What am I doing? I'm waiting for the trade to come to me! What are you doing?
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Portland, come'n fast, woohoo! See ya there bud!
It's a great day, I hope you're trading from the beach today!
least sober
Good Morning Sidney!
One little suggestion on the website. I think we would all like to see some animated pens flying across the screen!
Wow! What an amazing website Mel! I'm so looking forward to meeting you, Monk and the rest of the Densters this weekend! Woot!
Welcome to 'The Den' HimAgain! I added another PersonMark for ya!
To aid in your research on floats and naked shorts, I highly recommend that you visit and read every post over at the "The Resource Center", here's the link: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=17872 Blinton has created a fantastic, no fluff, board providing a hardy serving of Monk wisdom and awesome posts from other great people that you will find right here in the Den. Happy reading!
You're not late at all. Welcome to The Den 4kids!
Hey 4kids, welcome to The Den! I sure hope you stick around because I think you'll appreciate what the Den "team" is doing.
excellent! I can drive to Pittsburgh from where I am so I just might see you there too! See ya in a few days!
Stop the Annual Spring Spending Spree
Posted by James Leroy Wilson
http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/one-subject-at-a-time-stop-the-annual-spring-spending-spree
Quotes of the Day:
"Designating war spending as an unforeseen emergency year after year is a farce that is designed to help politicians avoid hard budget choices." Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Texas)
"I do not believe we can continue to bring up bills under the justification of emergency legislation that violate the spirit if not the letter of PAYGO (pay as you go).” - Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA)
Every year, Congress considers "emergency" funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then loads the bill with pork and unrelated legislation - such as the union legislation we wrote about yesterday.
Then they cover for their fiscal recklessness by claiming opponents don't "support the troops." This happens EVERY year.
And in addition to the $84 billion (or more) bill, the House is also considering a separate "emergency" $200 billion so-called "jobs" bill with several unrelated provisions.
The good news, however, is that some in the majority party are concerned about how these bills will add to the deficit.
Let's encourage them to fight! Tell Congress to oppose these bills and pass DownsizeDC.org's One Subject At A Time Act (OSTA) instead.
You may borrow from or copy this sample letter . . .
On Wednesday, the national debt clock passed $13 trillion. http://www.usdebtclock.org/
And this year's federal budget deficit is $1.56 trillion.
Now, your colleagues are it again: It's time for Congress's Annual Springtime Spending Spree, brought to you by increased taxes and inflation costs, for which I'll have to pay.
What can you do about it?
In an age of out-of-control deficits, a law that would limit bills to just One Subject would be a good step . . .
* It does not stop necessary legislation
* But it ends the corrupt practice of log-rolling which explodes the deficit
* And it weeds out wasteful, unneeded, and unpopular provisions from bills
We need OSTA more than ever. The $200 billion House "jobs" bill extends some tax existing tax policies, but then adds to it . . .
* more Medicare spending
* more Medicaid bailouts of the states
* more COBRA funding
* yet another extension of unemployment benefits.
* and tax hikes that will "pay" for only about 30% of these costs
Meanwhile, the Senate is busy tacking on to the "war" supplemental . . .
* FEMA funding
* a "summer jobs" program for youth
* more troops to the Mexican border
* $23 billion to prevent teacher lay-offs.
* settling lawsuits by African-American farmers and Native Americans
* unionization of state and local employees
* and who knows what else
OPPOSE BOTH BILLS! YOU should introduce OSTA instead. OSTA would . . .
* break these bills down into their different subjects
* give Congress the opportunity to prioritize
* make it more likely that the more costly and harmful bills will never see the light of day
* which will help slow the growth of the deficit
OSTA is a common-sense reform that will encourage Congress to behave more responsibly. I see no reason why you wouldn't introduce it, UNLESS . . .
You are part of the problem!
END LETTER
You can send your letter through DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.
And here's a handy url for you share with friends and Tweet: http://tinyurl.com/2wslpxc
Thanks for taking action!
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
you can say that again
Feds mandate local unionization: Do you want the federal government to run your local government?
Posted by James Leroy Wilson
http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/feds-mandate-local-unionization-do-you-want-the-federal-government-to-run-your-local-government
Should the federal government force your local government to unionize its police and firefighting employees? If you oppose this proposed new federal mandate please tell Congress that using our "cut regulations" campaign.
You can copy of borrow from my sample letter . . .
Please do not entangle us in more top-down federal regulation. Specifically, oppose the attempt to attach Amendment 4174 to the latest appropriations bill (H.R. 4899), or to any other bill for that matter.
