WTF is wrong with Bernie Sanders? Seriously.

[MannyGoldstein]

Yesterday, the Senate took a BIG bipartisan step in helping our economy by passing Eric Cantor's JOBS Act. The House previously approved it, and President Obama will sign it.

Practical people like Eric Cantor, Chuck Schumer, you and me understand that our economy is being held back by all of those Washington regulations on Wall Street. If only Wall Street could be free of its regulatory shackles, the 1% could take what's left to be took, and the country would be better off.

But nuts like Sanders won't let go, all they do is whine! Here's how Sanders greeted this breakthrough:

"At best, this bill could make it easier for con artists to defraud seniors out of their entire life savings by convincing them to invest in worthless companies. At worst, this bill has the potential to create the next Enron or Arthur Andersen scandal or an even worse financial crisis.

Have we learned nothing? Deregulating Wall Street led to the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. Now the same people who caused this horrible recession are telling us that more Wall Street deregulation will create jobs. Give me a break. I strongly support providing small businesses with the tools they need to create jobs. Sadly, that's not at all what this bill will do."

And that Mary Schapiro, the commie running the Securities and Exchange Commission? She whined to the Senate:

“Too often, investors are the target of fraudulent schemes disguised as investment opportunities... As you know, if the balance is tipped to the point where investors are not confident that there are appropriate protections, investors will lose confidence in our markets, and capital formation will ultimately be made more difficult and expensive.”

Incredible! Don't they realize that the free market will regulate itself? It's never failed yet.

Let's drink a toast together to the new spirit of bipartisanship in Congress. Last November it was the three Bush "free" trade bills, yesterday Wall Street deregulation... who can predict what's next? Maybe Newt will get his wish and they can end those meddlesome nanny-state child labor protections.

[villager]

1. Does that whining, unicorn-seeking socialist think - what? - there should be *more than one party?*

Better to have all your bagmen in a single, easily controllable political entity.

[tularetom]

2. You just want to see if we're smart enough to know sarcasm

even when you don't use the little dealey.

Well, it might be late on a Friday night but it ain't that late.

[ProSense]

3. The Senate

bill included Senator Merkley's crowdfunding amendment, which Senator Sanders voted for.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002457389

Still, they both voted against the final bill.

[ProSense]

21. Here's a good

article outlining the provisions.

JOBS Act: The good, the bad, the irrelevant

By Dan Primack

<...>

Update I: An amendment offered by by Sens. Merkley (D-OR) and Brown (R-MA) has passed. It would require companies raising up to $1 million to provide prospective investors with certain underlying financial information. It also would restrict investors with less than $100,000 in annual income from plugging more than 5% of their income into a crowd-funded offering.

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/03/22/jobs-act-the-good-the-bad-the-irrelevant/?section=magazines_fortune

[grantcart]

28. Thanks for posting that so I could see the details of what was wrong with this bill.

[rhett o rick]

39. Does this mean you favor the bill? nm

[ProSense]

52. It means

"Does this mean you favor the bill?"

...I see the flaws in the bill. Do I think it has the potential Senator Sanders decribed? Frankly no. A lot of the opposition was to the House version. The fact that, per the Merkley amendment, investors with incomes or net worth less than $100,000 are limited to 5 percent of their income and must be provided information helps. Senator Reeds amendment would have added more protection, but it was filibusted by Republicans.

<...>

Reed’s amendment to strengthen the bill won 54 votes, however, 60 votes were needed to overcome a Republican filibuster and the amendment was blocked.

Today, Reed offered another amendment to require the SEC to include “beneficial owners” when tallying the shareholders of record in a company – so that all companies count their shareholders accurately and cannot use gimmicks to avoid periodic reporting requirements.

According to the Associated Press, Reed’s amendment “tightens the definition of "shareholder" so that large companies can't ignore the thousands of beneficial owners — the people who have the power to sell and vote on shares — to stay under the SEC threshold for filing information. Reed said that under the House bill, companies can count only record holders — such as brokers who sell the stock to thousands of beneficial owners — in order to stay under the shareholder limit, set to rise from 500 to 2,000, for SEC registration.”

Reed’s efforts to help prevent financial fraud and abuse were backed by a strong coalition of consumer advocacy groups, including: the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA); state regulators; auditors; financial analysts; pension fund managers; the Consumer Federation of America, and AARP.

However, Reed’s amendment was defeated by a voice vote and the underlying bill, which could open up the spigot to unsuspecting Americans getting solicited by unscrupulous brokers, passed on a vote of 73-26.

Speaking today on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Reed warned: “By stripping away auditing standards and giving the investing public less information in almost every setting, sophisticated players and investment banks will have all the advantages.

“The average investor will be operating in much more challenged circumstances. Middle-class Americans will be particularly affected.

- more -

http://www.reed.senate.gov/press/release/reed-ipo-deal-bad-for-consumers-could-harm-long-term-economic-growth

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=2&vote=00051

The bill will likely end up in conference, which means there is time to fix it.

Everyone should contact their members of Congress.

