Saturday, May 08, 2010

10 Iraqis reported dead today

Yahya Barzanji (AP) reports protesters took to to the streets in Sulaimaniyah today to decry the kidnapping and murder of Sardasht Osman, the Iraqi journalist and college student. Barzanji quotes Kurdish journalists Riben Hirdi at the protest stating, "Kurdish security services want to instill fear in us by killing the journalists and forcing them to stop their writings, but their attempts will fail." Student Saman Karim declared, "They claim democracy and security . . . while a journalist is kidnapped and murdered in broad daylight." The photo accompanying the report, features a large crowd and the three in front carry signs. One sign displays a photo of Sardasht while another is a drawing of a gun and a pen or pencil. The gun has a large "X" over it.


Saad Abdul-Kadir (AP) reports an Amirl home bombing which claimed the life of a police officer, "his mother and one other resident" while Samarra saw the discovery of 2 corpses (police officers) today. Reuters adds 1 woman was shot dead in a Mosul butcher shop, a Baghdad sticky bombing which claimed the life of 1 soldier, a Sulaiman Pek home bombing which claimed the life of "a landlord and his wife," 1 suspect killed in Baghdad by security forces, a Mosul roadside bombing injured two people, and, dropping back to Friday, a Baghdad roadside bombing injured nine people, 1 police officer shot dead in Mosul and 1 police official shot dead in Sadr City.

In other news of violence today, Alya Jean Yackley, Shamal Agrawi and Myra MacDonald (Reuters) report the Turkish military bombed northern Iraq and they state they killed 5 PKK rebels.

Thursday, Hussain al-Shahristani, Minister of Oil, declared there would be a September 1st auction on licenses to gas fields. The same day, while longing for more billions, the Oil Minister (the Oil Minister?) declared that Iraq could not continue to make financial reparations to Iraq. AFP reports he claims the the $41.8 billion the UN ordered Iraq to pay for their assault on Kuwait.

In the US, Military Families Speak Out issued the following:


May Action Alert

Dear Members and Supporters of Military Families Speak Out,

May is a very important month this year! This is an opportunity in the year when the general public and the media are "open" to hear your voices and understand our goal - bring our troops home now and take care of them when they return.

The emotional and physical impacts of these wars have left indelible marks on all of your lives - the financial costs staggering. Your stories will move others to join us and speak out.

We must not lose this opportunity to share with the American public - who are so removed from the war experiences - a reality check. Please speak out. Your voices are critical.

This email contains information about several important opportunities to raise our voices against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Your participation is vital!

MOTHER'S DAY -- SUNDAY MAY 9TH


As we all know, Sunday May 9th is Mothers Day - what many people don't know is that Mothers Day originated as a way to speak out against the casualties and violence of the Civil War. It reminds people that there are currently two senseless wars going on! It provides an opportunity for public discussion and education about the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Please consider:

Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. See an MFSO Gold Star mother, Celeste Zappala's letter to the editor and draw from it as an inspiration and example!

Find local activities to bring the anti-war message to. Lots of local groups host events for mothers day, and you can bring the anti-war message to them.

Reach out to other MFSO members. One of the most important functions of MFSO is the support we give each other - during deployments, after our loved ones have returned, and in the tragic circumstances of casualties and injuries. If you would like to be in touch with other MFSO members to offer or receive support, please contact MFSO Organizer Nikki Morse at nikki@mfso.org.

MCGOVERN/FEINGOLD BILL AND MAY SUPPLEMENTAL
CALL IN WEEK, MAY 10TH - 14TH

It only takes 5 minutes and your call DOES make a difference!

In coalition with several National organizations, we call on our legislators to take two vital actions that are a strong start to bringing our troops home and defunding of the wars that are risking our truest national treasure.

Please call you Congressman and Senators to cosponsor the Feingold/McGovern Bills (Senate Bill S. 3197 and House Bill H.R. 50150 calling for troop withdrawal. To see if your Rep is a sponsor and read the text of the bill, go here.

AND

Tell your Senators and Representatives to vote against the upcoming $33 billion supplemental and fully fund the swift and safe removal of all of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.


It is very important that both messages get across
- the McGovern bill is an important step forward, but Congress must also vote against funding that continues the wars and occupation, and instead support the swift and safe removal of all our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Call today! Congressional Hotline is 202-224-3121

To identify your Congressmen and Senator go to http://www.contactingthecongress.org/.

Your message to Congress:

"As your constituent and military family member (or as a military family supporter) I urge you to vote against the $33 billion supplementary spending bill to pay for the escalation of troops in Afghanistan and the continuation of this war and occupation!

I also want you to co-sponsor McGovern's H.R. 5015 and Feingold's S 3197 that is an enforceable start to withdrawal from Afghanistan. I want you to do everything you can to insist that President Obama develop a rapid, real and complete plan to bring our troops home now."

Next steps:

Please email mfso@mfso.org and let us know you made your calls.

Connect with us on Facebook.

For more ideas and ways to participate, contact MFSO Organizer Nikki Morse at nikki@mfso.org.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, MAY 29TH - 31ST
Memorial Day represents a somber time to recognize the human cost of war. Many MFSO chapters and members participate in local activities with this message. This year it will also mark an opportunity to draw a connection between the financial and human cost of war, as May 30th the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is projected to top $1 trillion dollars.

We are looking for ways to make these connections - if you are interested in being part of the planning, please contact MFSO Organizer Nikki Morse at nikki@mfso.org

For more information about Military Families Speak Out, please visit: http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=URLTracker&cmd=track&j=319287087&u=3586587; for more information about Gold Star Families Speak Out, please see http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=URLTracker&cmd=track&j=319287087&u=3586588




The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

















Burial, deployment

This afternoon, friends and family of Sgt Anthony O. Magee gathered at the Shady Grover Baptist Church in Eastabuchie for his funeral. Tim Doherty and La Tonya Freliz (Clarion-Ledger) report:

Magee died April 27 from wounds suffered three days earlier when his unit came under indirect fire at Contingency Operating Base Kasul in Iskandariyah, Iraq. He was a member of the United States Army's 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Ga.
Magee is the second soldier from the Hattiesburg area killed in a 20-day span during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. William Anthony Blount, 21, of Petal was killed April 7 by a roadside explosive device in Mosul, Iraq.


Hattiesburg American reports
, "During the ceremony, letters from members of Magee's unit were read aloud, and Magee's family were presented with several awards given to Magee for his service, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart."

Meanwhile Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports, "The new commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division and 800 soldiers from Schofield Barracks will be deploying to Iraq this year." William Cole (Honolulu Advertiser) adds, "In late June, a deployment ceremony is scheduled to be held for 4,300 Schofield soldiers with the Stryker Brigade who are expected to see duty in northern Iraq."

