EPA Expands Testing to All Diesel Models

1. That they have been too reliant upon electronic testing.

2. That they should not limit the testing to just diesel cars. _{On second thought, they will probably need some other entity to prove that to them.}

I suspect that what they find will trigger a more complete testing of all vehicles, and maybe a realization that compliance was not realistic in the time frame demanded without significant loss of performance without a hybrid drivetrain..

I wasn't aware they tested diesels. I see big trucks putting out a cloud of black smoke that blocks out the sun.

I don't expect this to end well.

So what happens if they find that the gradual fuel efficiency gains we have seen in the last 20 years on emissions compliant vehicles has came from the manufactures doing like VW did and having their systems shut down in normal driving conditions?

Then who and what gets credit for the cleaner air if it turns out that the majority of modern vehicles are not really running any emissions equipment other than their catalytic converters and all the newest emissions compliance has been nothing more than paper fluffing behind bureaucrats desks to make it look like something was actually being done for the money being spent?

Do I have to make the list again???

It won't take you but just a few seconds, will it?

0.45....

"National Security: 1. U.S. Army and Marine Corps. 2. WWII and the Cold War. 3. The nuclear nonproliferation treaty. 4. U.S. contributions to the U.N.'s World Health Organization's successful effort to eradicate smallpox worldwide (they did).

Education: 1. University of California (e.g., Berkeley and UCSD). 2. Pell grants for college for low-income citizens. 3. The GI bill.

Public Infrastructure: 1. Interstate highway system. 2. Hoover Damn and the Lincoln Tunnel. 3. Rural electrification.

Environment: 1. Clean Water Act. 2. Clean Air Act. 3. sulfur emissions cap and trade system to eliminate acid rain (carbon cap and trade would be modelled on it).

Social Insurance: 1. Social Security (It is a myth that it is going bankrupt; it's on a sounder footing than any other USG program). 2. Medicare (yes, it is going bankrupt, but it controls costs better than the private insurance sector. Also, it has administrative costs equal to 2% of total program costs; Most private insurers are around 20%. 3. The Earned Income Tax Credit (originally Milton Friedman's idea).

Financial Stability/Consumer Protection: 1. Federal bank deposit insurance. 2. Glass Steagal Act (repealed in 1999 by a lapdog Congress). 3. The banning of lead in consumer products, probably the most underrated contribution to human health in American history.

Justice: 1. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. 2. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Other: 1. National Institute of Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 3. NOAA and NASA. "

https://civilizedconversation.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/successful-government-programs-a-partial-list/

The governments greatest accomplishments over the last 50 years....

http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2000/12/11governance-light

I scoff at your list!

Really, can't you do better than:

"U.S. Army and Marine Corps. 2. WWII and the Cold War; Interstate highway system. 2. Hoover Damn and the Lincoln Tunnel. 3. Rural electrification." all programs accomplished well over 50 years ago.

The Clean Water Act. 2. Clean Air Act" are both jokes and do nothing to clean air or water. Read them sometime.

I won't go on, it's too painful.

Settling the West: The U.S. government played a vital role in settling the West, including massive land purchases and giveaways, the Homestead Act, the Pony Express, agricultural colleges, rural electrification, telephone wiring, road-building, irrigation, dam-building, farm subsidies, and farm foreclosure loans. (More)

Funding Railroads: In the late 19th century, the government gave away 131 million acres in federal land grants, at enormous cost to itself, to railroad companies to build their railroads. Four of the five transcontinental railroads were built this way. To help them, Congress authorized loans of $16,000 to $48,000 per mile of railroad (depending on the terrain).

Telephone Infrastructure: The early telephone companies couldn't afford to wire communities for telephone service themselves, so they turned to the government for help -- and government funding wired nearly the entire nation.

Eisenhower's Interstate Highway Program: This massive 1950s program paved an entire continent with highways, bringing undreamed of economic change, and allowing the middle class to resettle from the cities to the suburbs.

Rural Electrification: In 1935, only 13 percent of all farms had electricity, because utility companies found it unprofitable to wire the countryside for service. Roosevelt's Rural Electrification Administration began correcting this market failure; by 1970, more than 95 percent of all farms would have electricity.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (New Version): Once a bureaucratic joke, today FEMA has won widespread praise for its response to natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and tornadoes. No private business could wait the long intervals between disasters like FEMA does, or bring relief to entire cities or states.

