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WASHINGTON � Republicans and Democrats are furiously casting each other as Wall Street�s handmaiden, playing to election-year anger surging on Main Street. But neither party has clean hands when it comes to the financial industry.
Both parties have accepted huge amounts of campaign cash from companies such as Goldman Sachs, the investment bank facing fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Both parties welcomed big business� chief executives to the White House when in power. Both share the blame for deregulating the industry i...
Not that either side will acknowledge it.
Instead, Republicans and Democrats are using President Barack Obama�s push for tighter controls on the industry to try to gain the political advantage with voters ahead of the fall�s congressional elections, when the balance of power in Washington is at stake.
�We need to enact a set of updated, commonsense rules to ensure accountability on Wall Street and to protect consumers in our financial system,� Obama said Thursday in New York, tapping into public outrage over excesses that led to the economic meltdown.
With polls showing more voters favoring tighter controls on Wall Street than not, everyone wants to be seen as siding with the little guy.
�Far from protecting consumers from Wall Street excess, this bill would provide endless protection for the biggest banks on Wall Street,� said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Looking to energize their voters and boost fundraising, the national parties are trading charges.
The Center for Responsive Politics found that both sides raked in cash from the industry they�re vilifying.
In the current election cycle, the DNC collected $6.2 million from the financial services, real estate and insurance sectors and $3.7 million from other business interests. The RNC has raised $2.5 million from the industry and $2.7 million from other business interests.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama raised $40 million from the industry and $37 million from other business interests while Republican John McCain collected $29 million and $16 million.
Deregulation is faulted for the financial industry�s crisis � and both parties played a role.
The Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act separated commercial from investment banking, but in 1999 most of its restrictions were repealed by a Republican Congress and President Bill Clinton. In the fall of 2008, President George W. Bush and the Democratic Congress backed a massive bailout of the financial industry amid si...
Such coziness with Wall Street and politicians� lack of candor about it are likely factors in low job approval ratings for Congress and an overall cynicism about politics.
A recent Pew Research Center poll showed trust in government at one of the lowest points in a half-century, with nearly 80 percent having little confidence in Washington. Just a quarter of people say the federal government and Congress have a positive effect on the country�s direction. The ratings are similarly low for...
Still, the public is conflicted.
More than half � 58 percent � say that �the government has gone too far in regulating business and interfering with the free enterprise system,� and roughly half oppose government exerting more control over the economy. But, perhaps because their own pocketbooks are at stake, people make an exception for regulating the...
A recent Gallup poll showed that voters� ire was directed toward Wall Street on the issue of giving Washington new powers over the industry. In the survey, 50 percent favored more regulation of Wall Street banks while 36 percent opposed. When the question was asked more broadly � regulating large banks and major financ...
All that � combined with the fact that about two-thirds of likely voters own stock, have IRAs or have money in a 401(k) or similar account � underscores why the White House as well as Republicans and Democrats are competing to be the most populist. It also helps explain why Democrats and Republicans are trying to agree...
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio offered a different take.
Obama administration officials said today that they are moving forward with a program to grant states waivers from key provisions of the No Child Left Behind law, but only to those states “willing to embrace education reform” — meaning Obama-style education reform.
Melody Barnes, director of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters on a conference call that NCLB was fundamentally flawed and that states were begging for relief because Congress had failed to fix it.
Still, as flawed as it is, they said that any relief will only go to states that accept the administration’s version of reform, which includes using standardized test scores to measure “student growth” for the purposes of evaluating schools and teachers.
In some circles, that is known as strong-arming. Why not give waivers to any state that wants relief from a law the administration admits is flawed?
The most pressing issue facing states under No Child Left Behind, the key education initiative of former president George W. Bush’s administration, involves the “annual yearly progress” mandate that almost all students achieve proficient levels on math and reading standardized exams by 2014.
States were allowed to decide individually how to reach the goal, and almost half set easy targets early in the last decade. As the 2014 deadline approached, the goal became tougher to reach.
Barnes and Duncan said that details of the waiver program will be released next month, and that states should submit applications for review.
Duncan also said more than once that he does not support “overtesting” of students — “We don’t support that,” he said — but he did not explain what “overtesting” meant, nor did he say that he was changing any policy that has led to states adding tests for already test-saturated school schedules.