The following community sites -- plus Antiwar.com and Lily Tomlin -- updated last night and today:


And go to BRussels Tribunal, for much information -- I'm pulling the excerpt because it's ruining the entire site. It's knocking out links not only in this entry but in all entries displayed on the site.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.














thomas friedman is a great man






oh boy it never ends







Friday, May 07, 2010

Iraq snapshot

Friday, May 7, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, is it over for Allawi, Amnesty calls out the killers of Sardasht Osman, the VA can't meet deadlines -- even Congressionally mandated ones -- even ones signed off on by the President -- and thinks seven months late with a report (that was finished in September) is no big deal, and more.
 
Yesterday Iraqi journalist Sardasht Osman's corpse was discovered.  Today Sam Dagher covers it in "Abducted Kurdish Journalist in Iraq Is Found Dead" (New York Times). He is only one of many journalists kidnapped and/or killed all over the world.  So people need to think when they speak.  Critics?  No, the press or the pompous who consider themselves the press.  Take the stammering idiot James Kitfield of National Journal who makes an ass out of himself every time he opens his mouth to offer another series of incomplete, unfinished sentences.  Today he appeared on  The Diane Rehm Show (NPR) and uttered a series of phrases and run on thoughts including, "Also -- These guys -- The drone program as we all know has been increased dramatically, we've been killing a lot of these guys."  If you didn't just get offended, let's let him continue.  "We killed . . ." "We thought we got . . ."  Jimmy Kit, you're in the US military?  Now it's offensive that a journalist wouldn't know the large number of civilians killed in Pakistan by Barack's drones.  That's offensive.  But James is stupid -- listen to flop that mouth around -- and that's a given.  But does the world really need his 'enlisting' right now?  Are, for example, US reporters in many countries not seen as CIA or working for the government? 
 
Is James Kitfield not aware that the National Movement for the Resortation of Pakistani Sovereignty made that (false) claim against Daniel Pearl, used that as their 'justification' for kidnapping him and killing him?  The world really can't afford James Kitfield's stupidity but we'll all adjust some way.  Journalism cannot afford Kitfield's stupidity.  When Jimmy Kit opens his stupid mouth and starts blathering on about "we killed" or "we did," he perpetuates the myth that the press is not free and that it operates under the direction of the US government and spies for the US government.  James Kitfield needs to keep his mouth shut if he can't stop damaging the profession.  This is not about a media critique this is about US reporters being in hostile environments around the world.  Kitfield needs to learn to present objectively and needs to stop speaking of "we."  Every time he pulls that nonsense, he throws gasoline on already smouldering fire.
 
USA Today's Susan Page guest-hosted The Diane Rehm Show today and Iraq was raised in the second hour with the panel which consisted of Kitfield, Michele Kelemen (NPR) and David Sanger (New York Times).
 
Susan Page: We talked about the effort to build a government in Great Britian, let's talk about what's happening in Iraq.  The two largest Shi'ite parties, the two largest Shi'ites blocs are trying to get together and form a new government. The US does not see this as necessarily a good thing.  David, why?
 
 
David E. Sanger: They don't because their biggest concern here is that the Sunni minority is going to feel even more frozen out and you would end up in the kind of violence that we saw happen in 2006, 2007, until the surge began to tamp that down. So the idea was build an inclusive government. And if the Shi'ites actually stopped fighting each other and start once again thinking of how they would keep the Sunni out of the government, uh, then you've got basically all of the ingredients for an eruption. Now the next question we ask then is how does that effect the withdrawal schedule for the US? And the answer we get back is: "Not at all. At this point, the Iraqis have to sort this one out themselves and a US presence isn't going to speed this up or slow that down."
 
Susan Page: So even if there were signs of civil -- the kind of civil unrest that we've seen less of in Iraq, this would not prompt the US to say, "Well we better stay there for awhile and provide some stability." 
 
James Kitfield: They say it would not. I think the pressure to do so would be too great.
 
Susan Page: What do you think?
 
James Kitfield: I was just recently in Iraq and talked to-to the military on this. There's two jumping off points since April's already passed where they could put the brakes on this because it's a very complicated rotation scheme.  You have to have forces trained if you're going to keep people on the ground longer than anticipated it effects the entire rotation cycle -- in-in basically June. So they have to make their minds up pretty quick or else this withdrawal is going to, you know,  go apace as we've seen and its 50,000 troops out of there by August 30th. I will say what they're trying -- You know -- I think they would clearly -- The Americans would clearly rather have Allawi who had the most number -- And he's backed by the Sunnis --The Iraqiya Party -- He's backed by the Sunnis -- They would like to see him part of a coalition. But they're making the point to the Sunnis -- Is that -- "Look, you're going to be a very powerful party in opposition that that's the way it ends up.  You're going to have a lot of seats. And that's going to force them to probably give you some ministries. So it's not like they're going to totally freeze out the Sunnis. They won a lot of the -- They won 91 seats in the Parliament.  So that's the message the Americans are trying to send the Sunnis. But clearly, if Allawi is frozen out of the coalition there will be hard feelings on the part of the Sunnis.
 
The post-election madness. Rania El Gamal and Suadad al-Salhy (Reuters) report that the "alliance between Iraq's two main Shi'ite political coalitions to form the next government is far from concluded, with potentially divisive issues such as the nomination of a prime minister still unresolved." Oliver August (Times of London) observes, "Before the election, and even after it, there were hopes that a cross-sectarian alliance might bridge the divide. But a successful intervention by the Iranian Government prevented that. Many Shia leaders owe allegiance, and in some cases their position, to Tehran."   Last Saturday, Lara Jakes (AP) reported that Hoshiyar Zebari (Iraq's Foreign Minister) has said the US should not be standing by observing but instead urging a solution to the post-election dispute in Iraq. He accused the Barack Obama administration of being more focused on drawdown deadlines than on the state of Iraq. Zebari was calling for help and doing so publicly. You can't get much more clear than that.  Despite calls for US involvement from Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, the US did nothing as Michael Young (Lebanon's Daily Star):               

Instead, US officials took great pride in saying that they had not interfered in the election process. What, precisely, was the thinking here? That America would be rewarded by some cosmic moral supreme court? That Iran and Syria would gasp at American uprightness and refrain from exploiting Iraq for their own purposes? Does the administration imagine that international politics unfolds like a Frank Capra film, so that like Mr. Smith in Washington the world would dissolve into tears of affection for Mr. Obama in Iraq?                         
Once the Iraqi elections ended, it was plain what the US should have done, or tried to do. A coalition government between Maliki and the front-runner Ayad Allawi was the right way to go. It would have helped return the Sunnis to Iraqi political life, while profiting from the Shiite split, to Iran's disadvantage. The priority should have been to keep Maliki away from the Iranians, whom the prime minister was never very close to anyway. A shotgun wedding between Maliki and Allawi might have failed, their conflicting ambitions making this difficult. Yet both could have eventually seen an interest in following through, since they would have thus marginalized their communal rivals. Here was a moment when Barack Obama's personal involvement was essential. But what did the US do? Nothing.
 
