AP source: WH makes offers to break treaty impasse

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/11/12/national/w175217S62.DTL

Nuclear stock piled pension I suppose that going to blow at any minute unless the Republicans agreed to add a little more water in the holding tank.
It really looks like they're going to stop spending doesn't it.
Apparently they don't teach you in Political Pose 101 how to keep your word.
I find it ultimately fascinating how they always slip it to "US" secretly through the back door.
Of course on the other hand maybe it a pension fund they have going on with the Russians. Lets face it they've been working on this problem with nuclear stockpiles for decades. So feasibly there could be a retirement pension involved.

(This version CORRECTS that the $1 billion that would cover a pension fund deficit is part of the extra $4.1 billion in funding, not an additional amount, and that officials who traveled to Arizona were not White House aides.)


The Obama administration is offering to add billions of dollars in funding for the U.S. nuclear stockpile in a deal that it hopes will win enough Republican support for approval of a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia

Don't believe the hype

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Obama-Consumers-lose-if-apf-1043447495.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode=

Neither party is looking out for you.
Congress exempts, on both a state, and a federal level, any type of regulation for trading derivative because the people trading them might not like it and leave, and that would take away a competitive edge.
So the big car wreck happen because boys will be boys and don't always know their own limitations or at least that's what they told us was the reason for the 2008 crash anyway. ( I have serious doubts, about the "intent" of those "boys").
So congress hims & haws around and coughs up a package that has a special condition for the good ole "boys", to be able to by pass the rules.
Because what ever Wall Street wants Wall Street get, courtesy of our Congress, no matter what the consequences are, to Main Street.


President Barack Obama says consumers would lose if Republicans regain power in Congress and try to roll back his hard-won Wall Street overhaul.

He says the GOP's promised repeal of the law would mean the return of a financial system whose near-collapse led to the worst recession since the Depression.

"Without sound oversight and commonsense protections for consumers, the whole economy is put in jeopardy," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address.

http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=willa_gibson


This paper discusses the efficiency of proposed Congressional legislation to regulate the Over-the-Counter (OTC) derivatives market in light of the provision in the legislation that effectively exempts customized OTC derivatives contracts from clearing requirements and exchange trading. The exemption allows OTC derivatives dealers trading customized contracts to continue trading in the same opaque markets in which they engaged in rent seeking behavior that almost led to the collapse of the financial markets. The manuscript discusses why Congress has proposed these exemptions, why the exemption creates economic inefficiencies

Systemic Risk Posed by OTC Derivates Trading
OTC derivatives trades were largely exempt from state and federal regulation in 2000 by Congress’ enactment of the Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000.11 Congress exempted OTC derivatives from regulation because it was concerned that regulation of the market would cause OTC derivatives business to migrate to foreign markets with less regulation causing the U.S. to lose their competitive position. 12 Yet, many have pointed to Congress’ decision in 2000 to exempt such transactions from regulation as a significant factor contributing to the Great Recession of 2008

Congress Went to Denmark, You Got the Bill

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/25/cbsnews_investigates/main6140406.shtml

No the republicans weren't parting all by themselves the Dem's were doing it to.
This is why they actually call it a Political Party, because that's just what politics are, a big party financed on your dime.

Thanks to recently filed Congressional expense reports there's new light shed on the Copenhagen Climate Summit in Denmark and how much it cost taxpayers.

CBS News Investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports official filings and our own investigation show at least 106 people from the House and Senate attended - spouses, a doctor, a protocol expert and even a photographer.

Million Dollar Congressional Trip
Read the Congressional Expense Report

For 15 Democratic and 6 Republican Congressmen, food and rooms for two nights cost $4,406 tax dollars each. That's $2,200 a day - more than most Americans spend on their monthly mortgage payment.

CBS News asked members of Congress and staff about whether they're mindful that it's public tax dollars they're spending. Many said they had never even seen the bills or the expense reports.

Copenhagen Congressional Junket

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is a key climate change player. He went to Copenhagen last year. Last week, we asked him about the $2,200-a-day bill for room and food.

"I can't believe that," Rep. Waxman said. "I can't believe it, but I don't know."

Senate's Gridlock Fuels Frustration

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704182004575055721489671474.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5

You pay lavish expenses for them to do nothing, and they actually believe that they deserve it to.

The Senate's plodding pace has always distressed those in Washington eager to get things done quickly. Now, with Democrats and Republicans stalemated on everything from major legislation to agency appointments, some are asking whether the institution is broken