Vox Populi – 3-27-2015

Vox Populi is coming right up tonight at 7:00pm PDT! Chat live about the week’s events and try our new iMartiniBar! It’s virtually intoxicating!

adlib 7 days ago

Hey Harliegh!

adlib 7 days ago

An iMartini anyone?

adlib 7 days ago

Hey slm!

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slm, Since our iMartinis are anonymous, that’s the way they come, dirty.

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PPO – That clip is fantastic!

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Hey Beatlex!

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ppo – I’m saving that recipe.

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ppo – I will check it out, great clip from it.

adlib 7 days ago

it is high time that the world joins Progressives in calling the Tea Partiers on their transparent game. The MSM has given them and their opinions way too much credibility.

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ppo – Absolutely! The days of making reasonable statements about how crazy the TPs are should be over. It’s time now to stomp their small minded hatreds masquerading as political views.

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Harleigh – I bought Hillary’s old server, 5 TB of blank space, very useful indeed!

adlib 7 days ago

Beatlex – Yep, this masquerade has gotten really tired. The RW/TP/GOP are so obviously going through the motions of politics when what they really want is oligarchy. Why should we keep playing their game and acting like they’re something they’re not?

adlib 7 days ago

ppo – Exactly. Once we added Hillary’s server to ours, folks had trouble accessing any relevant info.

adlib 7 days ago

slm – Actually 47% of Mitt’s hard drives are inaccessable.

adlib 7 days ago

What do folks here think about all the MSM trumpeting of Ted Cruz being a force to deal with? Does it seem manufactured just to whip up ad revenue on slow news days or do you think Cruz is a legit threat?

adlib 7 days ago

Maybe the NSA will run for President, they should be able to scare all other candidates out of the race with threats to expose their emails and web viewing habits.

adlib 7 days ago

Hey CL!

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CL – I’ve read how the RW Fundies are trying to coalesce behind a single candidate to avoid splitting the vote and letting Bush win the nom. They like Cruz but their fave so far is of course Huckabee.

adlib 7 days ago

Hey Sabreen!

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CL – I could imagine Huckabee winning the Repub nom if the RW finally gets a candidate this time.

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CL – What a relief to hear that! Finally! Meanwhile, the GOP base is predominantly those Fundie types so they could elect a Huckabee.

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God wants me to have a car elevator.

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CL – Of course, Bush is the main rodent to watch out for but I think he’s going to have a very tough time getting through the GOP primary, the base hates him.

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CL – I’m still a big supporter of Warren, she’s right on the money for me the majority of the time and not shy about speaking truth to power. Just today she attacked Wall Street for trying to use withholding contributions to scare Dems into suporting their agenda.

adlib 7 days ago

CL – I don’t really like Schumer, he is the stereotypical pol, goes out in front of the cameras to beat the drum as a liberal but when the cameras are turned off, he hurries over for drinks with the worst of Wall Street.

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CL – I don’t trust Schumer.

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Sabreen – There have been many artcles opposing the TPP that explain how multinational corporations will gain new and superior powers over the US, they can sue the US for imposing good policies that aren’t gd financially for them. It’s a very dangerous deal and precedent. SHould Dems not stand up against it if they truly believe that like NAFTA, it will harm Americans?

adlib 7 days ago

From the NYT this week: Trans-Pacific Partnership Seen as Door for Foreign Suits Against U.S. By JONATHAN WEISMANMARCH 25, 2015 – An ambitious 12-nation trade accord pushed by President Obama would allow foreign corporations to sue the United States government for actions that undermine their investment “expectations” and hurt their business, according to a classified document. The Trans-Pacific Partnership — a cornerstone of Mr. Obama’s remaining economic agenda — would grant broad powers to multinational companies operating in North America, South America and Asia. Under the accord, still under negotiation but nearing completion, companies and investors would be empowered to challenge regulations, rules, government actions and court rulings — federal, state or local — before tribunals organized under the World Bank or the United Nations. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/business/trans-pacific-partnership-seen-as-door-for-foreign-suits-against-us.html?_r=0

adlib 7 days ago

Does that sound like a good or bad idea?

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CL – Really? Can you name a tribunal from the World Bank or UN that has ever interceded with US domestic policy because it financially harmed a multinational corporation.

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CL – We do all agree that the language hasn’t been finalized so we don

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…we don’t know what the deal really says so how can I read the bill?

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CL – As you say, this is a multilateral agreement that is cloaked in secrecy, how can I read what the details are?

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CL – My issue is that there is such and adament expression that what is in the bill is good for Americans but that’s really jumping the gun since we agree that we don’t know yet what the final terms are. I always start from a position of skepticism when it comes to global trade deals.

adlib 7 days ago

Sabreen – I don’t believe that such a characterization is accurate, that you either support the President or you are concerned about the TPP. I support Obama a majority of the time but I oppose his stand on NSA spying, keeping so much secret from the public, going after whistleblowers and trying to jail journalists for not revealing their sources and a number of other things. I don’t see it as a zero sum thing to support a President, most of his policies and agend I strongly support but I haven’t given up my own personal opinions because I support him and like everyone else, there will always be disagreements between people.

adlib 7 days ago

CL and Sabreen, I’m interested in your views on why the TPP will be a good thing for Americans.

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Night Harleigh!