Human Genome Project: The government provides the money and the organization for this 20-year project, which will give medical science a road-map of the human genetic code. Researchers have already found genes that contribute to 50 diseases.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: This legendary American organization, popularized by the movie Outbreak, isolates and wipes out entire plagues and diseases that strike anywhere in the world. "The CDC," says Dr. James Le Duc of the World Health Organization, "is the only ballgame in town."

The Internet: In the 1960s, the government created ARPANET, which was used and developed by the Defense Department, public universities and other research organizations. In 1985, the National Science Foundation created various supercomputing centers around the country, linking the five largest together to start the modern Internet we know today.

The Federal Reserve System: Using Keynesian policies to expand or contract the money supply, the Fed has completely eliminated the depression from the American economic experience in the last six decades.

Employee Rights: Over strong opposition from business leaders and conservatives in Congress, liberals passed all the laws that workers take for granted today. These include the elimination of child labor, the creation of the 40-hour work week, overtime pay, paid vacations, the minimum wage, workers' compensation, worker's insurance programs, Social Security, organized labor rights and worker safety and health laws.

Here is an alphabetical list of other government accomplishments. It hardly scratches the surface:

AmeriCorps: In exchange for volunteer work in the community, students receive $5,000 credit for college. An IBM study shows that for every dollar invested in AmeriCorps, the return is between $1.60 and $2.60.

Ban on Leaded Gasoline: The oil industry fought this ban tooth and nail. But a few years after the ban, the level of poisonous lead in children's blood fell 37 percent.

Ban on CFCs: The chemical industry initially opposed efforts to ban this refrigerant chemical, which destroys the life-preserving ozone layer. Only government treaties and repeated scientific warnings forced them to change.

Ban on DDT and PCBs: Industry did everything in its power to stop the ban of these highly poisonous pesticides, which devastated wildlife populations. But from 1970 to 1983, the amount of DDT in human body fat fell 79 percent.

Bureau of Economic Analysis: This agency provides all the economic statistics that Congress, the executive branch, the Federal Reserve, the stock and bond markets, private industry and the entire economy depend on to make their analysis. Private industry could never do such an enormous job.

Clean Air and Clean Water Acts: By 1970, three fourths of America's rivers were undrinkable and unswimmable. Air quality in cities contributing to spiraling lung-disease rates. Over industry opposition, these Acts turned the environment around and visibly cleaned both our air and water.

Consumer Product Safety Commission: Each year, products kill 21,700 consumers, injure 28.7 million more, and cost society $200 billion. It would be far worse without this watchdog agency screening 15,000 products a year for safety.

Cooperative Extension Service: The CES gives American farmers the latest and best agricultural information and scientific research. Experts credit it for turning them into the most productive farmers in the world.

Environmental Protection Agency: This agency monitors and controls pollution caused by solid wastes, pesticides, toxic substances, noise, and radiation. It has been in constant conflict with business, because it's usually cheaper for businesses to just dump pollution than treat it. """

Manhattan project....

http://www.ushistory.org/us/51f.asp

NASA....

http://history.nasa.gov/factsheet.htm

USPS....

https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_001.htm#ep998290

US armed forces....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_the_United_States

__________________

Food and Shelter Programs

Food Stamps

The federal government provides food to poor Americans through a variety of programs. Public, private nonprofit, and private for-profit organizations all cooperate in the provision of these programs. For example, child nutrition programs? (including the school lunch program?) reach out to poor children in schools, childcare centers, and summer camps. The largest federal food program, representing almost three out of every four federal dollars in the food assistance category, is the "food stamp?" program.45 In 1996, $22.7 billion was spent on food stamp benefits. These benefits are adjusted yearly in accordance with changes in food prices generally. Although states administer their food stamp programs, the federal government pays for the direct costs of food stamps and a portion of state administrative expenses. With very few exceptions, all recipients of public assistance are eligible for food stamps. (Exceptions include most postsecondary school students!) A little over 50% of food stamp recipients in 1996 were children.
People participating in the food stamp program receive a monthly allotment of stamps. These stamps can then be used to purchase food at most retail stores. Stamps can not be used to purchase alcohol or tobacco products. Further, they can't be used for hot, ready-to-eat foods. In recent years, consistent with the push for welfare reform in general, work requirements have been attached to food stamps. The 1996 welfare reform legislation passed by the Clinton Administration limits able-bodied recipients between the ages of 18 and 50 (without children) to three months of food stamps in a three-year period unless the person is working or engaged in a workfare program for 20 or more hours per week.46

Public Housing and Section 8 Housing Assistance

The federal government assists many middle- and upper-income families with housing through its tax policies and loan programs. Our national government also collaborates with local public and private entities to provide housing assistance to low-income individuals and families. In 1992, the federal government spent over $22 billion on such assistance.47 Most of this support is provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development? in two major programs: the "public housing?" program and the "Section 8?" program.