Still, given that there is a massive package of regulation still being implemented, I doubt it will have the devastating impact being predicted.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002464969

[girl gone mad]

4. I know, right?

We need Obama's Boiler Room Legalization Act to pass ASAP. Granny's got too much cash on the sidelines and Brantforth needs a new Ferrari.

[AlbertCat]

30. We need Obama's Boiler Room Legalization Act to pass ASAP

Hey.... they can fix it later...

like the Health Care bill


right?

[WillyT]

5. Well Hell... He's Not A Democrat !!!

Of course neither are most of the ACTUAL Democrats.

Actually Bernie Sanders is more of a Democrat than the actual Democrats...

[Art_from_Ark]

7. Back in the '60s, Bernie would have been in the same league

with such Democratic Senate luminaries as Mike Mansfield, Frank Church and J. William Fulbright.

[former9thward]

48. Don't forget Wayne Morse!

One of only two Senators voting against the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which authorized the Vietnam War.

[Art_from_Ark]

55. Thanks for mentioning Morse

I didn't remember hearing about him, so I looked him up and found that the Oregon Senator had, indeed, been staunchly anti-war since the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Ironically, he lost his next re-election bid to Republican Bob Packwood in part due to his opposition to continue funding the war..

[MannyGoldstein]

10. Well

he's certainly not practical.

[sabrina 1]

12. I think you meant 'he's not pragmatic'!

Shameful! Bought and paid for. Money is speech, money talks. They weren't kidding.

[MannyGoldstein]

14. I

heard rumors - unconfirmed - that Sanders thinks Social Security benefits should not be slashed.

What's he smoking?

[jtuck004]

19. I 100% agree with you.

It must not be very pragmatic for the rest of us to chip in so much to keep cold people warm any more, what with those banks and wars to to save and all, so they had to cut that back. Heck, that probably saved a whole truck. Or maybe a Maserati.

But somewhere deep down inside I am glad he got the money from the state for heating assistance. It was his campaigning that got it restored.

[Dont call me Shirley]

37. Manny, maybe you ought to actually LISTEN to what Bernie is saying,

catch him every Friday on Thom Hartmann's Brunch With Bernie, ET 3 PM

[SomethingFishy]

38. Manny's comments are sarcastic...

He knows Sanders is right.

[MannyGoldstein]

40. It was sarcasm.

Too dry sometimes, sorry!

Bernie is A-OK!

[Plucketeer]

43. I knew it was sarcasm - even before I read the post.

What few dollars we can cough up for this election cycle - they'll all be going to the likes of Sanders, Grayson, Warren, Grihalva and the like. No more for the DCCC, the president or ANY of those fakers that carry a D next to their names. It's only the progressive warriors that hear the will of the folks back home.

Instead of (D) & (R), the new letters should be (C) & (CL) for Corporate and Corporate Light.

[2banon]

46. Manny, I have really come to enjoy your so very dry wit, makes me chuckle, and I need that

from time to time...

[MannyGoldstein]

53. Aww... shucks...

Thanks for the kind words.

[Dont call me Shirley]

36. Bernie is a self-admited Democratic Socialist, such as the govt's in many European countries.

[MrMickeysMom]

6. You would think with the recent press about Wall Street...

from an insider (once retired) giving Wall Street a little truth and justice... would drive everyone to call a halt to this nonsense, you'd like to think people can understand... Does it actually have to get THAT bad for people to see what has been going on and on?

This craziness must stop.

[fasttense]

23. And Obama will sign the deregulation of Wall Street Act by Cantor

"Only in Washington could Wall Street deregulation be sold as job creation. And on the very same day, a bill to stop malevolent use of confidential Congressional information failed to include Wall Street—the biggest offender—in the prohibition. It’s their world, and we’re just living in it."

[Rosa Luxemburg]

8. Bernie is left of Stalin!

what will these commies do next!

[saras]

9. You can't have it both ways. Either corporate money is the problem, or it isn't

If it is, there's no way in hell they can be trusted with the task of managing the nation's jobs, and it is stupidly self-destructive to ask them to.

If it isn't, then ALEC isn't really a problem at all, it's just a more effective way of corporations managing the job market.

[RZM]

11. You'll have to ask the lovely folks at counterpunch

They aren't big fans of Sanders over there. Apparently he's a 'technofascist disguised as a liberal' (that's an actual quote):

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/30/the-myth-of-bernie-sanders/

[SunSeeker]

17. Thanks for the link.

Pretty shocking to see anyone accuse Bernie of being a sellout to military contractors. Man, if they don't approve of Bernie, who do they approve of? They do make the hard to dispute point that "he’s done little to constrain their [the super-rich] power and influence." But who, in the last 40 years, has?

[RZM]

18. Good question

I don't know. But I'm pretty sure Patrick Cockburn has a crush on Muqtada al-Sadr.

[Better Believe It]

22. Oh .... it's an article by Thomas Naylor, not a Counterpunch editorial. Thanks for the link!

Thomas H. Naylor is Founder of the Second Vermont Republic and Professor Emeritus of Economics at Duke University.

[woo me with science]

13. Every day. There's a new one every damned day.

You gotta hand it to Bernie. He must have had a million opportunities to sell out, too.