This amendment would force local governments to unionize their police and firefighting employees. This is a decision that MUST be made by local ELECTED governments, and NOT by the increasingly dictatorial federal government.
I would add to this that the unionization of supposed public servants appears to be a real problem. Government employees seem to be looting the taxpayers they are supposed to serve. For instance, according to the New York Times: http://tinyurl.com/27v8jbq
1. Roughly 3,700 retired "public servants" in New York are receiving pensions in excess of $100,000 a year
2. 22 retirees receive more than $200,000 per year, and one receives more than $300,000
3. The city's firefighters have not yet provided information on pensions, even though this is required by law, and the police department wouldn't disclose the names of those who are receiving these kinds of huge pensions
4. These out of control government union pensions are a big reason states like New York are in danger of going bankrupt
Mark Perry, of the University of Michigan, points out that the top recipients of New York pensions, as described in points 1 and 2 above, would, all by themselves, rank as the 178th largest economy in the world! This is an outrage!
Please do not inflict this problem on the entire country. Please protect local self-rule and fiscal sanity. VOTE NO on Amendment 4174, or any other proposal remotely like it.
I am watching what you do very closely.
END LETTER
You can send your letter to Congress using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.
Perry Willis
Vice President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
THANK GOODNESS! for now
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20005834-38.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-PoliticsandLaw
May 24, 2010 9:46 PM PDT
Congress rebukes FCC on Net neutrality rules
by Declan McCullagh
The Federal Communications Commission's plan to impose Net neutrality regulations just became much more difficult to pull off.
A bipartisan group of politicians on Monday told FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, in no uncertain terms, to abandon his plans to impose controversial new rules on broadband providers until the U.S. Congress changes the law.
Seventy-four House Democrats sent Genachowski, an Obama appointee and fellow Democrat, a letter saying his ideas will "jeopardize jobs" and "should not be done without additional direction from Congress."
A separate letter from 37 Senate Republicans, also sent Monday, was more pointed. It accused Genachowski of pushing "heavy-handed 19th century regulations" that are "inconceivable" as well as illegal.
This amounts to approximately the last thing that any FCC chairman, at least one concerned with his future political prospects, wants to happen on his watch. Not only do Monday's letters inject a new element of uncertainty into whether the FCC will try to repurpose analog telephone-era rules to target broadband providers, but they also sharply increase the likelihood of the process taking not many months but many years.
"Questions about the FCC's legal authority should be decided by the Congress itself, and not by applying to the Internet a set of onerous rules designed for a different technology, a different situation, and a different era," AT&T's senior vice president for legislative affairs, Jim Cicconi, said Monday.
Last month, a federal appeals court unanimously ruled that the FCC's attempt to slap Net neutrality regulations on Internet providers--in a case that grew out of Comcast throttling BitTorrent transfers--was not authorized by Congress. The opinion called the FCC's claims "flatly inconsistent" with the law.
Supporters of Net neutrality say new Internet regulations or laws are necessary to prevent broadband providers from restricting content or prioritizing one type of traffic over another. Broadband providers and many conservative and free-market groups, on the other hand, say some of the proposed regulations would choke off new innovations and could even require awarding e-mail spam and telemedicine identical priorities.
For a day or so earlier this month, Genachowski seemed to be wavering, and perhaps even favoring an approach that would have left broadband services unregulated. But after pressure from liberal advocacy groups, the FCC announced plans on May 6 to resuscitate its Net neutrality rules through a legal dodge that, agency lawyers claim, stand a better chance of surviving an inevitable legal challenge.
It's true that President Obama campaigned on a platform that included Net neutrality, and through a representative recently reiterated that he is still "committed" to the idea.
It's also true that no FCC chairman ever starts a fight with Congress during the budgetary process unless there's a very good reason, and preferably very good odds of winning. Genachowski's private-sector experience as general counsel and chief of business operations for IAC/InterActiveCorp has presumably made him aware of when it's time to cut your losses and change the topic. How about those new iPhone early termination fees, for instance?
Which means that, unless something unexpected happens, the fight over Net neutrality will shift a few blocks down Independence Avenue from the FCC to Capitol Hill. (In an editorial Monday, The Washington Post called for just that.)
nice post!
This Den is brimming with inspiration, thanks mel and thanks Den Family!
I want to be the next person that Monk puts out of W***!
outstanding newsletter!
Still wonder if this was set-up to reduce the push for off-shore drilling.
Eeeexcellent, me too!
