I like seeing Senator Mark Begich (D. AK) team up with Senator Bernie Sanders (I. VT). He may not share all of Sanders views but he's with him on Social Security, GMO labels and Wall Street:
http://www.albanytribune.com/...
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced legislation that would ban bankers from sitting on the boards of directors for 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks that regulate the financial industry.
Co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska), the bill also would end the practice of letting bankers have a say in the selection of the Fed directors that regulate them. A companion measure was introduced in the House by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.).
Sanders said, “I think the American people would be shocked to learn that the CEOs of some of the largest banks in America are allowed to serve on the boards of the main agency in this country in charge of regulating these financial institutions – the Federal Reserve. Allowing banking industry executives to serve on the Fed’s boards and hand-pick its members and staff is a clear conflict of interest that must be eliminated.”
DeFazio said, “This outrageous conflict of interest jeopardizes the health of our financial system. Why should the Wall Street banks that gambled with our economy, lost big and then asked taxpayers for a bailout be allowed to regulate themselves? They have already proven they can’t do it. Our legislation would eliminate this conflict of interest and prevent banks from stacking these regulatory boards with their own employees.”
Under current law, two-thirds of the Federal Reserve Bank board members are directly appointed by the financial services industry and one-third of the Fed directors are employed in the financial services industry that the Fed is in charge of regulating. The Fed both supervises the financial services sector and decides whether to provide bank holding companies low-interest loans through the discount window.
Under the proposed legislation, Fed employees or board members would be outlawed from owning stock or investing in companies that the Fed oversees, regulates, and supervises. And no one who works for or invests in a firm receiving direct financial assistance from the Fed would be allowed to sit on the Fed’s board or be employed by the Fed. - Albany Times, 5/22/13
Here's a little more info:
http://blogs.wsj.com/...
Mr. Sanders, questioning Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke about the issue Wednesday morning, said he considered it an “absurdity” that bankers sit on regional Fed boards.
“We have had absurd situations where Jamie Dimon, the CEO of the largest financial institution in America, sat on the New York Fed, whose job is supposedly to regulate Wall Street. And many of us think that is the fox guarding the hen house,” Mr. Sanders told Mr. Bernanke.
Each of the Fed’s 12 regional banks have their own nine-person boards of directors made up of six directors selected by the banks in that district, and three chosen by the Fed in Washington. Mr. Sanders and other lawmakers have raised concern about this arrangement, noting that it could exacerbate banks’ ability to influence regulators.
The New York Fed’s website notes that directors’ responsibilities do not extend to supervision or regulation of financial firms. Instead, the website says that directors generally are tasked with “overseeing the management of the Reserve Banks, participating in the formulation of national monetary and credit policies and acting as a ‘link’ between the government and the private sector.” - Wall Street Journal, 5/22/13
If you'd like to get more information on Sanders bill, please contact Senators Sanders, Begich or Boxer for more details:
Sanders: (202) 224-5141
Begich: (202) 224-3004
Boxer: (202) 224-3553
So yeah, that's what Begich has been up to. Meanwhile, the Tea Party keeps on trying to get Sarah Palin to run for Senate:
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/...
The Tea Party wants former Alaska governor Sarah Palin to join their favorites in the Senate, Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.). They say she can win and they have a poll to prove it. Yikes, is America ready for a Senator Palin?
The Tea Party Leadership Fun commissioned a Harper Poll that shows Sarah Palin leads the Republican field in Alaska for the upcoming Senate seat. It is only by 2 points (32 to 30%), but that is without her even saying she is interested.
Not that Democrat Sen. Mark Begich is planning to go anywhere, but his seat is up in 2014 and Alaskan Republicans are jockeying for position to take a run against him. An earlier Harper poll revealed that Begich leads Palin by 7 points, 47 to 40%.
Until the Harper Polling survey on May 6 and 7, Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell was presumed to be the front-runner. But now the Tea Party is salivating at the very thought of a Sarah Palin in the Senate and the havoc she could cause. Sens. Cruz and Paul are almost amateurs in comparison to the Mama Grizzly.
The Tea Party has already collected 60,000 signatures calling upon her to throw her hat into the ring. As Dan Backer, the fund’s treasurer said:
“The Tea Party Leadership Fund has a broad audience of grassroots conservative activists, and they feel very strongly that she’s a champion of their values and would love to see her run, and we’re doing everything we can to see her run.” - Washington Times, 5/23/13
I don't know how much luck the Tea Party will have with getting Palin in the race but the GOP plans to spend big to get rid of Begich whether the GOP nominee is Palin, Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell or Tea Party Wild Card Joe Miller. If you'd like to get involved or donate to Begich's campaign, please do so here:
http://www.markbegich.com/...