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Sunday Roundup

Posted: 05/13/2012 12:00 am

This week, risky trades by JP Morgan caused $2 billion in losses and showed why muscular banking regulation is still so badly needed; Rick Santorum endorsed Romney in an email sent out around midnight with no advance notice to reporters -- just one step short of sending his endorsement directly to spam folders; and, of course, the week's top story was obviously President Obama's "I do" on gay marriage -- a groundbreaking move that aligned him with Dr. King's evocative suggestion that we be the headlights of history, not the taillights. Thank you for your bold leadership, Mr. President. Now, if you can get to know as many unemployed people as you do gay people, perhaps you'll provide equally bold leadership on jobs. Finally, here's wishing moms everywhere a very happy Mother's Day!

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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jmdziuban1
Aspiring ne'er do not-so-well
10:38 PM on 05/13/2012
Get to know as many unemployed people as gay people. If the GOP has its way, those people will be one and the same.
10:16 PM on 05/13/2012
Why didn't you mention the fact that Republicans BLOCKED The Jobs Acts Bill, Arianna? Mention that they have filibustered every attempt the president has made to create jobs. Thank you.
oilfield
large employer per obamacare
11:12 PM on 05/13/2012
i thought the stimulus was going to do that? the wanted to block the affordable care act...that killed jobs....
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
jmpurser
See My micro-bio
08:49 PM on 05/13/2012
Obama is not "leading" on gay rights at all.  In fact he just shifted his feet on the status quo.
07:29 PM on 05/13/2012
The Romney problem to Republicans is one that will solve itself come November. (He'll go away.)

We do not have to wait that long to solve the banking problem(s). Just restore Glass-Stegall.
(Locked door Eexecutive sessions barring lobbyists for both houses and severe political punishment for those not falling in line.)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jmdziuban1
Aspiring ne'er do not-so-well
10:35 PM on 05/13/2012
We'll just have to let the republican party go bankrupt.
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06:36 PM on 05/13/2012
The issue of jobs (citizen income) is not being discussed in a long term serious manner. Because of technology­, automation and cheap foreign labor, astounding numbers of our unemployed will never again have jobs. There simply will not be enough work to occupy all available American citizens under present labor laws. The nation can no longer allow the fruits of tax-payer subsidy in research and invention, construction of infrastructure and advancemen­t of productivity to be gobbled up by the few to the detriment of the many.

Other countries provide a foundation of legal protection­­­­s for jobholders­­­­; strict guidelines regarding wages, work hours, vacations, terminatio­­­­ns, layoff procedures etc. and, most have shorter work-weeks than the US by mandate. We can no longer continue to subsidize all manor of enterprise and at the same time threaten the survival of the most productive and efficient class of in the US.

The US is a rich country, there is no good reason that so many of our citizens are unable to achieve a reasonable, if modest, lifestyle. It's all about a congressional system that has failed the majority and who legislates for the highest bidders.
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Marlyn
If I'm wrong, let me know.
06:04 PM on 05/13/2012
AH, you talk as if President Obama is just lazy and doesn't want to create jobs.
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Beatriz09
06:54 PM on 05/13/2012
Maybe because sometimes pundits just don't have the time to study the facts ... ?
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Holymolly
Emotionally intellingent
09:31 PM on 05/13/2012
What facts? The facts are that his advisors should advise him better on what political moves create jobs or hurt jobs...........boy, am I the only one with common cents around here? Maybe I shoud become an advisor, eh?
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05:26 PM on 05/13/2012
Cont"d.  Mr. President.  Your clandestine agreement with Chinese leadership to destroy the dollar while the yuan rises and becomes the currency of the realm will destroy the private savings of the responsible citizens of our nation. It will turn tens of millions of Americans into paupers and unemployed rabble.  It will make our government a satellite of Chinese supremacy as the Eastern European nations were satellites of the old Soviet Union. It transfer the remaining American citizen ownership to Chinese ownership.  Have you thought through your ignominious and treasonous policy?  Did you consult with any other than Wall Street and the big banking moguls? 
   Granted, the market and commodities should go straight up towards election day as our currency crashes, and the full force of inflation and dollar devaluation will not be fully felt until after the election, nonetheless you will be confronted with rebellion with no financial, economic power to prevent Chinese domination of our economy and politics.  What you are doing is wrong, short sighted, destructive of our national sovereignty and future as a legitimate nation.  Back off and create policies that represent American domestic and national interests. First, assume that our debt is too great to repay, therefore, we must default on the borrowers, terms rather than the lenders' threats.
 Mr. President, your job is to lead, not follow the instructions of creditors.  Show as much courage for the 317 million citizens as you have for a tiny minority of exceptionally endowed citizens.   You are the only individual that can change the course of history.  You must do what is right, not what is expedient.
05:10 PM on 05/13/2012
For someone so concerned about the unemployed, why the total silence on the Paul Ryan budget?
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WeAlwaysKnewIt
Give Snout To It
05:57 PM on 05/13/2012
You are mistaken. No one with a sincere concerned about jobs would make a divisive comment pitting gay marriage against job creation in the manner done here. One or the other seems to be the dagger, and the president made the wrong choice is the implied tone.

