Lesson in Judgment: Obama vrs. McCain

You can tell a lot about a person by who they choose to have around them… Obama chose Biden; McCain chose Palin.

One choice was based on a rational reasonability. The other was a spur of the moment emotion.

I was reading today on Warren Buffet’s involvement in trying to stablize our crises…. He is doing a good job. He was mentioned as Obama’s pick to solve the bailout problem…

McCain’s economic advisor, until he called Americans a bunch of whiners: (“Boo Hoo… forty percent of my retirement is gone…”) just happen to be the one who created the environment allowing this mess to even happen at all… His sneaking through the Commodities Futures Modernization Act without a vote, is why we are today, scrambling to throw money we do not have, into a bottomless pit…

Yep, you can tell a lot about a person by whom they pick to have around them….

America Cannot Afford John McCain

I wish to rebut the following statement Maria Evans made on one of my comments and to answer LiberalGeek’s question at the same time…..

Her statement: That means that the HR 5660 that was consolidated into HR4577 was in exactly the same form it was in when it was introduced with bi partisan co-sponsorship on 12/14.

The subtitle of this post should be: Where is 208?

Where is 208?

Oh, There is 208!

In the original bill,  section 208 was left out… In the bill that made it into public law, section 208 was added. It seem ominous that the title of this missing piece is this:

SEC. 208. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO REGISTRATION AND DISCLOSURE ISSUES UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 AND THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.

Those acts passed in 1933 and 1934, were done so in order to prevent what is happening to our financial markets as we speak… Had these 75 year pieces of legislation been left alone, there is a great chance that we would not be struggling with a $800 billion dollar bailout of bad debts….

By changing these two laws, we have returned our markets to the way they were just before the market crash of 1929. Is it any wonder we are having the same worries…?

So here is how it goes down. Phil Gramm puts one piece of legislation on the floor of the house, where it is buried in committee. When the huge Omnibus Bill goes into conference he adds in that buried bill, which incidentally was never debated upon nor was it ever voted upon by either the full House or full Senate or even any committee…But that is not all.  The bill he adds, has clauses inserted into which have not been seen by any one in Congress…..

This is the mystery of Section 208…..

In full, this is what it says….

SEC. 208. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO REGISTRATION AND DISCLOSURE ISSUES UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 AND THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.

(a) AMENDMENTS TO THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933-

(1) TREATMENT OF SECURITY FUTURES PRODUCTS- Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77b(a)) is amended–

(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting `security future,’ after `treasury stock,’;

(B) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the following: `Any offer or sale of a security futures product by or on behalf of the issuer of the securities underlying the security futures product, an affiliate of the issuer, or an underwriter, shall constitute a contract for sale of, sale of, offer for sale, or offer to sell the underlying securities.’;

(C) by adding at the end the following:

`(16) The terms `security future’, `narrow-based security index’, and `security futures product’ have the same meanings as provided in section 3(a)(55) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.’.

(2) EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION- Section 3(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77c(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(14) Any security futures product that is–

`(A) cleared by a clearing agency registered under section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or exempt from registration under subsection (b)(7) of such section 17A; and

`(B) traded on a national securities exchange or a national securities association registered pursuant to section 15A(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.’.

(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Section 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77l(a)(2)) is amended by striking `paragraph (2)’ and inserting `paragraphs (2) and (14)’.

(b) AMENDMENTS TO THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934-

(1) EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION- Section 12(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: `The provisions of this subsection shall not apply in respect of a security futures product traded on a national securities exchange.’.

(2) EXEMPTIONS FROM REPORTING REQUIREMENT- Section 12(g)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l(g)(5)) is amended by adding at the end the following: `For purposes of this subsection, a security futures product shall not be considered a class of equity security of the issuer of the securities underlying the security futures product.’.

(3) TRANSACTIONS BY CORPORATE INSIDERS- Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78p) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(f) TREATMENT OF TRANSACTIONS IN SECURITY FUTURES PRODUCTS- The provisions of this section shall apply to ownership of and transactions in security futures products.’.

There was no warning…

…a security futures product shall not be considered a class of equity security of the issuer of the securities underlying the security futures product.

Because it is not considered a class of equity, laws regarding equity security, do not apply…

for some reason the section 208 was left out of the original bill. One is left to speculate that perhaps it was over fear that someone would ardently object to its passage, had the full extent of the Commodities Modernization Act been fully vetted……

I know…. some people out there are in love with Phil Gramm.. To them, he can do no wrong….XOXOXO… smooch, smooch, smooch….But despite what these people think, sometimes facts don’t lie… Sometimes the truth hurts.. Sometimes you just have to bend over, grab your ankles, and payout $800 billion dollars………

Oh, and did I forget to mention that Phil Gramm was McCain’s former economic adviser, and will be first in line to become the Secretary of Treasury if McCain gets elected? Yeah, Phil Gramm. He’s the same one who called Americans worried about their investments…. a bunch of pathetic whiners….. He is also McCain’s good friend.

Anyone who supports John McCain will ultimately be supporting another raid on our treasury by Phil Gramm, if this $800 billion dollar boon-doogle succeeds in giving some equity back to investment firms and Phil Gramm becomes the Secretary of the Treasury……. It’s a far worse prospect than who gets on the Supreme Court…..

The person who singlehandedly caused the financial meltdown, will be the next Secretary of Treasury, under John McCain……If we couldn’t afford him the first time…. how do you expect to pay for him the second?