 
And the US did nothing. It offered no leadership. It just sat on the sidelines. Barack Obama is not in Iraq. Christopher Hill is. He is supposed to be the US Ambassador to Iraq. He's done a lousy job and the administration wishes they'd moved to replace him sooner (he's going bye-bye in a few months). But that's really too damn bad.

Republican objections about Hill were valid when they were based on the fact that he said one thing to your face and then did another behind your back. His personnel file goes on and on about just that. It's Barack's fault and it's the Senate Democrats fault. They should have known what he was. He's done a lousy job. And Iraq was already fragile. He's only made it worse with his dithering and his stupidity and his inability to grasp even the basic issues such as Kirkuk. He couldn't even grasp Kirkuk in his Senate confirmation hearing -- despite the fact that he'd been tutored on it [The March 25, 2009 confirmation hearing was covered in  that day's snapshot and the March 26, 2009 snapshots ].

 
Some missed the point in real time.  Such as Tom Ricks' sidekick Spencer Akerman (Washington Independent) who whined the following before the confirmation hearing, "But this is one of the most important U.S. diplomatic postings in the world. It should have an ambassador filling it already."  Poor Spency, fired from The New Republic and still a fool.  It "is one of the most important U.S. diplomatic postings in the world" but that didn't mean that it should have someone "filling it already" -- it meant that it should have someone qualified filling the position. 
 
Ryan Crocker had already said he would stay on a bit longer (and he did).  There was no big rush.  And there was no issue of "I can't get along with Crocker!"  Ryan Crocker was against the Iraq invasion.  He and Barack should have gotten along just fine.  There was a qualified person in the position ready to stay on for as long as needed because he realized how important the post was.  Chris Hill was the best Barack could do?  Unfamiliar with the region, unfamiliar with the culture, unfamiliar with the history, unfamiliar with the culture and prone to morning peaks and afternoon spirals, Hill was the best choice?  Were that actually true, it would be very frightening.

Iraq was not a success when Hill (finally) got to Baghdad. But he's leaving it worse than it was when he got there and the decay happened on his watch because he didn't know what he was doing. When the fool occasionally asked basic questions about protocol, he'd blow off the advice he was given. There's no way to spin it for Barack. Chris Hill is a disaster.
 
And Allawi?  Ayad Allawi's slate won the most seat in the Parliament.  Now Iraqiya finds itself shut out of the process. Kitfield's idea that some ministries might be awarded is ridiculous.  Not that they might be.  It could happen.  But with few exceptions, the ministries are a joke.  They're actually pretty much all a joke but some come with their own militias.  Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet -- like his brain -- was never full.  The Ministries aren't that important and they don't have a great deal of independence.  Add in that if you're truly independent, you usually end up fast tracked into the US because you've got death threats and accusations against you.  There is no independence. So what of Allawi?  Muhammad Ashour (Niqash) believes Allawi will now have to "settle for a lower-ranking ministerial portfoilo".  Paul Schemm (AP) reports that Ayad Allawi has returned to Iraq and is stating the Iraqiya Party has first shot at forming the government due to the number of seats it won in the March 7th election. Schemm notes that the Kurds state they are going with al-Maliki.  The Kurds state that.  It's not reality.  Allawi could get the block by promising to deliver to the KRG what they've long wanted -- as anyone observing the last few years should be aware.
 
In addition, once the Baghdad recounts are over, MPs are sworn in.  Once sworn in, they're in.  Meaning?
 
There are 325 seats, 163 needed to form the government.  After an MP is sworn in, they're in.  If the new prime minister has not yet been named at that point, any MP can switch to whatever party they want for whatever reward (or bribe) they want.  It's in the MPs interest to delay the process because that allows them to make demands for the people they represent and/or themselves.  Should an MP switch before they're sworn into the Parliament, they could be stripped of their seat and replaced with someone else from their party.  After they've taken office, they're in.
 
As the Iraqi National Alliance and State Of Law attempt to figure out what to do next, it is  likely that the naming of the prime minister may not take place quickly.
 
In some of today's reported violence, Reuters notes a Tikrit car bombing which injured eleven people, an Abu Ghraib car bombing which claimed 1 life and left two people injured, an armed attack in Rashad resulted in 3 dead and four injured and, dropping back to last night, 1 'suspect' was killed in Ramadi.
 
Tuesday's snapshot noted the plans to turn Baghdad into a walled-in-city -- apparently Nouri is The Last Emperor and the Green Zone is being redubbed The Forbidden City. Al Jazeera reports today that the fence "will be made of concrete and topped by security cameras" and -- Nouri's not given up on that moat! -- in areas where The Grand Wall Of Maliki will interfere with farming, they will resort to trenches instead. Construction of the fence is said to take at least a year.
 
Returning to the kidnapping and murder of 23-year-old Iraqi journalist Sardasht Osman whose body was discovered yesterday, Amnesty International issued the following
 
The Kurdistan Regional Government must take immediate steps to investigate the abduction and murder earlier this week of Sardasht Osman, 23, a university student who worked as a journalist for the Ashtiname newspaper in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. His abduction and murder follows a spate of other attacks on journalists and other critics of the KRG's two main political parties in recent years for which no-one has been brought to justice.                

Sardasht Osman, a final-year student at Erbil's University of Salaheddin, was abducted outside the university on 4 May by a group of unidentified armed men. They forced him into a car and drove away. He was not seen alive again. His body was found in Mosul yesterday morning. He had been murdered.                

Prior to his death, Mr Osman wrote articles for Ashtiname newspaper in Erbil, and other publications. According to Kurdish media websites, he had recently published an article in Ashtiname critical of a senior Kurdish political figure following which, according to his brother, Bashdar, he received anonymous threats to his mobile phone.       

It appears that his abduction and murder may be the latest in a series of attacks carried out against independent journalists and other critics of the KRG authorities in recent years. There is an emerging pattern of attacks on those who have criticised leading members and officials of the two main political parties in the Kurdistan Region - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), headed by Mas'oud Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), headed by Jalal Talabani - which jointly form the KRG. The attacks, mostly physical assaults but including some killings, have generally been carried out by unidentified men in plain clothes who are widely suspected of being agents of or connected to the Parastin and Zanyari, the party security and intelligence organs of, respectively, the KDP and the PUK.                         
 
