Casey: Currency Bill Aimed At Punishing Cheating China

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) spoke to reporters ahead of a key vote later today in the Senate on a bill to crack down on alleged currency manipulation by the Chinese government.

Casey said that Chinese officials must learn that they won’t get away with devaluaing their Yuan. 

“It’s time to vote and act to let the officials in China know there are consequences to cheating,” Casey said during a conference call.

Proponents of the legislation argue that over the past decade China has manipulated its currency and maintained trade policies that have harmed the U.S economy.

“We’ve lost hundreds and hundreds of thousands of jobs in the past decade and many are attributable directly to China’s currency policies,” Casey said.

The Senate bill, which has bipartisan support, would impose tariffs on Chinese imports and allow easier investigations into currency manipulation.

Not everyone is happy with the bill, however.

Around 50 U.S industry groups have vocally protested it and the White House has yet to endorse it. 

Some are worried that the legislation would lead to a trade war with China. 

Casey, however, has no such concern. 

“China would be wise to play by the rules,” he said. “The United States still has quite a mark on China, which they’re interested in so I would hope they wouldn’t overreact to it. I am not concerned by that. I am more concerned that we do nothing.” 

Barney Frank Blasts GOP, Financial Institutions For Blocking Reform

By Vanessa Remmers

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) criticized House Republicans and the finance world Monday for opposing key aspects of financial regulatory reform.

“Some of the financial institutions sometimes sound like the 14-year-old child of divorced parents trying to play mommy against daddy, “Frank said during an appearance at the National Press Club. “I don’t think we have seen at this point any real apology.”

The Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee charged Republicans with advocating an economic Catch-22 by under-funding financial regulatory committees. Frank described Republican calls to block confirmation of heads of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unless changes are made to the agency’s structure as a “perversion of the Constitution.”

“I think many of them [financial institutions] recognize that while you may not like the rules in the first place, if you got the rules, you want them well run,” Frank said. “This [Catch-22] is coming from the ideologues in the Republican party who just believe, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that an unregulated free market works … it’s as if the last few years never happened.”

The major cause of concern for Rep. Frank, however, are arguments against risk retention on mortgage loans, which, according to the congressman, is a slippery slope to a sour economy.

“I am troubled because there is an assault now on risk retention,” Frank said. “I will acknowledge … we haven’t done it this way … it might cost us a little more … it’s disruptive … yes, it’s disruptive because we had to disrupt a rotten system which collapsed and it collapsed because risk was made to appear to disappear.”

On the international front, however, Frank said he was pleased with America’s leadership.

“We are the first nation to say hey, if you get in trouble, you’re dead,” Frank said. “We may have to minimize the mess you left behind, but if that costs us any money, it’s coming from your colleagues, it’s not coming out of the taxpayer.”

Former Pay Czar Explains Executive Compensation Process

By Kyle LaFleur- Talk Radio News Service

During an appearance Thursday before the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), former pay czar Kenneth Feinberg explained that compensation for executives at bailed out companies was based on individual executives’ abilities to avoid unnecessary risks and keep their companies competitive enough to repay TARP obligation

“When making compensation determinations, these principles demanded that I strike a balance between prohibiting excessive compensation and permitting the appropriate competitive compensation to attract talented executives capable of maximizing shareholder value,” Feinberg said in a submitted statement. 

Feinberg, whose tenure as special master for TARP executive compensation lasted from June 2009 to September of this year, was responsible for setting compensation for the “top 25” executives at seven companies including Bank of America, AIG and General Motors. 

“No one can argue against the ‘public interest,’ but in the context of executive pay, it is very difficult to define or measure,” said Congressional Oversight Panel Chairman Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.)

According to Feinberg, by following the principles, Bank of America, Citigroup and Chrysler Financial are already out of the jurisdiction of the special master. Citigroup will still fall under the rules of TARP until it repays its obligation.  

Top White House Economic Adviser Says Unemployment Likely To Stay Elevated

Travis Martinez - University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Christina Romer testified before a joint economic committee Thursday that although the nation's economy is moving into “recovery phase,” it is likely that the overall unemployment rate will remain painfully weak through 2010.

“As we [U.S. economy] enter the fourth quarter with the unemployment nearing 10 percent, it is likely to remain severely elevated,” said Romer.

Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) expressed deep concerns for the future of jobs and the labor market. During her opening statement, Maloney said that she can see signs of recovery, but it's contributing little to no help for the labor market.

“I am deeply concerned about the state of our labor market, as I have been since the start of this recession. GDP growth is of little comfort to the millions who have lost their jobs,” she said.

Romer reminded the committee that analysts have predicted that the Recovery Act will have its greatest impact on economic growth in the second and third quarters of this year. By mid-2010, she explained, fiscal stimulus will likely be contributing little to growth. However, Romer said she believes that the country has survived the low point of the recession, adding that there is concise evidence that the policies implemented by the Obama administration are working.

“If GDP growth for the third quarter is indeed positive, as anticipated, this would be strong evidence that the economic recovery is underway,” said Romer.

Three Keys to Recovery

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

“The annual budget process is really the truest test of priorities that the President and Congress engage in,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), as she, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) met to define what those priorities are for the Senate Democrats. “We want to put the middle class first by cutting taxes and making key investments to bring this country out of this recession,” she said. The three then defined what those key investments are.

Murray spoke for education, “To revive the American economy and compete in this global economy, we have to expand educational opportunities for all Americans. Investing in education is one of the most certain ways to prepare a skilled and ready workforce.”


She introduced Jaim Foster, a second grade teacher from Alexandria, Va., who described teachers facing cutbacks and uncertain employment, as well as increased responsibilities as school nurses also were cut.

Sanders said, “For decades, politicians have been giving speeches about the need for energy independence.” We send hundreds of billions of dollars a year” out of the U.S., often to more or less unfriendly countries. “Finally the American people have said ‘enough is enough, we have got to do something real,’” he said. “The time is now to break our dependence on fossil fuel, and that is what we are going to do.”

He said the expert consensus is that we must address climate change, and that we are already seeing its effects. The budget will create “millions of good paying American jobs as we move to new kinds of energy,” he said, citing geothermal, wind, solar, and biomass.

He introduced James Walker, President, American Wind Energy Association, who said the industry went from $700 million in 2004 to $17 Billion in 2008, creating over 85,000 jobs. When it reaches its projected potential of 20 percent of our total energy needs, it will be the equivalent of removing 140 million cars, and will have created over 500,000 jobs, he said.

Merkley took healthcare. “I think everyone understands how broken healthcare is,” he said, citing 50 million uninsured, many more who are under-insured, and families whose top concern is "whether or not
they can maintain health insurance". “The stress is continuous,” he said.

Merkley said that “every single year, double digit increases” in premiums cause more small businesses to stop offering health insurance. He said even larger businesses are now advocating for change.


Sanders finished with, “Ask Sen. (Judd Gregg (R-N.H.)) if he still supports the repeal of the estate tax, which would give one trillion dollars to the wealthiest three tenths of one percent. That’s OK, but when you fund energy, when you fund healthcare, when you fund education, when you put Americans to work to improve the quality of life for our families, somehow that’s a terrible idea.”