Occasionally the World Suddenly Makes Sense

Occasionally the world suddenly makes sense. I guess those times are what they call “ah ha” moments.

You know all the oversight committees in Congress? It’s always bugged me that every time some major catastrophe occurs, the committees and departments and task forces seem to be looking the other way. And then it dawned on me: These groups are not in charge of oversight, they’re in charge of oversights. And, in fact, they’re doing a terrific job. Going back to 9/11, there have been a litany of oversights.

My curiosity got the best of me, and I did some research. I found someone inside the Washington beltway who would tell me the truth (a task in itself), and here’s what I found out:

The oversight committee is actually part of a whole system. It handles the generally mundane task of dealing with day-to-day events. It traces its origin back to the Nixon administration and the concept of “plausible deniability.” In order for the president to be able to distance himself from an event, Congress is charged with creating a plausible oversight, as in “Oops, it was just an oversight.”

In Nixon’s case, a simple oversight wasn’t adequate so the “overlook committee” was created. This is a “select” committee, meaning that only special people serve on it, and its existence is not very well-publicized. When an oversight isn’t adequate this committee makes a conscious decision to overlook something. Whereas an “oversight” is seemingly an accident, deciding to “overlook” is on purpose.

As you might expect, from time to time, intentionally overlooking something is not enough. When this happens, the issue escalates to the “cover-up committee.” Things don’t get to the cover-up committee without presidential involvement. However, in order to preserve plausible deniability, the president only communicates with the committee in code. It’s something like the nuclear codes and changes with each administration.

I don’t know what the code phrase is in the Obama Administration, but under George W. it was “Heckuva job, Brownie.”

Man, Have We Ever Lost Our Way...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 40 million Americans received food stamps -- the latest in an ever-higher string of record enrollment that dates from December 2008 and the U.S. recession, according to a government update.

U.S. Food stamps are the primary federal anti-hunger program, helping poor people buy food. Enrollment is highest during times of economic distress. The jobless rate was 9.9 percent, the government said on Friday.

The Agriculture Department said 39.68 million people, or 1 in 8 Americans, were enrolled for food stamps during February, an increase of 260,000 from January. USDA updated its figures on Wednesday.

"This is the highest share of the U.S. population on SNAP/food stamps," said the anti-hunger group Food Research and Action Center, using the new name for food stamps, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). "Research suggests that one in three eligible people are not receiving ... benefits."

Enrollment has set a record each month since reaching 31.78 million in December 2008. USDA estimates enrollment will average 40.5 million people this fiscal year, which ends Sept 30, at a cost of up to $59 billion. For fiscal 2011, average enrollment is forecast for 43.3 million people.
Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton/Files

What is wrong with this country? We have Democrats and Republicans fighting with each other over power and politics and miscellany that improves nothing while 12.5% of our population needs food assistance. I find that totally unacceptable.

We have this Tea Party aberration raising rabble about government interference, and any other thing that can raise a crowd, while that same government is feeding 12.5% of our population.

We have wealthy people criticizing the fact that other wealthy people were bailed out by the government while other people, some of whom used to be wealthy, are using food stamps.

Man, have we ever lost our way.

rjs

Remember the Good 'Ole Days of Banking?

Here’s a new definition of “chutzpah”. Part of the new financial reform legislation forbids domestic banks from trading in derivatives. Derivative trading (basically financial instruments that bet on other financial instruments) is a major source of revenue for the institutions that are currently posing as banks. The top five “banks” have spent upward of $6 million lobbying to have the prohibition deleted.

Their argument, now get this, is that if they are not allowed to play in the derivative market it will be left only to foreign banks AND FOREIGN BANKS ARE NOT REGULATED BY THE US GOVERNMENT.

Remember the story of the kid who murdered his parents and then pleaded with the court to give him a break because he was an orphan? This is even better than that! Who are these guys kidding?

They don’t want to stop playing the market because then they may be forced to try to make money being banks. If you look at the obscene profitability that banks are now reporting (and asking for an attaboy for recovering from last year’s meltdown) and then look at the source of the profits, a small fraction of it comes from normal banking activities. Interest arbitrage, derivative trading and the like represent the majority of the profits.

Remember the days when a bank took depositors’ money and loaned it to businesses so that the local and national economies would have a source of fluidity? Oops, that required exposure to risk and the careful analysis of financial statements and management activities. And, as we now know, most of the largest companies were lying (and their auditors were swearing to it) so who wants to be in the middle of that mess?

Besides, it’s much more sophisticated and fun to play with the big boys (and become one yourself) than it is to sit behind a roll top desk and serve customers.

How ‘ya gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after they seen Paree?

rjs