Amnesty is calling on the KRG authorities to institute immediately a thorough, independent investigation into the abduction and murder of Sardasht Osman and other attacks on journalists and others in the Kurdistan Region and areas under the effective control of  the KRG, and for those responsible to be brought to justice in full conformity with international law
 
 
Turning to the US where a subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing entitled "Quality v. Quantity: Examining the Veterans Benefits Administration's Employee Work Credit and Management Systems."  As Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Chair John Hall noted, "One of our longer titles of a hearing."  The Subcommittee heard from three panels.  The first panel was composed of CNA's Eric Christensen.  Why?
 
Chair John Hall: We also intended for today's hearing to provide an opportunity to examine a Congressionally-mandated report on the VBA's work credit and management system outlined in legislation that I developed and sponsored during the 110th Congress, the Veterans Disability Benefits Claims Modernization Act of 2008, HR 5892, codified in Public Law 110-389. The goal of this legislation, among other things, was to provide VBA with a valuable roadmap to assess and improve its work credit and management systems to produce better claims outcomes for our veterans.  The deadline for this report was October 31, 2009 and I note that we have yet to receive it. However, VA has authorized its independent research contractor that was retained to complete this report, the Center for Naval Analyses to testify before us today concerning a summary of the report's findings and recommendations.  VA advised the Subcommittee that the report is still under review by the agency and OMB and that it should be transmitted to Congress soon.  We look forward to hearing today when this report will be ready and submitted to Congress, and getting a better understanding of why it has not yet been delivered.
 
The above was in his opening remarks.  We'll note this exchange that took place during questioning.
 
Subcommittee Chair John Hall:  Thank you and can you give us any insight into why the VA has been unable to release the study that was made by CNA which I believe you said was completed in September?
 
Eric Christensen: That's correct. We completed it in September and delivered it to VBA per our contract. I cannot speak for VA in terms of why they have not provided it to you.
 
CNA completed the report in September 2009.  Congress was ordered to report on that study and the report was due October 31, 2009.  It is now May 2010 and the report has not been made to Congress.  Representing the VA was Diana M. Rubens (on the third panel), the Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations. This is what she stated in her opening remarks:
 
As the Subcommittee is fully aware, Public Law 110-389 required the Secretary [of the VA] to initiate a stufy of the effectiveness of the VBA's employee work credit to evaluate a more effective means of improving disability claims processing performance.  I apologize for the late delivery as we experienced delays in both the initiation of that study and the completion of that concurrence process. I do anticipate that that will be delivered shortly and I'm happy to be available for any questions you have upon review of that study.
 
She went on to claim that CNA and VBA were similar in their analysis.  Were that correct, why would it take so long to release a report on the study?  It will be "delivered shortly" -- she anticipates.  In the written version of her opening statment (what will make it into the record over her verbal response quoted above), she's stating "we expect to deliver [the report] in the near future."
 
It all sounds like "Check's in the mail."  And what is it with the VA that they can get anything right these days?  They can't make fall 2009 payments on time (they just finished -- or supposedly 'finished' -- there may be some veterans still waiting) and they can't turn in a report that was due October 31, 2009.  Is Eric Shinseki unable to provide leadership and oversight to the department?  If so, then a new VA Secretary may be needed.  How does a department head not notice that a report legally due to Congress no later than October 31st still hasn't been delivered 7 months later?
 
We'll note this exchange from the hearing:
 
Subcommittee Chair John Hall: Thank you Ms. Rubens, could you please explain, first of all, what has delayed the transmission of the report outlined in PL 110-389?  And when you said "shortly," what does that mean? When will we receive that report?
 
Diana M. Rubens: Yes, sir. I, uh, I will tell you that, uh, this study was one of eleven in 110-389.  As we worked to get the studies all engaged, it took us longer than it should have.  It was an unexcusable delay.  Uhm.  That was enacted in October. It took us until March -- you heard Mr. Christensen say we engaged them in March [2009] and so that was an inexcusable delay. Uh, as I understand it and I spent the last couple of days trying to ascertain just where it is.  The concurrence process through VA, VBA and working with OMB is closer to the end of that process than the beginning.  And we've engaged in some ongoing discussions to ensure that everybody that's looking at it, if you will, outside of VBS recognize that we are late.
 
Subcommittee Chair John Hall: Well if the report was done in September [2009], are you changing the report? Is it being modified or are you just reading it before we get to read it?
 
Diana Rubens: I will tell you that I think we were reading it before you get to read it and the concurrence process over the course of October, November and December was painfully protracted. It wasn't so much that we're editing or changing, I think it's making sure that we understand.  And unfortunately  not staying on top of the concurrence process to move it along.
 
Subcommittee Chair John Hall:  Well I would appreciate receiving it within what I would consider to be a reasonable time -- like the next week.  I see no reason why a report that was paid for by the tax payer, that was required by this Congress and by this Committee and that was completed last September by an outside contractor should be sitting somewhere at VA -- and for no good reason that I've been told -- other than, it being reviewed and 'concurred' upon -- whatever that may mean -- has not been shared with us. And I think it's time.
 
Diana Rubens:  Yes, sir.
 
That was far from VA's only problem.  Another example arose in the hearing.
 
Subcommittee Chair John Hall: As of May 1st of this year, there are over 87,000 compensation claims pending before the New York RO [Regional Office], nearly half of which have been waiting for over 125 days. What can you tell my New York area veterans and those in other Congressional districts about the work that's being done to reform the systems so that the staff -- both line staff and managers alike -- focus on improving quality and still get the benefits to the veterans in a timely manner?
 
Diana Rubens: Yes, sir.  Specifically, the New York -- As you know, we've got a new management team in the New York Regional Office. I'm very excited about their innovation approach, their collaboration approach that they've taken on on their own already with the local medical centers to ensure that we get, uh, timely, accurate exams upon which to make decisions.  And so the efforts there with a new management team I think will begin to, if you will, bear fruit as they help the employees better manage the work in innovative ways that they've developed locally.  At the national level, you know, I've mentioned some of the things that we've done to generate ideas whether it's internally, whether it's through the roundtable that [House Veterans Affairs Committee] Chairman [Bob] Filner hosted, whether it's our national innovation initiative.  And we are working to put together an overarching approach to how do we improve nationwide?  Uh, some of the things that I think heard concern about here as well. Interim ratings is one of the things that I've heard discussed in terms of if there are 3 or 4 issues on a claim and we can process one and need to develop further information on the other that we are reinforcing the use of interim ratings. It starts getting money flowing to the veteran, it starts getting them access to health care, uhm, it ensures that they're uh in our system and getting work done. We're also looking at how do we segment claims? I heard some discussion from some of the panel members about those one issue claims that might move more quickly -- whether it's that hearing loss claim or just one single-issue -- and are currently piloting in several offices.  How will that work? About 26% of our work is a single-issue claim and if we can move those along more quickly, will we allow ourselves a better focus, if you will, on those more complex claims -- whether it's a complex issue or whether it's a number of issues. Uhm, I talked a little about the pro-active phone development. We've heard some concerns about whether or not we're incentivizing or rewarding employees. I will tell you that as we reward employees, quality is always a part of the requirement for  a reward to be given. But it's also about that -- I'll call it "less tangible monetary award" and it's that recognition of who your performers are and making sure that we're recognizing them for that effort. One of the initiatives that we're developing and the Secretary's interested in supporting, if you will, a Who's Who in VBA for VSRs and rating specialists that will allow us to recognize quarterly uh the top 25 in each of those categories and, at the annual level, with recognition from the Secretary in an effort to have people continue to stay jazzed and focused on we've got to get this job done. I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the efforts that we're making in both technology, if you will, the VBMS -- the Veterans Benefits Management System. We are standing up an organization that brings VBA and uses, if you will, field users and the organization together to be focused on this work that will grow from the virtual regional office pilot that was just completed in Baltimore allowing us to change and pursue accurately the electronic claims processing system.
 