This is but a game to some. Makes me wonder if there's a "media buy" issue driving the agenda here. Republicans must win independents and convert democrats and they may as well do it here.
06:33 PM on 05/13/2012
Actually, I agree with you. It is divisive to pit gay marrige against job creation. I was just pointing out the hypocrisy of criticizing the President while staying totally silent on Paul Ryan's budgets for over a year.
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Beatriz09
06:57 PM on 05/13/2012
... and on the fact that the GOP blocked every serious jobs bill since Jan. 2010 (= when Scott Brown won Kennedy's seat, giving the GOP the legal power to block each and every bill)?

... and on the fact that Obama and the Dems (yes, AND THE DEMS in Congress, because NOTHING happens without Congress) averted a depression, ended the worst recession since the Great Depression and stabilized an unemployment rate in free fall in less than a year?

... and on the fact that Obama and the Dems in Congress already added 4.2 million new jobs, after having successfully ended the recession?

If you "care about" the unemployed, you shouldn't just "talk to" the unemployed, you also have to study ALL the facts and draw logical conclusions ...
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
inthelandoftheblind
Obama wants a strong Middle Class
07:53 PM on 05/13/2012
"...study ALL the facts and draw logical conclusions ...”? That's a tall order when Foxites try to function in the real world. Be gentle.
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Holymolly
Emotionally intellingent
09:27 PM on 05/13/2012
I heard a lot of talk about the GOP blocked serious jobs bills..........do you know why or mum's the word?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
farleft1917
Nothing is new but only forgotten.
05:04 PM on 05/13/2012
Well put AH!

Obama should follow his conversion over Equal Rights with a right for us little people to be rewarded for our work with a modest home, education for our kids, decent healthcare and a pension that pays the bills and maybe even a holiday. We once had that when we worked in factories but those have been sent away.

Apple pays little tax, like all the other corporations that Obama lauds and lectures us to emulate. America used to be a land where the honest worker was rewarded. Now it's the lucky, yes the clever too but not all of us can be a CEO of Facebook.

AH remembers that and I hope she continues to remind others in her class of our plight.
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Beatriz09
06:58 PM on 05/13/2012
The question is: what could Obama have done MORE, CONCRETELY, than what he has already done, to move us into the direction of the goals you're proposing (goals that I cannot but fully agree with)?
The Joler
nil sine labore
10:09 PM on 05/13/2012
Maybe that should be rephrased as what are the American people going to do to move the country in the direction of the goals proposed. The people need to accept responsibility for their actions. Obama was elected in 2008 with a clear majority in the house then nobbled in 2010. If the republicans are blocking the bills it is because the republicans made their positions clear in 2010 and the people gave them the power to do so. Americans need to step up and start taking responsibility for their actions at the polling booths and stop blaming the people they elect for the consequences of these actions. Both parties have made their positions clear.
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evgolightly
---------------------------------
04:58 PM on 05/13/2012
Seems to me ALL he's been talking about, and working on, is jobs, jobs, jobs. Did we miss President Obama's JOBS bill, with billions in new infrastructure projects that would immediately address our 3 million unemployed construction workers?

What about his plan to rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges, hire back teachers, invest in early childhood education, lower student loan rates, help underwater homeowners refinance through private banks, incentivize business to hire our veterans, extend payroll tax cuts, extend unemployment benefits, institute job training programs through community colleges .... I'm just getting started.

Why have almost none of his plans been implemented? Gee, I wonder. Maybe it would be a good idea to pressure those who sabotage our economy for political gain instead of taking aim at a man who does everything in his power to clean it up.

This President doesn't need to familiarize himself with the unemployed. Naysayers need to familiarize themselves with him.
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Beatriz09
06:58 PM on 05/13/2012
Very well said. F&F.
07:46 PM on 05/13/2012
Ditto.
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The Smartest Monkees
Planet of the Apes? We're on it, baby!
04:30 AM on 05/14/2012
Excellent post!!!

The choice this November couldn't be clearer. President Obama, who has given the Republican Congress every opportunity to join him in working towards a better future for this nation, only to be met with a resounding "NO!"

Or Mitt, "Corporations are people, my friend. Banks are scared just like you." etch a sketch Romney.

Obama 2012!

