Sanford Wallace: Facebook Wins $711 Million In Case Against 'Spam King'

HR 6209-Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act sponsored by Anna Eschoo (D) CA and 62 other representitives. Check http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h6209/show to see if your rep. is a sponsor. If not, write them.
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How The US Blew The Trillion-Dollar Trade Of The Century

Why does the middle of this article lay the blame on Obama??? He did not bail-out the banks, he did not make the deal. This deal was made by Bush and Paulson. Even if there were changes made by Congress, this deal was still started by the last administration and their policies leading up to and handling of the situation. Obama has to deal with the fallout. Just like when Bush said that the next president will have to deal with Iraq.



Republicans make garbage and leave it for the Democrats to have to fix. They do it on purpose so that Democrats do not have time to implement their agenda.
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"Showdown In Chicago": Protesters Crash Bankers Convention, (VIDEO, IMAGES)

It is amazing how rich corporate executives never seem to understand how or why their policies, that gouge the middle class, get people them mad. Nor do they understand the basic politics of sending the wrong signals. When politicians take about policy (foreign or domestic) they always take about not wanting to send the wrong signals. When the Fed chair gives a speech, he tries to avoid sending the wrong signals. Yet bankers will hold a "Roaring "20s" party to celebrate the great year they had at their convention. These people all seem to be sociopaths.
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"Too Big To Fail" Legislation Is On The Way

Paul Volcker former Fed Chairman, Mervyn King form Director General of Bank of England, and John Reed form CEO of Citigroup all agree that big financial institutions should be broken up. John Reed said recently, "As another older banker and one who has experienced both pre- and post-Glass-Steagal world, I would agree...that some some kind of separation between institution that deal primarily in the capital markets and those involved in more traditional deposit taking and working capital finance makes sense. This in conjunction with more demanding capital requirements, would go a long way toward building a more robust financial sector".



In other words, break them up and make them keep more money in reserve. The system wasn't broken before, it worked well for 60 years without a major collapse.



Now end derivative trading. If the original asset cannot be tracked back to the original holder, it cannot be traded.
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Disney Expands Refunds On "Baby Einstein" DVDs

This is just another proof that companies, regardless of the product, need to show independent research that supports their claims. The FTC and Congress should get behind regulation that stop these snake oil claims by corporations to swindle money from people. That is what Congress and regulatory bodies are for.
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Obama Pay Cuts: White House Forcing Bailed-Out Companies To Slash Compensation

We cannot continue to allow a system to exist where you screw up and get a bonus for it. We have no long term incentives in this country. The tax structure and the regulations on industry favor short term gains at the expense of long term profitability. Do what Masher said, end the trade agreements that cost us jobs, end H-1B. If we do not have enough people to fill these critical jobs, make getting educated in them a priority, low cost loans or out right grants. Put Americans back to work in the industries that we need it in. Then go back and rebuild the manufacturing sector.



You want to end stupid, bloated bonuses, tax them at 80%, and when the corporation pays the tax on the bonus for the employee, tax it at 100%. Change the rules governing corporations and give shareholder more say, limit how many companies someone can be a board member of. Put term limits on them (and politicians).



Nonamnesiac said "Reregulation with teeth, including large fines and jail terms for those involved will correct these practices. Phony threats (or even real ones) of pay cuts will not".
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WSJ: Is The Housing Market About To Get Even Uglier?

So the crisis continues. It is driven more by the mortgage service companies than the banks. They profit when t mortgage is foreclosed. Banks no longer hold mortgages they securitze them as fast as they can. Then the service companies come in and collect the mortgaga payments for a fee. But if the homeowner fall behind, no problem. they can foreclose because they get paid before anyone else.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/perverse-incentives-lead_n_328378.html
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Paul Volcker: How Obama Is Tuning Out The Former Fed Chairman

I have been saying this for years. Back when Clinton allowed Citibank to swallow Travelers. It is bad business. We need to go back to the three institutions: retail banking, investment banking and insurance. These three industries should not have anything to do with the other. The more money is consolidated the greater the risk of a disaster.