Subcommittee Chair John Hall: Well thank you for all of that. I'm especially happy to hear that you're -- that you're moving toward streamlined granting of claims or approval of claims in clear cut cases like hearing loss. Although I'm a little bit disappointed that, in 2008, Congress passed a law unanimously that was signed by President Bush that said "The Secretary shall issue this partial claims rating," changed the language from "may" to "shall" indicating the clear intent of Congress that when there's an undisputed severe disabling injury -- which I think hearing loss might fall under or a loss of a limb or paralysis or blindness or any number of other things that are clearly service connected and are not in dispute although there may be many other facets of the claim that are either not developed yet, they're needing longer ajudication -- but that "the Secretary shall award an immediate partial rating so that the money starts flowing to the veteran" that was passed unanimously and signed by the previous president and, two years later, I'm surprised that we're talking about being part way on the road to getting that done. I would hope that we would have been there already.
 
We could go on and on with other examples.  That's due to the fact that John Hall prepares.  He's paying attention in the other hearings and he's referencing Inspector General reports.  It's nothing like the Senate VA Committee.  And Hall is among the stars of the House VA Committee (others on the Democrat side would include Bob Filner, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Harry Teague and Debbie Halvorson -- on the Republican side, it would include Steve Buyer, Jerry Moran and John Boozman -- and I'm basing that on Committee performance, being able to question the witnesses and usually knowing a great deal more than the witnesses). Is there a star at the Veterans Affairs Dept?  If so, they've yet to emerge and Barack Obama needs to figure out what exactly is going on and whether Shinseki is up to the job he's been appointed to.
 
The second panel was made up of advocates.  There's not space for them in this snapshot; however, the American Legion's Ian DePlanque offered testimony and the American Legion has written about that and the hearing here. If I hear from friends with other organizations that they wrote about their advocate's testimony, we'll link to those in Monday's snapshot.
 
"We've been here even in the worst possible weather, in pouring rain and exhuasting heat," Joan Wile tells Clyde Haberman (New York Times) for his report on the weekly protest against the wars still held every Wednesday "on Fifth Avenue at the eastern entrance to Rockefeller Center" by the Grandmothers Against the War. Haberman reports this week saw the Grannies "330th consecutive Wednesday" protest. Heberman reports:

Anne Moy went there by bus from the Lower East Side. It was important to her, she said, to register her opposition to the wars. At 92, she was the oldest on the protest line. She beat Lillian Lifflander by two years. Jenny Heinz, 65, was another regular, even though she was in the midst of treatment for breast cancer. Bert Aubrey, 76, had to lean on a cane, his knees not what they used to be.


As so many rushed to walk -- no, run -- to run away from calling out the ongoing wars because a Democrat now occupies the White House, the Grandmothers Against the War have remained firm -- even with some of them having endorsed Barack. 330 Wednesdays (one Wednesday the police prevented the protest) speaks to commitment and so does protesting against what you know is wrong regardless of who is running the war. Joan Wile is also the author of Grandmothers Against the War: Getting Off Our Fannies and Standing Up for Peace
 
 
 TV notes, Washington Week begins airing on many PBS stations tonight (and throughout the weekend, check local listings) and joining Gwen around the table this week are Peter Baker (New York Times), Dan Balz (Washington Post), Elizabeth Shogren (NPR) and Pierre Thomas (ABC News). And Gwen's column this week is "The Politics of Panic." Remember that the show podcasts in video and audio format -- and a number of people sign up for each (audio is thought to be so popular due to the fact that it downloads so much quicker). If you podcast the show, remember there is the Web Extra where Gwen and the guests weigh in on topics viewers e-mail about. And also remember that usually by Monday afternoon you can go to the show's website and stream it there (including Web Extra) as well as read the transcripts and more. Meanwhile Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Cari Dominguez, Ilana Goldman, Irene Natividad and Sabrina Schaeffer on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary to discuss the week's events. And at the website each week, there's an extra just for the web from the previous week's show and this week's it's immigration reform. For the broadcast program, check local listings, on many stations, it begins airing tonight. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes:

Homegrown Terror
Steve Kroft reports on American citizens - like the recent would-be Times Square bomber - who have traveled abroad for terrorist training in order to attack America or its allies.


The Secretary of State
Scott Pelley follows Hillary Rodham Clinton as she performs her duties as secretary of state and questions her on the latest developments in foreign policy and the recent terror scare in New York's Times Square.


Walking Away
It's estimated that one million Americans walked away from homes "underwater" or worth less than their mortgages even though they could afford the payments. Morley Safer reports on this trend, called strategic default, that threatens the economic recovery. | Watch Video


60 Minutes, Sunday, May 9, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
 
 
 
 
 

Rewards from a 'Cosmic Moral Supreme Court'?

A Kurdish journalist was kidnapped here in the capital of the semiautonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, tortured and then found dead with two bullets in the head on a highway, his family and members of the security forces said on Thursday.
The family and friends of the journalist, Zardasht Osman, 23, said he was killed because of his scathing articles about the region’s two governing parties and its leaders, including the dominant Barzani family. Mr. Osman was a university student who freelanced for a number of publications and often wrote on the Internet under a pseudonym.
"I am in love with Barzani's daughter," read a satirical and irreverent Web post by Mr. Osman in December, which appeared to violate a taboo in the region’s deeply conservative and clan-based culture by referring to a female family member of the region's president, Massoud Barzani. Mr. Osman mused about how he could rise from his poor surroundings by marrying one of Mr. Barzani's daughters.