The public housing program, dating back to the New Deal era, provides federal subsidies for construction costs on housing units built by local public housing authorities.48 These local housing authorities subsequently own and operate the units. As part of the program, the federal government offers rent subsidies to cover the difference between the operating cost of individual housing units and 30% of the tenant's household income.

During the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton Administrations, federal funding for public housing was cut drastically. One reason for this diminishing support is the tendency of public housing projects to concentrate multi-problem families into low-income neighborhoods. Increasingly, this approach has witnessed a high incidence of crime and vandalism, resulting in relatively high operating costs for local public housing authorities and high social costs for victimized families. These problems, along with rising construction costs, compelled policy planners to look for alternative low-income housing proposals.

The Section 8 program (referring to Section 8 of the Housing and Community Development Act?) emerged in the 1980s as the major alternative to public housing.49 During that decade, it became the largest federal housing assistance program for the poor. To illustrate, in 1996, the U.S. federal government spent $15.8 billion on Section 8 assistance, while the public housing program received $4.5 billion. Section 8 is essentially a rent supplement program. Tenants typically pay 30% of their (adjusted) income on rent; the federal government pays the difference between the tenant contribution and the market rate for the apartment. In contrast to public housing, tenants have a choice of using their subsidy in publicly or privately owned housing where available in their community. (The 1990 Housing Act, passed by the George H.W. Bush Administration?, sought to increase the supply of low-income rental housing through block grants? to state and local government.) More recently, major cities such as Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta have begun destroying their old high-rise public housing units and moving tenants into new low-rise public housing units or private housing. In either case, the aim is to better integrate poor tenants with other socioeconomic groups around the city.

Contributions of Business and the Voluntary Sector to Housing

The federal government encourages business investment in low-income housing through the "low-income rental housing tax credit."50 The tax credit was established as part of the Reagan Administration?'s Tax Reform Act of 1986?. Between 1990 and 1994, this tax incentive added about a quarter million low-income housing units to the housing supply. Developers qualify for the tax credit if they set aside specified percentages of their rental units for low-income tenants.

Habitat for Humanity? International is probably the most well-known voluntary housing development program. Between 1976 and 2000, this nonprofit nondenominational Christian organization, using donated material and voluntary labor, produced about 30,000 affordable houses in the United States.51 The program refers to recipients of the houses as "partners" because the partner family helps build their house. Upon completion, Habitat for Humanity sells the home to the partner at no profit, while ensuring the partner a no-interest mortgage. The average sales price for a Habitat home built in the United States in 2000 was about $46,600. Although Habitat for Humanity, by itself, is not capable of solving the shelter problem in America, it is a valuable part of the collaborative effort to address the problem.

Current Shelter Issues: the Homeless

Despite various public and private efforts to provide decent low-income housing and temporary shelter, including the 1987 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act?, the National Coalition for the Homeless? believes the number of homeless people in American continues to grow.52 Estimates of homelessness vary, in part, because the definition of what constitutes "homelessness" varies. The National Coalition for the Homeless uses a broad definition, claiming that people who live in unstable housing arrangements and lack a permanent place to stay are, in fact, experiencing homelessness. Although the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates that as many as 2 million people experience homelessness during a given year in the United States, the National Coalition for the Homeless, because of the difficulty in counting the homeless, chooses to cite the shortage of available services for the homeless. According to the coalition, in 1998, 26% of requests for emergency shelter in 30 U.S. cities went unmet due to a lack of resources. What is more, another study showed that in 50 cities around the United States, the individual city's official estimated number of homeless typically exceeded that city's available number of shelter and transitional housing spaces. Rural areas of the U.S. generally have even fewer resources for the homeless. Thus, in a nation that has never adequately housed all of its people, homelessness continues to be a serious policy issue.

Other Publicly-Funded Programs in American Social Welfare

A wide range of other publicly-funded programs contribute to American social welfare. Many of these services are funded by government but delivered by private organizations. Hence, they are part of an interdependent network of public and private efforts to further social welfare. These services include child welfare programs such as child abuse and neglect prevention, foster care, adoption?, shelter?, and outreach services.53 Other programs benefiting children include publicly-funded child care, education, and family planning? services.54 Head Start? (the preschool program) and student loan programs? are part of the education category. In addition, the U.S. government supports employment and training programs for those seeking employment.55 Furthermore, the American public sector supports many state and local health and human services through the Social Service Block Grant to individual states.