To assess teachers on student test scores, some states are planning to give students exams in every single subject. Would Duncan consider that overkill?
So while the administration moves to fix NCLB’s unattainable 2014 deadline, it continues to take steps to force its own education reform agenda on states — even while saying it isn’t. What a way to run education policy.
KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber struck outside a provincial council headquarters in northern Afghanistan on Monday, killing the council chief and at least 13 others, authorities said. The Taliban insurgency quickly claimed responsibility.
Seeking to weaken the Afghan government, Taliban insurgents have been carrying out attacks and assassinations intended to intimidate both officials and civilians ahead of next year's withdrawal of most international troops.
Baghlan provincial council leader Mohammad Rasoul Mohseni was entering the compound in the morning when the bomber ran up on foot and detonated his explosives in the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri, said Baghlan chief of police Asadullah Sherzad.
He said 14 people were killed, including Mohseni, and 11 were wounded.
Mohammad Zahier Ghanizada, a member of parliament from Baghlan, confirmed the council chief's death and added that Mohseni had previously received multiple death threats.
Also killed in the attack were six police bodyguards and seven civilians, Sherzad said.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed in a text message to journalists that an insurgent operative carried out the targeted bombing.
"Today at 11 a.m. in front of the Baghlan provincial council office, we have carried out a suicide attack and killed the head of the council," it said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the bombing Monday.
"Such attacks are against all human rights and the principles of Islam," Karzai said in a statement. "Perpetrators of such attacks are enemies of the Afghan nation and the puppets of foreigners."
Karzai left later Monday for a two-day state visit to India, where he is expected to request military aid.
Both Karzai and the U.S. have sought peace talks with the Taliban and other insurgent factions in preparation for most foreign troops leaving next year after more than 12 years of war, but the efforts have borne little fruit. The Taliban seek to re-establish the strict interpretation of Islamic law they imposed for fiv...
The insurgents last month launched a fierce new spring offensive that has in the past week alone seen the police chief of Farah province gunned down outside his home and twin bombings that killed nine people in an elite gated community for government officials and business owners outside of the southern city of Kandaha...
Insurgents have also targeted members of the international coalition. A roadside bomb killed four American soldiers last week in the country's south, while another insurgent faction, Hizb-e-Islami, targeted a coalition convoy in the capital of Kabul two days later, killing two U.S. soldiers and four American contractor...
CADDO PARISH, LA (KSLA) - A Shreveport teen who took part in an armed robbery in November was sentenced to juvenile life on Wednesday, Feb. 13.
Anthony Mandigo must remain in custody until the age of 21 after pleading guilty to in the November 9, armed robbery of the Raceway Gas Station on North Market Street in Shreveport.
Sentencing for McGee's murder was set to begin on Feb. 20. Co-defendant Jae’lon Ware, 16, is charged with the second-degree murder of McGee.
Mandigo was 13 at the time of the Raceway robbery. Mandigo and another juvenile entered the business with an AK-47 and robbed the clerk and a customer, according to a news release from the Caddo Parish District Attorney's Office.
After that, the pair posted a video of themselves with the money from the robbery and a shotgun they had just purchased. Following this, Shreveport Police detectives arrested Mandigo and his co-defendant.
The first Land Rover will LED adaptive headlights. The vents previously only on the Coupé now appear on HSE Dynamic and Autobiography too.
Land Rover has taken the wraps off its new Range Rover Evoque for 2016 ahead of its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
The big improvement on this new model is the efficiency. The Range Rover Evoque 2016 is, according to Land Rover, it's most efficient production Land Rover ever. This is thanks to the new 180PS Ingenium diesel engine that manages to offer 68mpg and CO2 emission of 109g/km. That's 18 per cent more efficient than the ori...
Land Rover has also managed to eek out the time between services to over 21,000 miles which, it reckons, will save owners £3,700 over three years.
The new Evoque will be the first Land Rover to feature full-LED adaptive headlamp tech. This should mean a saving on power while offering greater visibility to suit the situation. Further details on this were not revealed.
Inside the car, running the show, will be an 8-inch InControl Touch infotainment system. This is hooked up to a six-speaker DAB stereo that can be upgraded for SD-card based navigation.
