Month: March 2010

"Although [the Volcker rule] will never be implemented, we need to be honest about proprietary trading. I spent 25 years as a prop trader, many on this site have spent decades at it and we KNOW – although we never admit to it – what it does to markets.

We want volatility, that's the lifesblood — the key to making real dough and when we have control of the product as well as the mechanism of the trade — well, honey — that's the best, we are unstoppable and can ratchet those trades back and forth every day and plan to buy boats and big houses.

Anyone in the industry who doesn't make the connection of prop trading with wildly overpriced assets, boom/busts, huge leverage, increased risks — many systemic — and COLLAPSES and CRISES — is not making the leaps between obvious cause and effect here. And WE should, because we have been engaged in it and know that it's true.Meanwhile, nothing will change, so I'm buying more Morgan Stanley — that's also the truth.Position: MS" – Daniel Dicker, Senior Contributor, TheStreet.com.

The story of Ireland's cardinal Brady is just beginning to permeate the US MSM. Yesterday, for the first time, he issued what seemed to be a heartfelt apology for once ordering two children to keep silent after they were sexually assaulted by a priest. But abuse survivors remain adamant he should resign, and one of his key defenders, Monsignor Maurice Dooley, yesterday threw gasoline on the fire with remarks on BBC Ulster. Asked whether he would report sex abuse by a priest today, the Monsignor said:

"I would not tell anyone. That is his responsibility. I am considering only my responsibility. My responsibility is to maintain the confidentiality of information which I had been given under the contract of confidentiality. There must be somebody else aware of what he is up to, and he could be stopped. It is not my function. I would tell (the priest) to stop abusing children. But I am not going to go to the police or social services in order to betray the trust he has put in me."

Dooley wrote the same in an op-ed in the Independent of Ireland. In Ulster, the following is reported today:

The Catholic Church faced further allegations of covering up child sex abuse in Ireland today after claims that a girl abused by a priest was sworn to secrecy in an out-of-court settlement as recently as 2000. The victim went public with her claims that she was abused over a 10-year period by an unnamed priest, but said she was bound to secrecy in a legal deal which involved the Bishop of Derry Seamus Hegarty.

The latest case involves a woman who said that a decade of abuse by a priest who had befriended her family began in 1979. She told her parents only on the day of her 18th birthday after becoming overwhelmed by events. A spokesman for Bishop Hegarty said today he was aware of the case, but would not be commenting until a detailed review of the file had been carried out.

Columns like this one are popping up:

A good friend of mine is one of them. She is a young woman who has survived an appalling start in life — and the most horrific abuse — to go on and build a real future for herself and her family.

She is utterly magnificent. And only occasionally does she allow herself to be swept back to thinking about the horror of her childhood. Inevitably she was forced to relive that again this week. I imagine the same has been true for most victims.

Where does all this end?

There is no doubt that the secondary victims of the rogue priests include the Church itself and the vast overwhelming majority of the good men and women who serve within it. The decent majority have been stained by the crimes of an evil minority.

Kagan claimed yesterday that the Obama administration is snubbing allies. In response to this line of argument, Larison hits the nail on the head:

One of the most irritating memes in conservative commentary these days is the idea that Obama subverts allies and aids rivals. They have been pushing this one right from the beginning. This is a pretty blatant accusation of treachery and/or naivete, and it isn’t true. Naturally, this latest quarrel with Israel has become another entry on the indictment against Obama for the supposed “squeeze” he puts on allies. The only trouble with this argument is that there is no real squeeze. There is a lot of talk that I assume everyone involved knows will lead to nothing. It’s as if all of the parties know that the entire quarrel is a charade, but now that it has started it has to be played out.

Incredibly, despite the absence of any meaningful consequences for Netanyahu’s government from Washington, the administration is supposedly being very “hard” on Israel while it is being equally “soft” on Iran. There is an Iran gasoline embargo bill pending in Congress, where it has overwhelming support, and it seems unlikely that Obama would veto it if the bill came to his desk. On the other hand, the administration is throwing a public fit over the treatment of the Vice President during his visit to Israel and not doing much more than that. No honest person could conclude from this that it is Israel that has been getting the squeeze.

Ezra Klein unpacks the CBO score:

The bill will cost $940 billion over the first 10 years and reduce the deficit by $130 billion during that period. In the second 10 years — so, 2020 to 2029 — it will reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion. The legislation will cover 32 million Americans, or 95 percent of the legal population. To put this in context, that's more deficit reduction than either the House or Senate bill, and more coverage than the Senate bill.

