barely noticeable except at election time. All they care about, think about, worry about and work on is their own power base. All either party wants is to win the next election, and they will sell every one of us down the river to do so.

For them it is a grand game with the laws of this nation as their playing cards and us as chips to be tossed on the table. For them it is not about governing or the good of the people. It is not about the right thing, the wrong thing or the true thing. It is only about the winning thing.

Boehner and Pelosi are the same. 2 tired, corrupt politicians who have sold so much of themselves that they no longer have any actual persona. They have sold us out to their party leaders without a flinch. They have sold this nation out for the chance to win an election.

Well, come November, we can sell them out by voting them out. All of them Every last one of the House and those Senators that are up for election. Because that is the one thing these miserable excuses for leaders cannot sell out from under us. Our right to vote them away.

On November 2, let Pelosi, Boehner and the rest knows their services are no longer desired.

To drive home that message, I am offering T-Shirts with this message:


As a capitalist and a free market person, I am selling them for both profit and with the intent of donating to those candidates that are willing to step outside the parties and declare a concern for the Constitution and the people.

You can order them here: http://www.itisnotagame.spreadshirt.com

Settled But Not Resolved

Back on April 16th, before BP became the most hated corporation in America, the then most hated - Goldman Sachs - was sued by the SEC for fraud. I said then that Goldman would settle for very little money and not admit any wrongdoing.

Well guess what happened today? Financial Reform passed. And Goldman settled for $550 million and no admission of wrongdoing. They did admit to some errors in marketing, but no actual wrongdoing.

In other words, the administration's crack economic team accepted a fine that, in Goldman money, is the same as a traffic ticket and let them totally off the hook for any actual violations. In fact, Mary Schapiro's improved and more efficiently corrupt SEC pretty much acknowledged that Goldman played within the rules when they withheld important information from clients.

I knew it. I knew this administration wouldn't see it through. I knew Goldman would buy their way out of this. I knew the already failed economic team would let them off the hook.

This is why the Financial Reform bill is a waste of time and not needed. Because there is still zero appetite for actually enforcing the existing laws. Because all that will happen is Obama's pre-failed economic team will have more laws and regulations to not enforce and whole new agencies will be formed - probably headed by previously failed administrators - and they will also not enforce anything.

The settlement was predictable. It is how the SEC has operated for years and years. It is how almost all government regulation of large entities works. File some charges, hold a great press conference, wait 90 days and the quietly settle for a small fine and no actual wrongdoing.

And this administration obviously wants to follow in that tradition. Sure, we can send a CEO to prison for an umbrella stand, but prosecute a firm that was at the heart of the meltdown? Prosecute a firm that somehow profited from the meltdown? Nope. Not in the Hope and Change playbook.

See, it still comes back to the same song. Bernanke, Geithner, Schapiro and the rest are the same folks that brought you this meltdown recession. Why would they want to actually go to court where it might be revealed that their incompetence and laziness was a prime contributor to this mess. It was, after all, Geithner who saw to it that Goldman got paid every dime AIG owed when everyone else got bupkes. And it was Bernanke who granted a commercial bank charter on a Sunday with no waiting period to get Goldman their chunk of free TARP money. And Schapiro? She watched all of this unfold.

The last thing Obama's failed team wants is for this to be heard in a court of law. They cannot afford any sworn testimony as to their complicity in this mess. And who pays? Well, we do, of course. That $550 million is nothing when stacked next to the $13 billion Little Timmy Geithner and Benny Bernanke took from taxpayers to give to AIG to pay Goldman 100 cents on the dollar. Our money is paying the fine. And Schapiro endorses this - is even proud of it.

So the new financial reform bill? Pointless before it is law. The idea that new laws unenforced are any better than old laws unenforced is either a definition of insanity or a very well thought out scam. Either way, not good for us. Some promise repeal. Nonsense. Repeal just does not happen.

In 1994, Republicans took control of Congress on a promise to repeal the Brady Gun Control Act. Well, every word of Brady is still in place. Not even a change. Repeal is a lot harder to accomplish and is empty a promise as is Change. It sounds great to rally the troops, but it is not realistic.

Where is the Congress? They are pretending this is not even happening. Democrats are happily pointing to their shiny new law and declaring all problems magically solved. Republicans are pointing to the new law and raising money from Wall Street on the false promise of repealing it. In other words, same stuff, different day on the Hill.

We can change things a little by simply standing up on November 2 and voting the Congress out of office. One last great layoff of 470 or so corrupt Democrat-Republicans who have totally games the system to benefit themselves. On November 2, fire the stinking lot of them and let's get a real new team in place.

I am selling shirts with this campaign slogan to make my point and hopefully move some votes back to the reality side of the ledger.
As a capitalist and a free market person, I am selling them for both profit and with the intent of donating to those candidates that are willing to step outside the parties and declare a concern for the Constitution and the people.

You can order them here: http://www.itisnotagame.spreadshirt.com