As Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy updates her resume for her post-November job hunt she can add a new achievement: causing economic chaos by bringing a $1.4 trillion market to a grinding, painful halt. As the result of a Kilroy-authored provision of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, the world's three largest bond rating agencies said their credit ratings could no longer be used in documentation for new bond sales. Because many types of bonds are required by law to include credit ratings in their official documentation, the bond market was completely shut down with no asset-backed bonds put on sale this week.
I'm not sure how many jobs the collapse of a $1.4 trillion market destroys or fails to save, but I'm sure it's a lot. And beyond the killed jobs, the ramifications for consumer credit will be devastating: Ford Motor Co. has already been forced to scuttle a debt deal to finance auto loans.
[For a good discussion of Kilroy's blunder, watch the video here with Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally. It gets relevant around 4:21.]
Think about it: Nobody can get a loan to buy a car because Congresswoman Kilroy just killed the bond market. If nobody can get financing then there aren't going to be many cars rolling off the lot. If nobody is buying cars, there's no need to make cars (or car parts). If there's no need to make cars or car parts, there's no need for workers to be employed at Honda Marysville (Congratulations to them on cranking out their 10 millionth vehicle earlier this week!). Worthington Industries would likely have to make cutbacks too as the demand for automobile steel tanks. So where does that leave us? Car dealers, car manufacturers, steel workers, the drivers who deliver the cars, the workers who make the car parts, and all the support personnel at all the previously mentioned entities left without work. Of course, you can't turn on the TV without seeing a commercial for a car dealership so there are going to be some cutbacks at the TV stations too from the loss of advertising revenues... but I'm sure, by now, you see the pattern: it's all connected. It's not so much a financial overhaul as an economic keelhaul. No bond sales = no consumer financing = no consumption = no jobs.
And why'd Kilroy do it? To make the financial system more accountable? To right horrific wrongs?
Nope. She did it to excite the erogenous zones of one of her key constituencies: the trial lawyers! This is an election year, and she needs cash.
The Kilroy provision (or Kiljobs provision, if you prefer) renders ratings agencies "expert", and thus, exposes them to a new liability similar to that held by auditors. A major difference, of course, is that auditors are liable for their examination of what is and bond raters are now liable for predictions of what may be. In effect, bond raters now face a level of liability greater than anyone else in all of business: in order to avoid being sued into oblivion bond raters must predict the future accurately every time at bat.
Congresswoman Kilroy knows full well that no one bats a thousand. Just look at her own political party and the "Summer of Recovery".
The impossibility of bond raters getting it right 100% of the time is exactly why Kilroy authored the provision making them legally liable for not having the foresight of Nostradamus: it's food on the table and Benzes in the driveway for her trial lawyer donors.
When they thrive, she thrives.
But we don't:
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Kilroy provision "has done the exact opposite of the bill’s intended efforts at creating more transparency and openness. It is forcing more deals underground, where there will be less access to capital and less opportunity for public scrutiny." Where only people who have the cash and the connections can have access and reap the benefits.
Congresswoman Kilroy has sold us up the river again, pretending to pass Wall Street reform legislation while rewarding her donor base. Let's hold her liable in November.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Kilroy for Congress: Paid for by the U.S. Taxpayer
What do you do when you're a member of an incredibly unpopular Congress and your big union, big trial lawyer, and Washington insider donors aren't giving you enough money to buy a fighting chance against your vastly more likable combat veteran opponent? The answer for Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy is to subsidize her campaign with your tax dollars.
Congresswoman Kilroy recently hired a communications director for her campaign who will also work part time in her congressional office. As an employee of her congressional office this campaign staffer will draw a federal salary. While Kilroy is hardly the first member of Congress to realize the ability to use tax dollars to pay for a campaign, precedent doesn't make her unprincipled conduct right.
According to the House Ethics Manual congressional staffers are permitted to engage in campaign activities on their "own time" as long as they do not do so in congressional offices or facilities, or otherwise use official resources. (Interestingly, executive branch personnel are subject to much greater restrictions on partisan political activity under the Hatch Act. It would seem the Congress saw fit to exempt itself from ethical standards the rest of the government must follow--part of a pattern of behavior that must be stopped.)
So, in the case of Ms. Kilroy's dual campaign and congressional office staffer, who is policing when he's on his "own time" and when he's on government time? The answer will disturb you.
From the House Ethics Manual:
"What constitutes a staff member's 'own time' is determined by the personnel policies that are in place in the employing office.... [D]ue to the irregular time frames in which the Congress operates, it is unrealistic to impose conventional work hours and rules on congressional employees." (Emphasis added.)
So the only standard for when government time ends and campaign time begins is set by Mary Jo Kilroy, the very woman whose whole future depends on the success of the campaign. Given her history of abusing her authority, I do not find that reassuring.