If Obama is not going to listen to Volker, we are in trouble. Just as it seems we are in trouble over health care. If Obama is not going to take a stand and lead, we will not get a public option.
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Ford Recalls 4.5 Million Vehicles Over Defective Cruise Control Switch

Although Ford designed the specifications for the switch, they did not manufacture it. Texas Instruments and it's successor should be partly responsible for the cost of the recall along with Ford. if we hold all of the responsible parties liable, not just the final assembler (Ford), there will be fewer defects in products regardless of where they are manufactured.
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Tax Dodger Crackdown Shelved By Obama Administration

Obama was dead on back in May. Why should an American company get a tax break for creating a job overseas. They should be double taxed for doing that; and the CEOs in the WSJ article that said they couldn't understand why tax "trickery" was lumped in with tax dodging have no idea that they are slime, and have help to hasten the decline of this country. Increase their taxes to make up for what they have sent overseas in terms of jobs and investments.



"And yet, even as most American citizens and businesses meet these responsibilities, there are others who are shirking theirs. And many are aided and abetted by a broken tax system, written by well-connected lobbyists on behalf of well-heeled interests and individuals. It's a tax code full of corporate loopholes that makes it perfectly legal for companies to avoid paying their fair share. It's a tax code that makes it all too easy for a number -- a small number of individuals and companies to abuse overseas tax havens to avoid paying any taxes at all. And it's a tax code that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York".



One CEO told the WSJ that he was taken aback by that tough talk, and others complained that they were offended that "perfectly legal" tax trickery was lumped in with illegal types of tax dodging.
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Amtrak Ridership Shrinks, But It's Still Second-Best Year For Railroad

It is a tragedy that Amtrak ridership is down. That is what happens when you invest next to nothing in infrastructure and technology. Most of the rails that Amtrak uses are owned by the large freight companies. When Amtrak was created form the bankrupt rail industry, Amtrak had to indemnify the freight rail companies in case of any derailments. That meant that over the years, every derailment in which there was a law suit, even if the freight companies were found at fault, Amtrak had to pay their penalties.

We, as a nation have put little into upgrading track, developing new rail technology, or making the freight companies improve their tracks. France is on their fourth generation of bullet trains that will go faster, use less electricity to run, and have reduced tip over during a derailment. Ridership is up in Europe because they invest in their rail systems. we allow it to rot. Just like we allow our interstate system to rot. The interstate system did not cause the demise of passenger rail, Europe has an extensive, and the first motorway system. What caused the demise of passenger rail is lack of development and improvements in speed and ride comfort.

If you fix the train bridges, you can add auto trains across the nation. This is a very convenient way for people to take vacations, bring their cars and not have to drive. It is popular on the Southeast corridor. Straighten out some of the track, use Frances new technology, and travel between New York and Washington D.C. will be cut in half. Travel to everywhere else will be faster by two thirds and passenger traffic will increase.

Trains are cleaner and more comfortable than flying. More importantly, they are less stressful. Investment in Amtrak is a must. It can bring manufacturing jobs back t the U.S., stimulate technology, and reduce pollution.Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Arab States Have Launched Secret Moves To Stop Using U.S. Currency For Oil Trading

This started long ago when the Arabs tired to take control of their oil in the early "70s. What was our response? Nothing, until Carter tried to take the U.S. off of oil by implementing a green revolution. Unfortunately, Reagan, the oil industry, U.S. auto makers, the electrical industry ended that revolution. But what was worse was that they made it profitable for American business to start shifting manufacturing overseas. When that wasn't enough, Republicans made it more profitable to shift corporate taxes by allowing companies to relocate their headquarters to the Cayman Islands, and to out source even tech jobs overseas.

Yes there has been Democratic involvement in this. Unless we take back the country from greedy Republicans and Wall Street corporate interests. America can survive and become strong again by looking inward. I am not advocating isolationism, but a more balanced approach to how we go forward.

Make investments back in the U.S., starting with renewable energy sources. Make tax breaks available for every home and building install solar panels on their roofs. Install them on every government building wit a southern exposure. That will show the rest of the world how serious we are not just about climate change, but also not being held hostage by the middle east.

Start taxing carbon footprints on imported products. This will help with climate change while at the same time not directly taxing imports from other countries.

Increase import taxes to the same levels for the same products as U.S. products are charged to import them to China or Japan, treating Japan and China like they do us. China needs the U.S. market more than we need their products. We could and would redevelop those industries that were lost, bringing those jobs back to the U.S., and with them the tax base we sent overseas.

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