Now it's certainly true that a lot of social programs(75%) are not really effective, and one could argue not really well thought out, conceived by well meaning, but not necessarily too bright do-gooders....

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/opinion/social-programs-that-work.html

Settling the West and Funding Railroads guaranteed the annihilation/decimation of the native American horse cultures and life styles of the original owners of the land.

Most social programs, drug enforcement/"war" on drugs and prisons have been, and still are, dismal failures.

A complete lack of accountability and oversight have doomed modern government programs to failure through mediocrity.

No success stories form the last 30 years?

Obama care is a huge success, for bureaucrats, insurance companies, pharma and doctors and hospitals. Not so much for the premium payers who work for a living and pay taxes.

Well the military does well even if the VA has fallen short in some cases the effectiveness of the military has done well...This is certainly the most important thing that the government does and eats up about half the budget I think...Social programs helping the citizenry that have fallen on hard times is probably the second most important thing the government does.....

..." food, shelter, education, healthcare and money to U.S. citizens through primary and secondary education, subsidies of college education, unemployment disability insurance, subsidies for eligible low-wage workers, subsidies for housing, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, pensions for eligible persons and health insurance programs that cover public employees. The Social Security system is the largest and most prominent social aid program.^[1][2]Medicare is another prominent program.

Not including Social Security and Medicare, Congress allocated almost $717 billion in federal funds in 2010 plus $210 billion was allocated in state funds ($927 billion total) for means tested welfare programs in the United States-later (after 2010) expenditures are unknown but likely higher. Some of these programs include funding for public schools, job training, SSI benefits and medicaid.^[3] As of 2011, the public social spending-to-GDP ratio in the United States was below the OECD average.^[4] Roughly half of this welfare assistance, or $462 billion went to families with children, most of which are headed by single parents.^[5]

Total Social Security and Medicare expenditures in 2013 were $1.3 trillion, 8.4% of the $16.3 trillion GNP (2013) and 37% of the total Federal expenditure budget of $3.684 trillion.^[6][7]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_programs_in_the_United_States

"Well the military does well even if the VA has fallen short in some cases the effectiveness of the military has done well...This is certainly the most important thing that the government does and eats up about half the budget I think..."

According to this site the US Budget was $3.8 trillion for FY 2015. Of that defense used only $600 billion. That's only about 16%.

The funny thing, the defense budget is categorized as discretionary spending which but yet it's the only thing the constitution requires the federal government to spend money on. The mandatory spending covers all sorts of entitlements. That seems a bit upside down to me.

And according to Wikipedia the defense budget was 16% of the total budget.

Perhaps you were looking at the percentage the defense budget is of discretionary spending (54%).

As you said it's characterized as discretionary spending... negotiable

The total budget that includes recurring mandatory expenses...not negotiable

Your data is from 2013. I was using 2015 budget data. Regardless....defense budget is far from the majority of the budget. Whether it's negotiable or not it's still the what the Federal government spends taxpayer (present and future) money on.

Defense is not the only thing. As I mentioned above, and SE forgot to mention, the ever present Mailman and his organization is also mandated. Here's an update on the "solvent" SS Every employed person is contributing $6,435 towards its solvency and fully employed $7,749 if only the fully employed are counted. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/944143000000-social-security-administration-spending-hit-record.

Well I would say most social programs have to be tweaked over time to address anomalies, changing circumstances and attitudes...I would say the problem lies in the inability, or lack of will, to tweak in a timely fashion...but I think this is a problem with all bureaucratic entities, it is a lumbering beast by design...and people who make a hobby of pointing out the cracks in government tend to be outspoken and vigilant and also quite numerous....maybe it's a testament to the success of society that there are so many... What is considered good, changes over time, what was good many years ago is not considered good today, and what's considered good today will not be good tomorrow....

A pretty long list for conspiracy theorist.

I think the mandate and guidelines is good. It just that, there's always something wrong people, running a mechanism either solo or in group either large group or smaller ones whichever is worst. Either black, white or brown, its always like that from the beginning til today and tomorrow. Let us hold our breath and do the laundry ourselves.

The table is round, the bad and good guys having chitchats these days, they run the system.

Labels, classification and categories of circles does not help.