But surely her tax dollar-subsidized campaign staffer is required to keep a log of how he spends his time, right?
No? Oh, that is bad. One would expect the House of Representatives to, at the very least, have requirements for how congressional staffers who moonlight in their employers' re-election efforts document their time. (Heck, even the lobbying firms Kilroy oh-so-publicly decries have their employees keep time sheets of billable hours!) While the House Ethics Manual states staffers who do campaign work "should" keep records, "[t]here is no set format for maintaining such time records." So we're just supposed to trust Congresswoman Kilroy and her staff. I'd sooner trust Wall Street investment bankers to police themselves.
Between Congresswoman Kilroy's extravagant use of the franking privilege to disseminate what is, essentially, campaign propaganda (It even has the same color scheme.) and this new scandal of putting her campaign communications director on the federal payroll, Mary Jo Kilroy has effectively compelled us into footing the bill for her quenchless ambition. She should be required to change the FEC-mandated disclaimer displayed on all of her official campaign materials from "Paid for by Kilroy for Congress" to "Paid for by You, the U.S. Taxpayer, Sucker!"
Congresswoman Kilroy recently hired a communications director for her campaign who will also work part time in her congressional office. As an employee of her congressional office this campaign staffer will draw a federal salary. While Kilroy is hardly the first member of Congress to realize the ability to use tax dollars to pay for a campaign, precedent doesn't make her unprincipled conduct right.
According to the House Ethics Manual congressional staffers are permitted to engage in campaign activities on their "own time" as long as they do not do so in congressional offices or facilities, or otherwise use official resources. (Interestingly, executive branch personnel are subject to much greater restrictions on partisan political activity under the Hatch Act. It would seem the Congress saw fit to exempt itself from ethical standards the rest of the government must follow--part of a pattern of behavior that must be stopped.)
So, in the case of Ms. Kilroy's dual campaign and congressional office staffer, who is policing when he's on his "own time" and when he's on government time? The answer will disturb you.
From the House Ethics Manual:
"What constitutes a staff member's 'own time' is determined by the personnel policies that are in place in the employing office.... [D]ue to the irregular time frames in which the Congress operates, it is unrealistic to impose conventional work hours and rules on congressional employees." (Emphasis added.)
So the only standard for when government time ends and campaign time begins is set by Mary Jo Kilroy, the very woman whose whole future depends on the success of the campaign. Given her history of abusing her authority, I do not find that reassuring.
But surely her tax dollar-subsidized campaign staffer is required to keep a log of how he spends his time, right?
No? Oh, that is bad. One would expect the House of Representatives to, at the very least, have requirements for how congressional staffers who moonlight in their employers' re-election efforts document their time. (Heck, even the lobbying firms Kilroy oh-so-publicly decries have their employees keep time sheets of billable hours!) While the House Ethics Manual states staffers who do campaign work "should" keep records, "[t]here is no set format for maintaining such time records." So we're just supposed to trust Congresswoman Kilroy and her staff. I'd sooner trust Wall Street investment bankers to police themselves.
Between Congresswoman Kilroy's extravagant use of the franking privilege to disseminate what is, essentially, campaign propaganda (It even has the same color scheme.) and this new scandal of putting her campaign communications director on the federal payroll, Mary Jo Kilroy has effectively compelled us into footing the bill for her quenchless ambition. She should be required to change the FEC-mandated disclaimer displayed on all of her official campaign materials from "Paid for by Kilroy for Congress" to "Paid for by You, the U.S. Taxpayer, Sucker!"
Kilroy for Congress: Paid for by the U.S Taxpayer
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
"$teve $tivers" is Catching On (But Not How Mary Jo Kilroy Intended)
Just in case you missed the weekend coverage: Steve Stivers's work ethic lead to his second quarter fundraising efforts overwhelming those of slumberous Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy. Stivers raised $532,687 in the three month period preceding June 30--more than double Congresswoman Kilroy's $229,955. According to a press release from his campaign, Stivers enjoyed the support of 1,227 new individual donors this quarter. It would seem the spirit of civic engagement that lead to record voter turnout in 2008 is alive and well--except this time it favors Mr. Stivers.
Stivers also has more cash in the bank than Kilroy with $1.24 million to her $933,626. Now we know why Congresswoman Kilroy's campaign refers to Lt. Colonel Stivers as $teve $tivers: JEALOUSY! (Though it could just be that as a multi-millionaire trial lawyer she sees dollar signs everywhere.)