The Range Rover Evoque 2016 will start shipping in August this year with specific pricing announced nearer to that date. Expect to pay similar amounts to the current model which starts at around £30,000.
Check out the gallery, above, of just what to expect.
EARL TOWNSHIP, LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa.–A former licensed practical nurse is facing charges after police say she stole prescription pain medication from her patients at a Lancaster County retirement facility.
According to police reports, 30-year-old Natalie Sands took Oxycodone medication which was prescribed for patients while she was employed as an LPN at Garden Spot Village in Earl Township. Sands is also accused of altering medication records for dispensing the medication. The alleged thefts occurred between November 20...
According to police reports, Sands admitted to taking the medications when she was confronted by her superiors. She was terminated in January 2017.
Sands, of Ephrata, is charged with acquisition or obtaining possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge and failure to keep records of distribution of controlled substances. A warrant has been issued for her arrest.
A radical change in the subject areas of ministries is in the offing in the cabinet reshuffle scheduled for today, according to government sources, It is reported that the Department of Archeological, Tower Hall Foundation, Public Performance Board, Center for National Performance Arts, Janakala Center, National Arts B...
It is reported that the State Film Corporation which is at present under the Ministry of Public Administration will come under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs or Ministry of Mass Media. Ministry of Higher Education and Highways will be separated as two ministries, according to sources. There were 47 Cabinet Ministers ...
One of China’s best-known actresses and companies she worked with have been ordered to pay about $129 million (Dh474m)in taxes and fines following a months-long tax evasion probe.
Fan Bingbing was personally fined 479 million yuan ($70 million), the official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday. The remainder involves back taxes and fines against companies affiliated with the star. Fan, in her first post in months on Weibo social media, said she was deeply ashamed of her tax evasion practices a...
The 37-year-old actress, who has more than 60 million followers on the Twitter-like Weibo, has vanished from public view and on social media since June. That’s when a former broadcaster took to Weibo to publish what he described as contracts Fan and others have used to avoid taxes.
The perils of Fan, who has starred in hit TV series and films including the X-Men franchise, underscore the increasing scrutiny the country’s authorities have paid to the entertainment industry. If the star pays the fines and taxes before the deadline, she will avoid criminal charges, Xinhua said, citing the tax author...
Fan’s agent is being held on suspicion of criminal activity and the tax authorities said he obstructed their investigation, Xinhua reported.
China is the most-regulated major entertainment market in the world, where the Communist Party weighs in on everything from the appropriateness of costumes to the salaries of movie stars.
The Party-controlled Chinese Academy of Social Sciences last month released an assessment and ranking of the “social responsibility” exhibited by China’s Top 100 celebrities. Fan, ranked last. Only nine stars “passed” the assessment at all. In recent months, the government has also issued directives to cap celebrities’...
Gaming with this monitor is fantastic! COD2, F.E.A.R., HL2, Quake4 look incredible in widescreen mode.
the pic does not give the monitor Justice. you don't get the full impact until you sit in front of one.. (the speakers next to it are 12" tall).
nice I like the widescreen but lcd's just don't measure up in the res department. I like to play at 1600x1200 and my 21' viewsonic at 2048x1536 does the job nice, I bet it was a pretty penny too real high res you got for lcd. We seem to like the same games lol. I have all of those. SLi makes a big difference in f.e.a.r...
the price was very good for what your getting, it was $309 at newegg.
and I have read many good reports on this one.
How do you like the illuminated keyboard? I've been looking for a good one. I bought a Zippy brand with illumination a while ago and the lights quit working after only a few months, so I'm thinking about either taking this one apart or buying something new, hopfully one thats more dependable than the Zippy brand.
Nice looking monitor by the way. I'd ditch the cardboard box under it though.
Last edited by Spongebob; 01-03-2006 at 03:14 AM.
I read the reviews on lighted keyboards before I got this one.. for the most part the"el-cheep'os" are just that..Cheap!! and if your going to get one , get something by "Saitek"
I just got the Sceptre X20. Using a PowerColor X1600XT. I can get 1920x1080 @100Hz. Very impressive. 20.1" Widescreen running at 1080i. Movies are Fantastic, and newer games are a bit better on this than my last LCD 19". VERY bright. I had to take the brightness down a lot. All I need is the hauppaug with the HD decode...
How safe are Bureau of Indian Education schools?