[Justice wanted]

15. It is a Fluff piece. NO REAL JOBS are created.

[a2liberal]

16. K&R (n/t)

[chnoutte]

20. IMHO Bernie would be a Democrat

if the DLC and Thridway had not taken over the democratic party.

Senator Sanders is about the only one in Congress worth supporting any more, the rest are mostly corporate whores.

[polichick]

25. You're probably right - and if the DLC and Third Way hadn't taken over...

...the party I'd still be a democrat.

Sometimes I imagine what the country would be like if we had lots of senators like Sanders.

[xtraxritical]

54. I think you're overlooking the Progressive Caucus. eom

[chnoutte]

58. The Progressive Caucus is prettry much useless right now

the GOP with their allies the 'moderate' dems have made the progress caucus a minor player with no ability to really effect any legislation.

[raouldukelives]

24. If god didn't want kids to work he wouldn't have given them hands. nt

[Slit Skirt]

26. whiner Bernie Sanders...

really?
case you haven't noticed he "whines" for both you and me


remember..you get what you settle for

[SammyWinstonJack]

27. It was

[midnight]

29. Eric works for ALEC....

In February, Common Cause wrote to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, asking for an explanation about an apparently unreported $1,350 gift from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in 2009. Cantor’s office immediately responded, claiming our inquiry was without foundation, but last week his office quietly amended his financial disclosures to include the gift from ALEC.

At that time, I wrote about Cantor’s failure to disclose:

‘ALEC, the so-called “free market, small government” lobby group underwritten by some of the nation’s largest corporations, reported in its tax filings for 2008 and 2009, making “cash grants” to the recipients of several annual awards. Common Cause has identified 22 legislators who received ALEC awards in those two years, including Rep. Cantor, who ALEC records indicate received $1,350 in 2009 as part of their Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award.’

Cantor responded within hours, saying no cash changed hands, but that he received a bust of Thomas Jefferson from ALEC, pictured above. But, under House Ethics Rules this type of award can only be received by a Member of Congress if it is disclosed, which Cantor did not do. This appears to be a clear ethics violation, and we have asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate. Prompted by Common Cause, Cantor has now very quietly amended his 2009 Financial Disclosure Report to include the ALEC gift. He also amended his 2010 report to include another bust given to him by the Associated Builders and Contractors trade group. We had no idea about this second award, but now we do.

Cantor’s relationship with ALEC really does matter. They are a highly prominent lobby group, with a clear and unambiguous agenda to advance their corporate funder’s interests, which includes advocating for Congressional action. So they actively seek the ear of leading politicians like Cantor, hoping that he will go to bat for them (and their corporate clients) in Congress. Of course Cantor knows why ALEC courts him, and although I am positive he would say he listens to all sides before making policy decisions, ultimately only an informed electorate can decide how much influence ALEC has on elected officials—which is why these public disclosures are so important!http://www.commonblog.com/2012/03/16/cantor-quietly-acknowledges-failing-to-report-alec-gift/

[xxqqqzme]

33. Cantor receives

ALEC's 'Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award' WITH cash award attached?

Who says rethuglicans don't have a sense of humor?

[Dont call me Shirley]

35. Thomas Jefferson is, no doubt, rolling in his grave

or in a current reincarnation as Bernie Sanders.

The gops take Orwell to the max.

[2banon]

47. interesting. that makes sense now. n/t

[southernyankeebelle]

31. I wish there were more Bernie Sanders. He stands for what he believes in and the working people.

Go Bernie Go.

[progressoid]

32. Wah wah wah. Bernie didn't get his pony.

k/r!

[Dont call me Shirley]

34. WTF kind of poison pill is in THAT jobs act? You know there's gotta be one

Poison pill in Medicare, Part D, must pay cost plus for drugs.

Poison pill in the Post Office bill, Ten years to fund 75 years of pension benefits.

Bernie Sanders says it as it really is, always.

Wall Street needs to be HEAVILY regulated not DEregulated!

[magic59]

41. Good ol Bernie

If we could clone him and fill the house with Bernies then "we the people" would actually mean something instead of its empty meaning today. Sen Sanders is one of the few great Senators in history. He can't be bought.

[malthaussen]

50. No chance

Bernie is opposed to cloning human beings.

-- Mal

[gateley]

42. Great piece at the link, Manny. Thanks. nt

[mother earth]

44. Only in this country do they have the audacity to sell a bill that further enables the swindlers as

a jobs bill...and for this they worked together to pass it. Bastards!

[RufusTFirefly]

45. The JOBS Act: Joining the fine tradition of Healthy Forests, Clear Skies, and the PATRIOT ACT

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

[progressoid]

56. It's Doubleplusgood!

[sulphurdunn]

49. Our best hope

is to offend the gods so much that they leave Wall Street and return to Mt. Olympus in disgust, leaving us to suffer our fate without the beneficence of their invisible hands in our pockets.

[Octafish]

51. That darn Bernie.

What can you say? The guy's got Integrity.

[Agony]

57. Sarcasm is the last refuge of a scoundrel...

apparently also the only way to speak the unspeakable

[DCBob]

59. Nothing.. he's just being a socialist.

what's wrong with that?