The Federal Reserve Fight in the Senate....

Over the last few months, there has been a growing movement to bring transparency and new levels of accountability to the US Federal Reserve. Congressman Ron Paul has been leading the fight in the House of Representatives. There’s no champion fighting in the US Senate to bring accountability to the Federal Reserve, but that might change if one Kentucky senatorial candidate gets elected. Currently in the U.S. Senate, there’s a piece of legislation similar to Ron Paul’s H.R. 1207 which would bring new levels of accountability to the Federal Reserve by allowing the GAO to audit the Fed. The legislation, S.604: The Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009, introduced by Bernie Sanders of Vermont, currently has 23 cosponsors. Unfortunately, the legislation is currently sitting in committee and hasn’t gained much momentum...Link

They Love Him..................

As his size 10s spun through the air towards George W Bush, Muntazer al-Zaidi – the man the world now knows as the shoe-thrower – was bracing for an American bullet. "He thought the secret service was going to shoot him," says Zaidi's younger brother, Maitham. "He expected that, and he was not afraid to die." Zaidi's actions during the former US president's swansong visit to Iraq last December have not stopped reverberating in the nine months since. Next Monday, when the journalist walks out of prison, his 10 raging seconds, which came to define his country's last six miserable years, are set to take on a new life even more dramatic than the opening act...Link

Taxing the Poor.....

President Barack Obama hinted he could support a “sin tax” on fizzy drinks to help lower high rates of US obesity, but admitted it would be an uphill battle against corporate and economic interests. “I actually think it’s an idea that we should be exploring,” Obama said in the forthcoming issue of Men’s Health, regarding potential taxes levied on soft drinks such as colas and other sugar-filled products...Link

Lets be honest, a tax like this will not slow anybody soda consumption. Just like the cigarette tax doesn't slow people smoking habits. Poor people get hit the hardest by taxes like this.

The Baucus Plan..............

Families who fail to get health insurance could be fined up to $3,800 under a health care reform plan proposed by a top Senate negotiator. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is leading talks among the "Gang of Six" senators to hammer out a bipartisan compromise, offered what he described on Tuesday as a "framework" and not a "final product." But the detailed proposal comes just days ahead of a self-imposed Sept. 15 deadline for such a deal. Baucus is pushing his committee members hard to hammer out a bill, and those details come as strong suggestions. Baucus has set a deadline of 10 a.m. Wednesday morning for fellow members of the bipartisan group to offer "specific proposals" for a compromise bill. He made clear "time is running out" to get a deal...Link

Alligator Attacks Dog...............

Gold returns back above $1,000.............

The move could be seen as a sign that investors believe the worst of the global recession is over and are worried about inflation. Others who are less convinced about the strength of the recovery are moving into gold, which is usually sought as a haven from economic turmoil. Gold - seen as an attractive investment in times of inflation - has risen 13.6% in value this year...Link

America and Its Deficits.......................

It was one of Dick Cheney's more memorable lines. "Deficits don't matter," he told Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in 2002. Later, after O'Neill made the conversation public, Cheney elaborated that he meant this "in a political context," not an economic one. But for most of Cheney's time as Vice President, the claim held up pretty well in both contexts. Over O'Neill's objections — he'd be gone soon anyway — the Bush Administration and Congress abandoned a bipartisan commitment to fiscal prudence that had held sway since the early 1990s and went back to running chronic deficits. The result was a growing economy and a second term for George W. Bush...Link