Thousands of children attend schools operated by the federal Bureau of Indian Education, and for years, no one has known for sure if the buildings where they learn, eat and sleep are safe.
That’s one finding from a recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office that has shaken the bureau, which oversees schools that serve about 7 percent of American Indian students — nearly 50,000 schoolchildren — scattered across 23 states mostly in the rural western and southwestern United States.
The report says more than one-third of all 180 school locations have gone longer than one year without health and safety inspections. Of those, 54 sites haven’t been inspected in at least four years. The Bureau of Indian Education mandates annual inspections for all schools.
And among inspected schools, it’s unclear how many of them received improper or incomplete review, said Melissa Emrey-Arras, who directs education, workforce and income security issues for GAO. She said that in one instance, a “drive-by inspection” was conducted for a school complex with 34 buildings.
“They’re at risk of endangering the children they’re charged with protecting,” Emrey-Arras said.
Infractions included disabled fire alarms, missing fire extinguishers and 50-year-old boilers that failed previous inspections due to carbon monoxide or natural gas leaks but remained in use in student dormitories and classrooms, often located in remote regions several miles from the nearest fire station or hospital. A...
A boiler in a Bureau of Indian Education classroom building failed inspection because of elevated levels of carbon monoxide gas. Photo by Government Accountability Office.
In recent weeks, a leadership crisis has erupted at the bureau. In March, an investigation by the Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General revealed corrupt hiring practices that uprooted the bureau’s then-director, Charles Roessel.
Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes, who has served as deputy assistant secretary at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has been named the acting director after Roessel left.
Meanwhile, about half of high school students enrolled in the bureau’s schools graduate, compared to two-thirds of American Indian and Alaska Native students who complete their education at public schools. But advocates for the bureau’s schools stress that these places serve students who live on or near remote reservat...
During a recent Senate subcommittee hearing on Indian Affairs, members proposed legislation to offer Native American students vouchers to schools that would compete against the bureau’s schools. Lawrence Roberts, the acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, cautioned that these vouchers could furthe...
“I pledge we will have every school inspected this year,” Roberts said during his testimony.
Let’s play a familiar parlor game: Is so-and-so, indisputably Jewish by birth, a “Jewish writer”? The subject this time is Arthur Miller, who was born in New York City one hundred years ago this week. Miller almost never wrote Jewish characters and had a faint, uninformed disdain for both Jewish observance and traditio...
A new Yiddish-language production (with English supertitles) of Death of a Salesman, Miller’s most famous play, argues that Miller should be added to the canon of Jewish literature. But though the New Yiddish Rep’s Toyt fun a Seylsman is a fine, better-than-workmanlike production, there’s still little reason to see Sal...
Miller’s plays focus on deluded American dreamers who are utterly alone in the world. Like Gatsby, they come from nowhere. Like Charles Foster Kane, they accuse the world even while they shake with self-doubt. They lie to themselves out of neediness. With their enormous thirst to be loved, Miller’s men and women are ju...
Miller’s true precursor, then, was not any Jewish writer but that maniacal, depressive genius Eugene O’Neill. Willy Loman clearly descends from O’Neill’s salesman Hickey in The Iceman Cometh, with his savage unquenchable assault on “pipe dreams.” But Hickey was a master manipulator, while Willy is soft, tenuous. Miller...
In the current Yiddish production, Avi Hoffman has the battered dignity of a classic Willy Loman, but it’s hard to think of him as a charmer, even a depleted one. When he yells “I’m Willy Loman!” he doesn’t measure up to the giant forms of the greatest Lomans, Brian Dennehy, Dustin Hoffman, and Cobb. But these are toug...
In 1951 the Yiddish actor Joseph Buloff made an unauthorized Yiddish translation of Salesman and put it on in Buenos Aires to a large audience. Miller, who knew no Yiddish, approved Buloff’s translation for a later Brooklyn production. The translation, now revived by the New Yiddish Rep under Moshe Yassur’s direction, ...
A few years ago, Baker translated Beckett’s Waiting for Godot with ingenuity and profound wit. In Baker’s version Didi and Gogo became Eastern European Jews waiting for the end of their endless exile. Their resilient Jewish humor brought out something in Beckett, who after all wrote into Endgame a classic Jewish joke a...

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