Stivers's fundraising success and accelerating momentum is exceedingly good news for you and me, the people who live in Ohio's 15th Congressional District. For too long we've lacked a representative who holds our interests in mind. Congresswoman Kilroy has raised only a paltry 63% of her money in-state. She's bought and paid for by Washington special interests and out-of-state liberal activists including George Soros, Susan Sarandon, Barbara Streisand, Carl Reiner, and internet regulation-pushing Craig's List founder Craig Newmark.
Steve Stivers, on the other hand, has raised 91% of his money from inside the State of Ohio. He will represent Ohio's working families because he's not beholden to anyone else. The erosion of our interests in favor of those of the Washington insiders and left coast liberals that has occurred on Kilroy's watch will be turned back by Mr. Stivers.
We'll have our own representative in Washington, D.C. again--just like the Framers of the Constitution intended. Imagine that!
It feels particularly good--particularly patriotic even--that, as Ohioans, we were able to scrape together more money than the Washington insiders and liberal activists to give to our candidate so that he now has more cash in the bank than theirs. It's David beats Goliath. (Though we have to keep throwing stones to keep Goliath down.)
By gosh, I actually pity Mary Jo Kilroy right now. I really do. Her fundraising efforts are faltering (the only method that she understands to get money from Ohio's working families is to tax it away from them), and she has the natural charisma of a doorstop. Without any coattails to ride this is going to be a rough election for her. And if she loses this job... well, you've seen the economy she created. It's rough out there.
Stivers also has more cash in the bank than Kilroy with $1.24 million to her $933,626. Now we know why Congresswoman Kilroy's campaign refers to Lt. Colonel Stivers as $teve $tivers: JEALOUSY! (Though it could just be that as a multi-millionaire trial lawyer she sees dollar signs everywhere.)
Stivers's fundraising success and accelerating momentum is exceedingly good news for you and me, the people who live in Ohio's 15th Congressional District. For too long we've lacked a representative who holds our interests in mind. Congresswoman Kilroy has raised only a paltry 63% of her money in-state. She's bought and paid for by Washington special interests and out-of-state liberal activists including George Soros, Susan Sarandon, Barbara Streisand, Carl Reiner, and internet regulation-pushing Craig's List founder Craig Newmark.
Steve Stivers, on the other hand, has raised 91% of his money from inside the State of Ohio. He will represent Ohio's working families because he's not beholden to anyone else. The erosion of our interests in favor of those of the Washington insiders and left coast liberals that has occurred on Kilroy's watch will be turned back by Mr. Stivers.
We'll have our own representative in Washington, D.C. again--just like the Framers of the Constitution intended. Imagine that!
It feels particularly good--particularly patriotic even--that, as Ohioans, we were able to scrape together more money than the Washington insiders and liberal activists to give to our candidate so that he now has more cash in the bank than theirs. It's David beats Goliath. (Though we have to keep throwing stones to keep Goliath down.)
By gosh, I actually pity Mary Jo Kilroy right now. I really do. Her fundraising efforts are faltering (the only method that she understands to get money from Ohio's working families is to tax it away from them), and she has the natural charisma of a doorstop. Without any coattails to ride this is going to be a rough election for her. And if she loses this job... well, you've seen the economy she created. It's rough out there.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Speaker Pelosi Knows So Much That Isn't So
Well, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shoveled some more coal into the engine of the Democrat crazy train yesterday. In a news conference Pelosi claimed federally funded unemployment benefits spur job creation faster than any other initiative. According to Pelosi unemployment benefits inject demand into the economy.
Uh... What? The four-week average for unemployment claims now stands at its highest point since March. By Pelosi logic that means we should be seeing commensurately high levels of job creation--and yet employers are projected to have cut a net total of 110,000 jobs in the month of June. And all that demand being injected into the economy by unemployment benefits? Well, check out the Financial Times article "Fears Mount Over Slowing Global Demand" for the stark reality on that.
Pelosi's absurd pronouncements remind me of Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf--better known as "Comical Ali" or "Baghdad Bob"--the former Iraqi Information Minister who entertained the world with his wacky and undeniably bogus claims about the progress of the American-led coalition forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Pelosi is one more sloshed night at a ritzy fundraiser away from putting on a beret and proclaiming “We are at peak employment. There are no Americans without jobs in the United States! There is, in fact, by the grace of Obama a job surplus!”
Just because the Democrats have decided that the laws of the land no longer apply and that they don’t need to pass a budget doesn’t mean the laws of reality no longer apply. Unemployment benefits do not create jobs, and they do not spur economic growth. Our distressed economy is a case in point.
A parting thought on Speaker Pelosi and her toadies in the House like Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy who votes in tandem with Pelosi 98.4% of the time: Who’s more foolish the fool or the fools who follow her?