The above is the opening to Sam Dagher's "Abducted Kurdish Journalist in Iraq Is Found Dead" (New York Times) on the murder of Sardasht Osman. Reporters Without Borders notes:

The city of Erbil, where Osman was kidnapped, is mostly controlled by the KDP, whose leader, Massoud Barzani, is Kurdistan’s President. His son, Masrur Barzani, heads the KDP’s security services.
Osman is the first journalist to be murdered in Iraqi Kurdistan since Soran Mama Hama, who was gunned down outside his home in Kirkuk on 21 July 2008. Aged 23 (like Osman), he wrote articles critical of local politicians and security officials for the magazine Leven. He had repeatedly been threatened and warned to stop his investigative reporting but his courage and professionalism pushed him to continue (http://en.rsf.org/iraq-journalist-gunned-down-in-kirkuk-22-07-2008,27900.html).

Iraq's big news this week is the merger of the two biggest Shi'ite blocs into a power-sharing coalition thereby bypassing the biggest vote getter (Iraqiya) in the March 7th elections. Michael Jansen (Irish Times) reports:

The proclamation of the sectarian merger has sidelined the secular Iraqiya bloc headed by Iyad Allawi which won 91 seats, the largest number, and should have been given the first chance to form a government.
Since Mr Maliki's bloc came in second with 89 seats, he has taken measures to deprive Mr Allawi of this right, including disqualifying and detaining candidates, engineering recounts, and getting a court ruling to give power to the first coalition formed rather than the bloc with most seats. Yet Mr Maliki has been cast aside because his bloc and INA could not agree on his premiership.

Despite calls for US involvement from Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, the US did nothing as Michael Young (Lebanon's Daily Star):

Instead, US officials took great pride in saying that they had not interfered in the election process. What, precisely, was the thinking here? That America would be rewarded by some cosmic moral supreme court? That Iran and Syria would gasp at American uprightness and refrain from exploiting Iraq for their own purposes? Does the administration imagine that international politics unfolds like a Frank Capra film, so that like Mr. Smith in Washington the world would dissolve into tears of affection for Mr. Obama in Iraq?
Once the Iraqi elections ended, it was plain what the US should have done, or tried to do. A coalition government between Maliki and the front-runner Ayad Allawi was the right way to go. It would have helped return the Sunnis to Iraqi political life, while profiting from the Shiite split, to Iran's disadvantage. The priority should have been to keep Maliki away from the Iranians, whom the prime minister was never very close to anyway. A shotgun wedding between Maliki and Allawi might have failed, their conflicting ambitions making this difficult. Yet both could have eventually seen an interest in following through, since they would have thus marginalized their communal rivals. Here was a moment when Barack Obama's personal involvement was essential. But what did the US do? Nothing.

Which pretty much says all that needs to be said on the matter.

TV notes, Washington Week begins airing on many PBS stations tonight (and throughout the weekend, check local listings) and joining Gwen around the table this week are Peter Baker (New York Times), Dan Balz (Washington Post), Elizabeth Shogren (NPR) and Pierre Thomas (ABC News). And Gwen's column this week is "The Politics of Panic." Remember that the show podcasts in video and audio format -- and a number of people sign up for each (audio is thought to be so popular due to the fact that it downloads so much quicker). If you podcast the show, remember there is the Web Extra where Gwen and the guests weigh in on topics viewers e-mail about. And also remember that usually by Monday afternoon you can go to the show's website and stream it there (including Web Extra) as well as read the transcripts and more. Meanwhile Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Cari Dominguez, Ilana Goldman, Irene Natividad and Sabrina Schaeffer on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary to discuss the week's events. And at the website each week, there's an extra just for the web from the previous week's show and this week's it's immigration reform. For the broadcast program, check local listings, on many stations, it begins airing tonight. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes:

Homegrown Terror
Steve Kroft reports on American citizens - like the recent would-be Times Square bomber - who have traveled abroad for terrorist training in order to attack America or its allies.


The Secretary of State
Scott Pelley follows Hillary Rodham Clinton as she performs her duties as secretary of state and questions her on the latest developments in foreign policy and the recent terror scare in New York's Times Square.


Walking Away
It's estimated that one million Americans walked away from homes "underwater" or worth less than their mortgages even though they could afford the payments. Morley Safer reports on this trend, called strategic default, that threatens the economic recovery. | Watch Video


60 Minutes, Sunday, May 9, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.


Radio. Today on The Diane Rehm Show (airs on most NPR stations and streams live online beginning at 10:00 am EST), Diane is joined the first hour (domestic news roundup) by David Corn (Mother Jones), Laura Meckler (Wall St. Journal) and Byron York (Washington Examiner). For the second hour (international news roundup), Diane is joined by Michele Kelemen (NPR), James Kitfield (National Journal) and David Sanger (New York Times).


Lydia Sargent's "Searching for a Post-Sexist Society" (ZNet) is an essay tracing womanhood in the last half of the 20th century. We'll note and provide a link but I wouldn't begin to know where to start an excerpt. And we'll close with this from World Can't Wait's "Youth in LA to Recruiters: Get the hell away from me!:"

Report from We Are Not Your Soldiers organizers

Today Emma Kaplan, World Can't Wait Youth & Student Coordinator, and Matthis Chiroux, Iraq War resister, took the We Are Not Your Soldiers Tour to a public high school in Los Angeles. Emma said it felt like a prison: one entrance, one exit, and lots of cops in uniform. "You feel like you’re viewed as a criminal just stepping through the doors," she said.




The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.












npr
the diane rehm show














Grannies and veterans

"We've been here even in the worst possible weather, in pouring rain and exhuasting heat," Joan Wile tells Clyde Haberman (New York Times) for his report on the weekly protest against the wars still held every Wednesday "on Fifth Avenue at the eastern entrance to Rockefeller Center" by the Grandmothers Against the War. Haberman reports this week saw the Grannies "330th consecutive Wednesday" protest. Heberman reports:

Anne Moy went there by bus from the Lower East Side. It was important to her, she said, to register her opposition to the wars. At 92, she was the oldest on the protest line. She beat Lillian Lifflander by two years. Jenny Heinz, 65, was another regular, even though she was in the midst of treatment for breast cancer. Bert Aubrey, 76, had to lean on a cane, his knees not what they used to be.


As so many rushed to walk -- no, run -- to run away from calling out the ongoing wars because a Democrat now occupies the White House, the Grandmothers Against the War have remained firm -- even with some of them having endorsed Barack. 330 Wednesdays (one Wednesday the police prevented the protest) speaks to commitment and so does protesting against what you know is wrong regardless of who is running the war. Joan Wile is also the author of Grandmothers Against the War: Getting Off Our Fannies and Standing Up for Peace.

