Quick Hits: Merkley takes the floor
Kari Chisholm
Just a couple of quick notes about our two U.S. Senators:
- There was a time when the tradition in the U.S. Senate that you weren't allowed to speak until you'd survived your first re-election campaign. Obviously, that's no longer an applicable rule. But it's still something to note when a new Senator finally takes to the floor - as Senator Jeff Merkley did last week. Here's the video of his first floor speech, on the housing crisis and reforming the mortgage industry:
- Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden pushed the Obama administration to demand that foreign governments participate in the bailouts of foreign banks - rather than leaving it to U.S. taxpayers to bail them out. From the Huffington Post:
"I do think these nations might recognize," freshman Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) tells the Huffington Post, "that in order for us to be most helpful down the road, we need to maintain the support of our citizens and that what we did here is completely unacceptable to American citizens." ...
It might seem self-evident that it is not the American taxpayer's obligation to bail out foreign banks, but it's happening nonetheless. "It seems strange and bizarre and not appropriate for our taxpayers to be bailing out these foreign entities. It seems like the foreign [central] banks should be involved in that," says Merkley.
- Senator Wyden has weighed in on the nomination of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) as HHS Secretary. From the AP:
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a Finance Committee member, said Sebelius faces "a two-part drill" this week and predicted "a very positive reaction in both committees and rapid confirmation."
"I don't see any show-stopper issues on the horizon," said Wyden.
- And finally, on Monday, Senator Merkley participated in a live-blog discussion over at Crooks & Liars.
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1:29 a.m.
Mar 31, '09
[Full disclosure: My firm built the campaign websites for both Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden. I speak only for myself.]
Mar 31, '09
So, is the point that, because the US constantly screws with other peoples' financial systems, when you cock it up they should pitch in with the solution? Sounds like someone assaulting a woman and when he starts to have a coronary finds it problematic that she didn't start CPR.
Anything to keep from saying that Joe Average American made willfully dumb decisions and has to live with it. You're really kind of lacking that cultural "you are here" arrow, aren't you?
10:42 p.m.
Mar 31, '09
For the record, and FWIW, credit default swaps were invented in London, by a team working at JP Morgan.
From the Guardian UK:
Which isn't to say that it wasn't American greed that took a reasonable concept and blew it up into garguantuan proportions. Like most things.
Apr 1, '09
Not dismissing your well argued position outright, Kari, but wasn't it Thatcher via Freedman that brought that consciousness to peri-Italian, late '70s Britain? I still see Raygun's S&L dereg as the first shot in the contemporary war. Maybe it's a case of post hoc ergo propter hoc, but the Brit position seemed to solidify and change at just that point.
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