Uh... What? The four-week average for unemployment claims now stands at its highest point since March. By Pelosi logic that means we should be seeing commensurately high levels of job creation--and yet employers are projected to have cut a net total of 110,000 jobs in the month of June. And all that demand being injected into the economy by unemployment benefits? Well, check out the Financial Times article "Fears Mount Over Slowing Global Demand" for the stark reality on that.
Pelosi's absurd pronouncements remind me of Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf--better known as "Comical Ali" or "Baghdad Bob"--the former Iraqi Information Minister who entertained the world with his wacky and undeniably bogus claims about the progress of the American-led coalition forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Pelosi is one more sloshed night at a ritzy fundraiser away from putting on a beret and proclaiming “We are at peak employment. There are no Americans without jobs in the United States! There is, in fact, by the grace of Obama a job surplus!”
Just because the Democrats have decided that the laws of the land no longer apply and that they don’t need to pass a budget doesn’t mean the laws of reality no longer apply. Unemployment benefits do not create jobs, and they do not spur economic growth. Our distressed economy is a case in point.
A parting thought on Speaker Pelosi and her toadies in the House like Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy who votes in tandem with Pelosi 98.4% of the time: Who’s more foolish the fool or the fools who follow her?
Thursday, July 1, 2010
What Do Mary Jo Kilroy and Tom DeLay Have in Common?
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi recently raised the specter of Ken Starr to try to scare her liberal donors into digging a little deeper to prevent a Republican takeover of the House. She wrote in a fundraising letter that a Republican win would "bring back the days of Ken Starr and the politics of personal destruction". Speaker Pelosi ought to know that even if Republicans wanted to bring back "the days of Ken Starr"--and I haven't heard of any of them expressing that they do--it's a legal impossibility. The Independent Counsel law expired over eleven years ago, on June 30, 1999. That bogeyman has left the building.
Besides, between the John Edwards sex tape and Al Gore staining a masseuse's black slacks the American people have had more than enough nauseating Democrat sex scandals for the time being (and by "time being" I mean eternity). If there's anything more lascivious than the Democrats' love affair with Wall Street going on in the government then we don't want to know. Seriously, we're grossed out enough.
Reading about Pelosi's sentimental journey down memory lane has put me in the mindset to remember the disgraced former Congressman Tom DeLay whose unethical actions are being mirrored today by Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy.
In 2004 Congressman DeLay was admonished by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (commonly known as the Ethics Committee) for participating in and facilitating an energy company fundraiser while energy legislation was pending. This week with financial reform legislation pending Mary Jo Kilroy held a fundraiser (actually fundraisers (plural) if you count the $30,400 per couple gala Kilroy had with Speaker Pelosi this past Saturday) to solicit PAC donations from the financial industry--and she made sure "Member of House Financial Services Committee" was printed in large font on the invitation.
It will be very telling of the ethical standards of the Pelosi Congress if the Ethics Committee fails to admonish Kilroy for her DeLay-like behavior. The good news is that even if Speaker Pelosi abuses her influence to protect Congresswoman Kilroy, her veritable Bobbsey Twin, you and I will have the opportunity to admonish Mary Jo ourselves in the election booth this coming November.
Look lively, Mary Jo! After we fire you maybe you can be on Dancing with the Stars just like your ethical role model Tom DeLay! If you can stay awake, that is....
Besides, between the John Edwards sex tape and Al Gore staining a masseuse's black slacks the American people have had more than enough nauseating Democrat sex scandals for the time being (and by "time being" I mean eternity). If there's anything more lascivious than the Democrats' love affair with Wall Street going on in the government then we don't want to know. Seriously, we're grossed out enough.
Don't want to know
Reading about Pelosi's sentimental journey down memory lane has put me in the mindset to remember the disgraced former Congressman Tom DeLay whose unethical actions are being mirrored today by Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy.
In 2004 Congressman DeLay was admonished by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (commonly known as the Ethics Committee) for participating in and facilitating an energy company fundraiser while energy legislation was pending. This week with financial reform legislation pending Mary Jo Kilroy held a fundraiser (actually fundraisers (plural) if you count the $30,400 per couple gala Kilroy had with Speaker Pelosi this past Saturday) to solicit PAC donations from the financial industry--and she made sure "Member of House Financial Services Committee" was printed in large font on the invitation.
It will be very telling of the ethical standards of the Pelosi Congress if the Ethics Committee fails to admonish Kilroy for her DeLay-like behavior. The good news is that even if Speaker Pelosi abuses her influence to protect Congresswoman Kilroy, her veritable Bobbsey Twin, you and I will have the opportunity to admonish Mary Jo ourselves in the election booth this coming November.
Look lively, Mary Jo! After we fire you maybe you can be on Dancing with the Stars just like your ethical role model Tom DeLay! If you can stay awake, that is....
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