In other news, Pamela E. Walck (Savannah Now) reports, "A group of Savannah area musicians is joining forces with area businesses this weekend to help raise money to build a handicap-accessible home for a Fort Stewart soldier seriously wounded in Iraq in 2008." Jason Letterman is the veteran and Homes For Our Troops explains:

Army SSG Jason L. Letterman lost both of his legs, suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries and fractured his shoulder and pelvis from an IED explosion in Farasiyah, Iraq in May 2008 while conducting a mountain patrol.
Homes For Our Troops wants to build a specially adapted home for SSG Letterman to help him move forward in his recovery. But we need your help!


Walck notes:

If you go
What: Red Gate Benefit concert
When: Noon-7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Red Gate Farms, off Chatham Parkway
How much: $15 general admission; $10 with military I.D.


In other veterans news, Mark Mueller (Star-Ledger)reports that US House Rep Rush Holt has introduced a proposal to address military suicides and that he's named the measure after the late Sgt Coleman Bean who served two tours of duty in Iraq and took his own life after he was unable to get needed medical help in the US. Holt is quoted stating, ""Two federal agencies charged with helping prevent suicides among our returning troops utterly failed Sgt. Bean and his family. We cannot allow another family to lose a son or daughter, a father or mother, a husband or a wife because of bureaucratic buck-passing."

Meanwhile Kelly Schlict (WSAW -- link has text and video) reports from Fort McCoy on the training the 724 Engineer Battalion of the Army National Guard received before deploying again to Iraq.

In Iraq, the problems never end. Environmental News Service's "Water Sacrcity Endangers Iraq's Migratory Birds" notes yet another problem facing the country:

To mark World Migratory Bird Day this Sunday, the nongovernmental organization Nature Iraq is joining its BirdLife International partners around the world to celebrate bird migration, and to highlight the difficulties facing some the world's most threatened species.
The Mesopotamian marshes in the region of southern Iraq between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers are especially important for wintering waterbirds, and Nature Iraq has worked to restore these marshes after they were 90 percent drained under Saddam Hussein's regime. After several years of richer water flows, the marshes are again drying up because of drought and upstream dams.
"Iraq is, for good reasons, focused on security and development, but unless the country acts soon, many important species will simply not be here in 10 years' time," said Dr. Azzam Alwash, CEO of Nature Iraq.

Last month's "Nouri's doing the best he can!" included an excerpt of Michael Barker's "Mother Jones And The Defence Of Liberal Elites" (Swans Commentary). The excerpt mentioned the International Republican Institute. The IRI's Deputy Press Secretary Jennifer Allen states, "I want to let you know that IRI did not 'back' the coup in Haiti in 2004; the USAID Inspector General investigated the Institute's work and found that there was no wrongdoing on IRI's part. If you want more information, you can find the facts about IRI's work in Haiti, which ended in 2007, at http://bit.ly/cg8zPY." And, via SourceWatch, you can learn more about IRI by referencing the following:

The IRI has criticized editorials by the Boston Globe and the New York Times and reporting by the New York Times on their alleged role in Haiti. You can find their take on it at their website and we'll note their rebuttal to a New York Times article via a letter they sent the paper (which was printed in altered form, below is the letter as they wrote it)


In echoing a 2004 Mother Jones piece, your 1/29/06 article found support for some of disgruntled ex-Ambassador Dean Curran's false charges only among a few Haitians, most of them former associates of President Aristide. All have obvious motivation to impugn IRI's work and none presented any evidence to back their accusations. You also neglected to mention that Curran's predecessors and successors in Haiti praised IRI's programs; you even cropped Curran's predecessor (appointed by President Clinton) out of a photo with IRI officials. You neglected to mention that Colin Powell contradicted a basic tenet of your story when he told you he didn't accept your view that he differed with his Assistant Secretaries over Haiti policy.
IRI is not the reason Aristide had to flee Haiti. If Haiti's democracy had advanced under Aristide, no one would have been happier than IRI and our Haitian employees. Instead, as then-Secretary Powell said, Aristide was "a man who was democratically elected, but he did not democratically govern, or govern well. And he has to bear a large burden, if not the major burden, for what has happened."
Lorne W. Craner
President
International Republican Institute

The IRI's counterpart is the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. Those objecting to the IRI (I do) should also be objecting to NDI and, when they don't, that's your first clue that you're dealing with someone who doesn't really have a beef with IRI's actions (or alleged actions) but is just trying to score partisan points.

In the US, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee continues to highlight the economy and finances and we'll note this press release:

Whose Side Are They On: Republican Plan Weakens Wall Street Reform

Senate Republicans have brought forward a CEO-friendly “plan” that fails to protect consumers, investors and businesses from the predatory practices of Wall Street. This proposal, hastily written after Senators McConnell and Cornyn agreed to do Wall Street’s bidding, would leave hard-working Americans susceptible to the same reckless behavior that destroyed over 8 million jobs and trillions of dollars in life savings. It would insert loopholes for lobbyists and water down or eliminate critical provisions found in the Restoring American Financial Stability Act.

The Financial Stability Act, brought forward by the Senate Democrats after months and months of bipartisan negotiations, helps American families, not greedy CEOs. This legislation would put a cop on the beat to allow consumers and investors to make their own decisions and ensure that taxpayers are never left to foot Wall Street’s bill. The Democratic plan holds Wall Street accountable for its reckless gambling by bringing sunlight and transparency to shadowy markets.

A recent report from Americans for Financial Reform[i] demonstrates clearly that while Democrats are fighting for Main Street , Republicans continue to protect big banks and Wall Street:

Bank and Non-Bank Financial Regulation

The best way to prevent bailouts is to restore the strong regulatory structure that Congress dismantled over the past 20 years, at the behest of Wall Street lobbyists. That’s why the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 establishes a new framework to prevent a recurrence or mitigate the impact of financial crises that could cripple financial markets and damage the economy. A new Financial Stability Oversight Council, chaired by the Treasury Secretary and comprised of key regulators, would monitor emerging risks to U.S. financial stability, recommend heightened prudential standards for large, interconnected financial companies, and require nonbank financial companies to be supervised by the Federal Reserve if their failure were to pose a risk to U.S. financial stability. The Republican proposal, by contrast, contains none of the regulations of large, interconnected financial institutions that are necessary to prevent another collapse.

Republican Proposal Excludes Tough Requirements to Rein in the Largest Financial Companies. Nowhere does the Republican plan require the Federal Reserve to impose tougher capital, leverage, and liquidity requirements, as well as living wills, on the largest and riskiest banking and nonbank financial companies. The Republican alternative would maintain the “Too Big to Fail” status quo.