Hotline:

The bill is now headed to the House Rules Committee, where Dems will finalize their options for moving forward. Floor action is expected on Sunday, 72  hours after the bill gets posted online.

This is what I live in fear of. And I am so much more privileged than almost all those who will get this kind of call from their insurance company.

Ashraf Zeitoon studies a survey of Arab youth:

Another surprising finding was that Arab youth prioritize living in a democratic country over everything else. 99 percent of those interviewed in the survey in Kuwait revealed that living in a democracy was either "very important" or "somewhat important", while Egypt followed with the second highest at 98 percent and the UAE was third at 96 percent.

Imagine if the US could help establish a genuine democracy on the West Bank. Not easy – but surely easier than Iraq! I believe we are at a pivotal moment – for the US to help save Israel and turn the Jihadist dynamic around. It probably won't happen in Iraq … but in Palestine? Talk about transformational.

This is partly what Obama was elected for. It's good for Israel, good for the US and good for the global war against Jihadist terrorism. And, yes, it's also just.

Good news for the president:

Dem source: CBO score says bill cuts deficit by $130 bill in first 10, $1.2 trill in second 10. Costs $940 billion in first.

The head of the Catholic Health Association says it's pro-life enough for her:

The insurance reforms will make the lives of millions more secure, and their coverage more affordable. The reforms will eventually make affordable health insurance available to 31 million of the 47 million Americans currently without coverage.

CHA has a major concern on life issues. We said there could not be any federal funding for abortions and there had to be strong funding for maternity care, especially for vulnerable women. The bill now being considered allows people buying insurance through an exchange to use federal dollars in the form of tax credits and their own dollars to buy a policy that covers their health care. If they choose a policy with abortion coverage, then they must write a separate personal check for the cost of that coverage.

There is a requirement that the insurance companies be audited annually to assure that the payment for abortion coverage fully covers the administrative and clinical costs, that the payment is held in a separate account from other premiums, and that there are no federal dollars used.

In addition, there is a wonderful provision in the bill that provides $250 million over 10 years to pay for counseling, education, job training and housing for vulnerable women who are pregnant or parenting. Another provision provides a substantial increase in the adoption tax credit and funding for adoption assistance programs.

An association of nuns makes the Catholic case:

Dear Members of Congress:

We write to urge you to cast a life-affirming “yes” vote when the Senate health care bill (H.R. 3590) comes to the floor of the House for a vote as early as this week. We join the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), which represents 1,200 Catholic sponsors, systems, facilities and related organizations, in saying: the time is now for health reform AND the Senate bill is a good way forward.

As the heads of major Catholic women’s religious order in the United States, we represent 59,000 Catholic Sisters in the United States who respond to needs of people in many ways. Among our other ministries we are responsible for running many of our nation’s hospital systems as well as free clinics throughout the country.

We have witnessed firsthand the impact of our national health care crisis, particularly its impact on women, children and people who are poor. We see the toll on families who have delayed seeking care due to a lack of health insurance coverage or lack of funds with which to pay high deductibles and co-pays. We have counseled and prayed with men, women and children who have been denied health care coverage by insurance companies. We have witnessed early and avoidable deaths because of delayed medical treatment.

The health care bill that has been passed by the Senate and that will be voted on by the House will expand coverage to over 30 million uninsured Americans. While it is an imperfect measure, it is a crucial next step in realizing health care for all. It will invest in preventative care. It will bar insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. It will make crucial investments in community health centers that largely serve poor women and children. And despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions. It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments – $250 million – in support of pregnant women.

This is the REAL pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it.

Congress must act. We are asking every member of our community to contact their congressional representatives this week. In this Lenten time, we have launched nationwide prayer vigils for health care reform. We are praying for those who currently lack health care. We are praying for the nearly 45,000 who will lose their lives this year if Congress fails to act. We are also praying for you and your fellow Members of Congress as you complete your work in the coming days. For us, this health care reform is a faith mandate for life and dignity of all of our people.

We urge you to vote “yes” for life by voting yes for health care reform in H.R. 3590.

"When I'm drafting right to life language, I don't call up the nuns." – Bart Stupak, who says he takes instructions from Bishops and Focus On The Family.