Asset Forfeiture: Are You Guilty Until Proved Innocent?
Posted by James Leroy Wilson
Quote of the Day: "Under civil forfeiture, police and prosecutors can seize your car or other property, sell it and use the proceeds to fund agency budgets, all without so much as charging you with a crime. Unlike criminal forfeiture, where property is taken after its owner has been found guilty in a court of law, with civil forfeiture, owners need not be charged with or convicted of a crime to lose homes, cars, cash or other property. Americans are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but civil forfeiture turns that principle on its head." - The Institute For Justice, "Policing For Profits"
Civil asset forfeiture is the practice of seizing and keeping property that police claim was used in a crime.
* The government does not have to prove their claim in court under the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt"
* Instead of "innocent until proven guilty" the property owner must prove innocence at his or her own expense
* Incredibly, the funds necessary to pay for that defense are often also confiscated
Police departments are growing more dependent on forfeitures to pay for their budgets. This means no one is safe . . .
* Instead of "protecting and serving" the people, police are pressured to investigate "crimes" which provide the best opportunity to seize property and cash,
* You can lose your car, your cash, or other property through a simple misunderstanding, or because you "look" suspicious
* And even where there are state laws protecting the innocent against abuses, the federal government rewards local police departments for evading state law!
Civil asset forfeiture is a moral and constitutional outrage. Yet the courts permit it. Only public pressure will bring this corrupt and barbaric practice to an end, so we're asking you to tell Congress to End Asset Forfeiture.
You may borrow from or copy this letter . . .
The Institute for Justice report "Policing For Profit," offers a sobering look at asset forfeiture in the United States today. Local law enforcement have used asset forfeiture proceeds to . . . http://tinyurl.com/22p2oop
* purchase football tickets for the district attorney's office
* purchase TV ads for the district attorney's re-election campaign;
* fund a "training seminar" in Hawaii for the staff of the district attorney's office
In one instance, $250,000 was donated to the sheriff's alma mater for a scholarship!
Amazingly, most of this money was taken from people who were never even charged with a crime, let alone convicted. It was stolen money.
"Policing For Profits" also reveals that . . .
* A survey of 770 law enforcement executives found that nearly 40% viewed civil forfeiture as a necessary budget supplement
* A sample of 52 police departments in Texas found that forfeiture proceeds accounted for 14% of their budgets
* There is very little accountability or oversight on how the money is spent
There are a few states with reasonable safeguards designed to protect the innocent against asset forfeiture abuse, but the federal government circumvents these state laws through a program called "equitable sharing." Local police can seize property and hand it over to the federal government in order to bypass state controls.
* The local police agency can get as much as 80% of the proceeds back from the Federal government
* The true owner must fight in federal court for the return of his or her property
* Instead of the government proving guilt, the owner must prove innocence
* The costs of challenging forfeiture is often so great that many forfeitures go unchallenged
In addition, the federal government itself has cleared a $1 billion profit from civil forfeiture. And yet, 80% of the property owners are never even charged with a crime. They are victims of government theft!
I have no problem with laws that require individuals convicted of heinous crimes to forfeit criminal profits and the property they used in the crime. But taking property without even pressing criminal charges is naked theft AND YOU KNOW IT.
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments say that no person can lose his of her property without due process of law. Honor your oath of office. Repeal the federal forfeiture laws and end equitable sharing.
END LETTER
You can send your letter through DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.
If you are as outraged at civil asset forfeiture as we are, we encourage you to forward this message to your friends and share this on Facebook.
Thanks for taking action!
James Wilson
Assistant Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org
Good Morning loannis! I too added more EIGH this morning. I'm happy!
Almost single digits for the Portland crowd
I'm sorry to hear that Alejandro1989. I will send a prayer your Dad's way. Take care
Good Morning Charlie! I just wanted to let you know that I always enjoy your posts. Thank you and God Bless.
Oh I believe I will Sidney... I BELIEVE I WILL!
PS- I'm not yelling
it really shows how these two ETF's play off each other. I can't wait to learn how to make money with this in Portland!
as always, gotta love it
yeah but it's a boon for advertising!!!!!!
most of the TV watching zombies in the country that's who
people will start paying more attention to her now.... which btw is the whole point of all this non-sense
FAZtastic!
looks like a bumpy ride on the F's today
uh oh..... the neocons are not going to like this *sigh*
howdy sir, I'm looking forward to meeting you and the gang in Portland!
HEY! You're darned it can be really good!!!!
eyes wide open
no complaint eh? Well I can think of an obvious one for you