Republican Proposal Fails to Prevent Non-Financial Institutions Like AIG From Harming the Financial Markets. Nowhere would the Republican plan provide for oversight of “shadow banks” – large, complex nonbank financial companies to prevent future Goldman Sach’s, AIG’s, and Lehman’s (none of which were Fed-regulated before the crisis) from also wreaking havoc on financial markets, the economy, and jobs.

Consumer Protections

The Restoring American Financial Stability Act would establish a new “cop on the beat” to protect consumers. The independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would provide American consumers with the information they need to empower them to make smart financial choices for themselves. The Bureau also will help guard against hidden terms and fine print that trap American families in unfair, deceptive and abusive financial products. By contrast, the consumer protection Council included in the Republican proposal would stifle important new protections necessary to empower consumers to make good financial decisions and to prevent a future crisis.

Republican Proposal Worse than the Status Quo. In the Republican plan, the Council would not be able to issue any consumer protection rules without the approval of prudential regulators, and likely would not be able to issue rules to address unfair, deceptive or abusive practices at all – practices which will stifle consumer protections. That is the status quo, or worse. It was the failure of federal prudential regulators to address consumer protection that led to this problem.

Republican Proposal Protects Abusive Lenders. In the Republican plan, payday lenders, auto dealers brokering car loans, check cashers, debt collectors and the like would be exempt from rules designed to prevent unfair and deceptive practices. Because of weak supervision and lax enforcement, the plan would also make it easy for these entities to violate existing laws and operate under the radar.

Republican Proposal Cuts States Out From Consumer Protection. The Republican plan cuts out the role of the states altogether in enforcing consumer protections. Additionally, gutting Attorney General enforcement of consumer protection laws would, in effect, inhibit states from punishing people who break the law.

Volcker Rule

Many banks, bank holding companies and other companies that control insured depository institutions sponsored and invested in hedge funds and private equity funds. As the financial crisis deepened, these activities produced outsize losses, which threatened the safety and soundness of individual firms and contributed to overall financial stability. When banks engage in proprietary trading, there is also an increased likelihood that their interests will conflict with those of their customers. To address this, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act includes the “Volcker Rule,” which would prohibit or restrict proprietary trading. The Republican proposal addresses some of these risks, but includes a watered-down Volcker rule.

Republican Proposal Has a Limited Proprietary Trading Prohibition. The proprietary trading restrictions included in the Republican plan are only for depository institutions, and other entities (presumably affiliates of the depository institutions), and would be restricted only if the holding company is not well capitalized or if the Federal Reserve were to make a determination to that effect.

Republican Proposal Fails to Address Bank-Sponsored Hedge Funds. Nowhere does the Republican plan mention a prohibition of sponsoring hedge funds.

Investor Protections

Many of the key provisions of the Republican plan are already included in the Restoring American Financial Stability Act, including provisions that would authorize the systemic risk regulator to monitor large hedge funds, require hedge fund registration, require more disclosure for asset-backed securities, and reform the municipal securities market. Still, the Republican proposal does not go as far as the Democratic bill to protect all investors – from a hardworking American contributing to a union pension to a day trader to a retiree living off their 401(k).

Republican Proposal Limits “Skin-in-the-Game” Requirements. The Republican plan would require risk retention (“skin-in-the-game”) ONLY for residential mortgage loans, leaving the financial system at risk for securitized loans of other toxic assets.

Republican Proposal Has Inadequate Regulation of Credit Rating Agencies. The Republican plan glosses over the failure in our credit rating system, offering minor tweaks to the current broken structure rather than meaningful reform. Their plan does nothing to strengthen the SEC’s ability to monitor the credit rating industry, nor would it raise obligations for ratings firms to undertake appropriate due diligence, or hold them legally accountable for their actions.

Republican Proposal Fails to Include Meaningful Changes to the SEC. The Republican plan simply rearranges the SEC Divisions, but includes none of the numerous provisions included in the Financial Stability Act to strengthen the SEC and its ability to protect investors, such as the ability to reform mandatory arbitration, GAO audits of SEC internal management controls, a robust new whistleblower program, and an Office of Investor Advocate.

Republican Proposal Fails to Strengthen Shareholder Power. The Republican plan does not include any provisions to strengthen shareholder power through reforms of majority voting, say-on-pay, proxy access, and compensation disclosures – all of which are included in the Financial Stability Act.

Republican Proposal Excludes the SEC’s Ability to Monitor Hedge Funds for Fraud. In contrast to provisions in the Financial Stability Act, the Republican plan excludes the ability of the SEC to monitor hedge funds for fraud.

Republican Proposal Would Increase the Risk of Fraud. The Republican plan makes a drastic change to a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which would decrease the reliability of financial statements, weaken internal controls, weaken the integrity of business operations, increase the risk of internal financial fraud, increase accounting restatements, and reduce investor confidence in financial statements.

Derivatives Regulations

The most important derivatives provisions in the GOP plan are in the Restoring American Financial Stability Act. These include mandatory clearing, mandatory exchange trading, mandatory speculative position limits, prudential capital requirements for swap dealers and major swap participants, margin requirements for uncleared swaps, public reporting requirements, segregation of assets requirement to protect counterparty collateral, and regulation of clearinghouses. Despite these similarities, other provisions in the GOP proposal would weaken provisions in the Financial Stability Act.

Republican Proposal Provides Less Transparency. The Republican plan has no mandatory exchange trading requirement, meaning no pre-trade price transparency and hence no lower costs for users of derivatives, as well as less transparency for regulators and market participants.

Republican Proposal Is Very Bureaucratic. According to the Republican plan, the Federal Reserve, SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would first establish criteria for mandatory clearing, then the CFTC and SEC would use the criteria to identify swaps for mandatory clearing. Real concerns have been raised about how long will it take for the three regulators in the first step and the two regulators in the second step to reach agreement; and about whether clearing could stalled if the regulators fail to reach agreement.

Republican Proposal Unworkable End User Exemption. By using the “bona fide” definition of an end user, the Republican plan would include swaps dealers, hedge funds, other financial institutions, and systemically risky entities within the end user exemption. This is an unacceptable level of risk to American taxpayers.

It All Comes Down to Whose Side You Are On

If you want a financial system that allows banks to become “too big to fail,” puts your retirement security in jeopardy and leaves consumers vulnerable so Wall Street executives can cash in, then you should support the Republican plan. But if you want a system that protects consumers from losing their homes and their savings, protects jobs and prevents another financial crisis, you should support the Democratic plan to reform Wall Street.


[i] AFR Analysis of the GOP Alternative to S. 3217, April 28, 2010, http://www.senate.gov/cgi-bin/exitmsg?url=http://ourfinancialsecurity.org/2010/04/afr-letter-re-gop-alternatives-to-s-3217/

Whose Side Are They On: Republican Plan Weakens Wall Street Reform

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The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.