Taking back the House, and beefing up the Senate for the Dems!
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SamEllison
I feel so clean!
04:55 PM on 05/13/2012
Happy Mother's Day Arianna.
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Giapo
Happy times aren't here again.
04:14 PM on 05/13/2012
Thanx, Arianna for another Roundup.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
quillerm
03:38 PM on 05/13/2012
Trusting the government to come up with Legislation to prevent another JP Morgan debacle is hilarious. Medicare managed to waste 50 billion last year in fraud and abuse. Add in the billions lost on Federally funded mismanaged disasters like Solyandra, and another 87 billion that went to the failed Stimulus II, we have nearly a Trillion up in smoke. But that's only a starter, Obama wants to wipe out one Trillion in student loan debt, and charge taxpayers to make up the difference. Let's just let the Private Sector handle this, their record is far better than Governments.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Silverfern
03:48 PM on 05/13/2012
Actually there are other countries that Government regulation s do work to ensure an economy you can be confident in.
04:37 PM on 05/13/2012
Don't keep us in suspense.
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themechanicsix
Chance favors the prepared mind
06:13 PM on 05/13/2012
Not ours. Name me just ONE....JUST ONE situation where the greedy ,poorly run, wasteful, undependable and financially irresponsible government had a positive impact on private business. PRIVATE BUSINESS.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
EHenry
Author of the new book - How We Got Swindled by Wa
04:06 PM on 05/13/2012
The private sector - FINRA - is the self regulating arm of the securities markets. Government legislation like Glass-Steagal and the 1956 Bank Holding Co Act would have prevented this Depression, making "SYNTHETIC PORTFOLIOS" trading virtual complexities, still too complex to explain, transparent is a ruse and will not address the underlying lack of substance being bet on.

Solyandra was a venture capital investment by the government because big oil (private) prefers to make hay will the sun shines, no alternative energy research, and keeps subsidies Repubs vote against stopping - Solyanda was about 500 million and the people in charge were swindlers who should go to jail --- but how about How We Got Swindled by Wall Street Godfathers, Greed & Financial Darwinism ~ The 30-Year War Against the American Dream. (my new book). David Satterfield, who wrote the foreword, was the former business editor and 2 times Pulitzer winner said - "Financial Darwinism means, survival of the richest." What are profitable cos.in the private sector doing to help - funding ALEC? Shipping jobs and parking profits offshore!

T. Jefferson said government must take over when the private sector does not. Grover compares this "recovery" from a Depression with Reagan's recovery from a recession - an absolute misleading comparison.

quillerm - equate the need to do something about student loans to help fund our newest generation of engineers, doctors, teachers and Americans who have cared to become educated.

Your numbers and reasons are way off. to learn more: www.howwegotswindled.com
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mangoaddict
03:31 PM on 05/13/2012
I have just read Maureen Dowd's op ed in the NY Times on the president's support for gay marriage. While she was less gracious than AH, both are of a piece. Both have problems with this president because he is over cautious and calculating in his decision making process. Maybe he isn't man enough. I would like to say that as two powerful attractive women, it is easy to talk. Neither Ms. Dowd nor Ms. Huffington have had to deal with identity issues, which require calculation because the bullies are always out there and it is never possible to predict how they will react. President Obama has had to contend with racism, name calling, threats to his life, and intense and unprecedented obstructionism from the right. He has dealt with it by turning the other cheek or through humor or by extreme caution. Imagine a short man (an invisible minority btw) trying to assert himself in the workplace, or imagine a minority - maybe he looks Arabic or Mexican, - it is hard to tell - maybe he is wearing a hoodie and he is taking a walk at night in a suburban neighborhood. What does he do when attacked? Consider that it might be the same for our president. It is easy to sit and preach from the sidelines. It is not so easy to make the tough decisions and calculations necessary to deal with a hostile press and uncooperative opposition in a time of crisis.
05:01 PM on 05/13/2012
Excellent post!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
goldiggerrr
Dem Chicago Boyz did it again!!!
05:08 PM on 05/13/2012
thank you Mangoaddict
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ConservativeAmongWolves
One guy against a pack of Howlers
03:01 PM on 05/13/2012
What about the half billion dollar lost on Solyndra? Do we now need "muscular" oversight of the Obama Admin?
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evgolightly
---------------------------------
05:02 PM on 05/13/2012
$9-12 billion missing in Iraq under George Bush's watch and now all republicans can talk about is a loan to an energy company? Please.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
hmdjr
06:35 PM on 05/13/2012
You're right. The conservatives never want to talk about the billions lost in the illegal wars we are waging.
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Beatriz09
07:05 PM on 05/13/2012
FYI: this program started under Bush. It was designed to help businesses knowing that helping them meant accepting a certain risk, in other words, accepting that a minority will fail. It was the case of Solyndra. The reason why the Bush and Obama administrations accepted this kind of risk is because they both thought that investing in the majority of businesses who would not fail thanks to the investment clearly was worth it.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ConservativeAmongWolves
One guy against a pack of Howlers
09:41 PM on 05/13/2012
I think the main point is that they failed SO FAST.

As well as the Admin CHANGED the rules to allow the US government to be LAST IN THE LINE for repayment......this point gets very little coverage.