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CL – “Obama’s DOJ Relentless in Efforts to Force NYT Journalist to Reveal Confidential Source ‘This administration has an atrocious record for prosecuting whistleblowers. Can it really get away with jailing the reporters who talk to them, too?’ As the Guardian’s Ed Pilkington reports Tuesday: The Department of Justice has filed a legal argument with the US appeals court for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, in which it strongly opposes any further consideration of Risen’s petition. Risen’s lawyers have asked the court to convene a full session of the 15-member court to decide whether the journalist should be granted First Amendment protection that would spare him from having to reveal the identity of his source to whom he promised confidentiality. A three-member panel of the same court last month issued a 2-1 majority ruling in which they found that reporters had no privilege that would safeguard the confidentiality of their sources in a criminal trial. The judgement leaves Risen, a prominent investigative reporter specialising in national security issues, facing the prospect of having to break his promise to his source or go to jail.

adlib 7 days ago

CL – Then I think you’re making the mistake of grouping in people who are skeptical of the TPP with people who are attacking Obama, they are not the same. I do not expect the TPP to be a good thing but nowhere have I said anything derogatory about Obama. I think it’s misguided to equate the two,

adlib 7 days ago

Sabreen – Where did I condemn Obama for the TPP? I didn’t. As I mentioned to CL, it’s not accurate to try and equate suspicion of the TPP not turning out to be a good thing with condemning Obama, it’s just not the case.

adlib 7 days ago

CL – Why do you keep referring to a bill? Isn’t the TPP a secretively negotiated agreement right now?

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CL and Sabreen – Wow…this is a litmus test? If I disagree with both of you on what the TPP will probably be when it’s finalized then I’m not a supporter of Obama? Wow…

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CL – How do you fact check an agreement that is being kept secret?

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The thing is, this is not the 2012 bill. This is a new agreement. Who knows what’s in it for sure? We’ve heard leaks and that’s what the NYT and other sources have been writing about. Of course they may be wrong about what they’re saying is in the agreement but from my perspective, the best place to start with a global trade agreement, considering that their track record is pretty destructive to workers in America, is to start from a position of skepticism and see if one could be won over.

adlib 7 days ago

Sabreen – Appreciate Spandan’s point but it is different than the point I was making. I’m not attributing bad or good to its secrecy, that’s how big deals have to be in the negotiating phase. And I find the official positions of the US on this irrelevant because to make any deal, the parties involved will be required to compromise. The US simply won’t get everything it wants nor will it be able to demand that everything it doesn’t like is removed. Look at the continuing budget resolution that was passed and signed earlier in the year, Obamacare wasn’t defunded but Wall Street got to destroy regulations. Trade offs, that’s how deals are made and big deals require bigger trade offs. We don’t know what they are for sure but there will be some. That’s real world negotiation.

adlib 7 days ago

CL – You’re mistaken: So, what was the provision that cromnibus gutted? Here’s how Michael Greenberger explained it at Mother Jones: This provision guts the so-called push-out rule created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform act. This rule forbids banks from trading certain derivatives—complicated financial instruments with values derived from underlying variables, such as crop prices or interest rates. Instead, banks would have to shift these high-risk trades into separate nonbank affiliates that aren’t insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and are less likely to receive taxpayer bailouts. If the Citi-written measure becomes law, the largest FDIC-insured banks in the country will be able to make a wider range of these risky trades.

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Here’s a link to the MJ article: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/12/spending-bill-wall-street-derivatives-elizabeth-warren

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CL and Sabreen, of course I will read Spandan’s articles on this, I’m surprised that you’d assume anything other. He does great work as does TPV and I’m most interested in getting to the truth on matters. I would say though, I’d bet you and CL $1 that the TPP turns out to have some pretty negative aspects to it.

adlib 7 days ago

CL – You’re missing the point and many economists would strongly disagree with you, this is what contributed greatly to the economic crash, derivatives that were guaranteed to be covered by taxpayer money, thus encouraging WS to make risky trades since they had nothing to lose. Did Obama’s Admin have a policy completely opposed to letting Wall Street have derivatives insured by the US Gov’t? Yes but to get the budget passed, they compromised. That’s what’s required to get things done, I’m not saying he should never compromise, just that there are always compromises by anyone who wants to make a deal.

adlib 7 days ago

Sabreen, unfortunately, we are already stuck with NAFTA. The question is, if we are seeking an international agreement that allows aligned nations to compete with China and its aligned nations, will the result be something that in the end benefits Americans? Every other nation involved in the agreement want the benefits to flow their way, no single country is going to get everything they want.

adlib 7 days ago

CL – My reading of the Cromnibus is that derivatives are indeed going to be FDIC insured in many cases and that is what gave Wall Street the confidence to make suicidally risky investments, because they knew that they could never lose. This new law opens that door wide open again. That’s a big deal and a big step down the path of a repeat performance.

adlib 7 days ago

We’re all on the same page on that, NAFTA needs to be buried in a deep grave. The challenge is to make sure that we’re not trading the getting rid of NAFTA for different economic and trade problems that may not appear so but could end up being even worse.

adlib 7 days ago

CL – It is a deterioration of the anti-derivative rule and you’re right, as that article describes, it doesn’t apply to most derivatives but it takes a bite out of restrictions for commodity derivatives. That isn’t nominal and the trend is going in the wrong direction on that. However, that’s not my point, my point is, Obama and his Admin opposed that but had to compromise and accept it to get the budget passed without anti-Obamacare sections. That’s how all deals are made, compromise.

adlib 7 days ago

CL – I always enjoy a healthy debate, nothing is ever taken personally from you, Sabreen or any of our Planeteers. I remember having some real wild debates with KQuark and Bito on various issues but it never changed our friendships, as it will never for me and my friends here. Night!

adlib 7 days ago

Yep!

adlib 7 days ago

Same here Sabreen! Have a wonderful weekend!

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Night!

adlib 7 days ago