2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumCongress to Eliminate Billions in Wall Street Subsidies to Fund Repair of Nation’s Highways
Both parties of Congress are in agreement on diverting billions in Wall Street subsidies to rebuild Americas crumbling infrastructure. If youre by a window, look outside for flying pigs.
Currently, the Federal Reserve pays out a 6 percent annual dividend to roughly 2,900 banks JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo net approximately $350 million apiece each year from the dividend. These banks own stock in the Federal Reserve as a means of becoming members of regional Fed branches around the country, and unlike other stocks, the big banks are guaranteed to never lose money on their investment in the Fed. For years, the Congressional Progressive Caucus has proposed reducing that dividend to 3 percent in order to pay for repairing American infrastructure. After lying dormant for over a year, it appears that idea has now caught on with Republicans as well.
According to Bloomberg, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) recently told a group of Wall Street executives at a Financial Services Roundtable event that he wouldnt use his power to remove a new rule that allots funding for federal highways by reducing that dividend to 1.5 percent. The House is now weighing whether or not to back the dividend reduction before highway funding runs out at the end of October. Should the proposal go through, Americas highways would benefit from an additional $17 billion in repairs over the next ten years.
Now, Wall Street is in panic mode.
The idea that going forward that we are going to pay for our nations infrastructure on the backs of one industry sector is a really flawed public policy, said American Bankers Association president Rob Nichols.
While Fed chair Janet Yellen has taken the banks side, saying she believes the policy could conceivably have unintended consequences, Washington prognosticators believe the banks will ultimately have to sacrifice their Fed dividend, and possibly more federal handouts further down the road.
http://usuncut.com/politics/congress-to-eliminate-billions-in-wall-street-subsidies-to-fund-repair-of-nations-highways/
Congressional Progressive Caucus
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is the largest membership organization within the Democratic Caucus in the United States Congress with 69 declared members.[4] The CPC is a left-leaning organization that works to advance progressive and liberal issues and positions.[5][6][7]
The CPC is currently co-chaired by U.S. Representatives Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN). It was founded in 1991 and has grown steadily since then, having more recently added 20 members since 2005 and having hired its first full-time Executive Director, Bill Goold, in May of that year. Subsequent Executive Directors have included Andrea Miller (2009-2011) and Brad Bauman (2011-2014). The current Executive Director is Mike Darner. Of the 20 standing committees of the House in the 111th Congress, 10 were chaired by members of the CPC. Those chairmen were replaced when the Republicans took control of the House in the 112th Congress.
The CPC is committed to government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Their policy agenda is rooted in four core principles: (1) fighting for economic justice and security in the U.S. and global economies; (2) protecting and preserving civil rights and civil liberties; (3) promoting global peace and security; and (4) strengthening environmental protection and energy independence. Their fundamental fairness plan reflects national priorities that are consistent with the values, needs, and hopes of all Americans, not just the powerful and the privileged. Accordingly, the CPC also advocates "universal access to affordable, high quality healthcare", fair trade agreements, living wage laws, the right of all workers to organize into labor unions and engage in collective bargaining, the abolition of the USA PATRIOT Act, the legalization of same-sex marriage, US participation in international treaties such as the climate change related Kyoto Accords, strict campaign finance reform laws, a crackdown on corporate welfare and influence, an increase in income tax rates on upper-middle and upper class households, tax cuts for the poor, and an increase in welfare spending by the federal government.[8]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Progressive_Caucus
Sanders is known as a leading progressive voice on issues such as income inequality,[7] universal healthcare, parental leave, climate change,[16] LGBT rights, and campaign finance reform.[17] He rose to national prominence following his 2010 filibuster[18][19] against the proposed extension of the Bush tax cuts. He is also outspoken on civil rights and civil liberties, and has been particularly critical of mass surveillance policies such as the USA PATRIOT Act,[20] as well as racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. He has long been critical of U.S. foreign policy, and was an early and outspoken opponent of the Iraq War.
(snip)
During his first year in the House, Sanders often alienated allies and colleagues with his criticism of both political parties as tools of the wealthy.[21] In 1991, Sanders co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and chaired the group of mostly liberal Democrats for its first eight years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders
Sometimes making ripples in the pond take a while to reach the bank.
napi21
(45,806 posts)After I got over the shock that this crowd can actually agree on something, I think this is a GREAT IDEA! The bankers sure aren't hurting and those numbers are chump change in their overall profit picture. Sure they'll cry and and whine that it will KILL THEM, they'll get over it, and our infrastructure will get fixed FINALLY too!
Uncle Joe
(58,112 posts)passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)As Kasich said, "You'll Get Over It"!
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)with the reduced interest rate.
Agony
(2,605 posts)for shafting ordinary working people and a surcharge equal to the LIBOR + 105% of median student loan debt for fucking over young people trying to get an education.
Sometimes you just have to play the game and a negative interest rate would be an appropriate economic leveler.
"The idea that going forward that we are going to pay for our nations infrastructure on the backs of one industry sector is a really flawed public policy, said American Bankers Association president Rob Nichols. "
flawed public policy would be to continue to let private banks retain outsized earning using the peoples money.
TygrBright
(20,733 posts)Wow.
amazedly,
Bright
AllyCat
(16,036 posts)Hoping it passes.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)All they've done is fuck us for years...payback is hell.
valerief
(53,235 posts)bbgrunt
(5,281 posts)beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)randomelement
(128 posts)The idea that going forward that we are going to pay banks on the backs of the middle class is a really flawed public policy,
Fixed it for ya Robbie
What a sorry piece of shit ....
ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)We can hope though
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)Poor, poor Wall St. Thanks to Bernie's campaign, people are now pushing their Reps to work for the PEOPLE.
Amazing accomplishment and even before we send him to the WH where we can only imagine how much differently our money will be spent.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)We must elect Bernie to keep the pressure on full blast.
Uncle Joe
(58,112 posts)in the United States Congress with 69 declared members, their current co-chair, Latino U.S. Representatives Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) has endorsed Bernie.
I believe as Zorra stated below the Republicans can't help but notice the record breaking crowds that Bernie is drawing on the campaign trail, not to mention him raising more total campaign dollars than any Republican in the race and with small average donations of just over $30 there is more upside room to follow.
The Republicans with any political sense see the writing on the wall.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)of keeping the people divided doesn't seem to be working so well anymore. Things are way too serious with everyone badly affected by dysfunction of the government, and I think the people know now the negative effects of money on our system so they are no longer allowing the standard 'issues' the Corps funded candidates use every election, then do little or nothing about, to take priority in this election.
The game they've playing has been exposed, starting with OWS which showed how much people knew about their rigging of the system, the reason why they so brutally went after them, and now Bernie, one of the first elected Reps to publicly support OWS, giving the people both a voice and a choice.