Coherent. Try it some time.

Yeah, but not bad for a bunch of monkey's....

I think people tend to set their sights too high, then they are disappointed when perfection isn't achieved...it's better to just reset your goal and try again and again and....

Poor guy, never has the consciousness of being like human. Whoever clothed him categorized him inside a circle.

"I think people tend to set their sights too high"-not generally true, some never had sights like myself, but blindly hopes on mere probabilities, like Manny Pacquioa did.

People like and hopes for bunch of sweeties never minding that they will get diabetes later on. Sometimes we find the learning too late that too much and too little of anything is bad for us.

Well, this day is at least warm in CR4 we always got someone to chitchat.

Well, hit one for the road

I think you are a fool.

What can I say,yeah, I am, like everybody is a fool, don't you think? And it's almost inevitable to be one at least, one time or another. Don't tell me, you haven't been one ever since.

I'd say that many more people make a hobby out of building a lifetime, do-nothing job in government than there are people who make a hobby of pointing out the cracks in government.

When's the last time a government program was tweaked by reducing staff and not adding yet another layer of bureaucracy?

Try getting an answer out of the IRS or SSA.

We have issues with both agencies, one with IRS that has dragged on for three years. They still can't decide if my wife's aunt really died 5 years ago, so we are paying a lawyer to try and convince the idiots she is really dead.

A certified copy of the original death certificate has always worked for me...I've never had any problems with the IRS or the SSA, you just need the proper paper work....

Silly goose.

My wife worked for a law firm for many years. All the documentation is certified, verified and in duplicate.

She has to trust lawyers to transmit these documents properly. She can't live in Chicago to do the legwork.

Consider yourself lucky.

I'll give you a GA on this one.

But you almost lost me on the Federal Reserve comment above,,,,

GA!

"Ban on Leaded Gasoline: The oil industry fought this ban tooth and nail. But a few years after the ban, the level of poisonous lead in children's blood fell 37 percent."

Only a 37% decrease of lead content in children's blood due to use of leaded fuel?

So 63% of the lead in children's blood was/is coming from a source other than leaded gasoline which could theoretically still be present in our environment?

Sounds like we need to identify the "real" source responsible for the greater percent of contamination.

Oh! I seem to remember that there was a significant discovery during that period of time that indicated most of the lead contamination in the children tested was directly attributed to eating and/or contacting lead-based paint.

If it had not been for "forced" testing by the government then who would have identified these dangers to our children and removed them from use? Certainly not the manufacturers or business owners.

Government intervention is much akin to the public's treatment of law enforcement personnel;

When someone is speeding or breaking the law nobody wants to see an officer.

Let that same person have an accident or become a victim of violent crime or robbery and law enforcement cannot get there quick enough.

In fact most "law abiding" citizens want law enforcement to prevent crime and violently complain when the officer(s) show up after the crime has occurred.

Yet, people are not willing to tolerate much less willingly comply with cameras, phone taps, criminal profiling, and road blocks which in fact do make a significant difference in providing crime prevention.

Me thinks we have a problem and it's growing.

"

The percentage of tested children found to have elevated blood lead levels has decreased substantially in the past three decades. Estimated at 7.6 percent in 1997, in 2013 the estimated percentage was 0.6 percent.

IMPORTANCE

No safe blood lead levels (BLLs) in children have been identified.[1] Lead is harmful to fetuses and young children, adversely affecting their developing nervous systems. Particularly in children, high BLLs can lead to severe neurological problems such as seizures, comas, and death.[2] Lead exposure can also cause learning disabilities, lowered intelligence or behavioral problems.[3] Recent evidence suggests that even blood levels lower than previously thought to be clinically significant may have adverse health effects.[4] In addition, exposure to lead in early childhood may result in deleterious effects on neurodevelopment that persist into adolescence.[5] Although lead was banned from residential paint in 1978, it remains an issue in houses built before the ban, and can be found in other environmental sources, such as soil and water, as well as thousands of commercial applications.[6] Because lead poisoning often occurs with no observable symptoms, it may go unrecognized, implying a need for regular BLL testing.[7]"

http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=lead-poisoning

Interesting graph, why stop with the crimes in '97.?

The folks who wrote Freakonomics had another explanation.......abortion.

"Environmental Protection Agency: This agency monitors and controls pollution caused by solid wastes, pesticides, toxic substances, noise, and radiation. It has been in constant conflict with business, because it's usually cheaper for businesses to just dump pollution than treat it. "

Are you talking about the government agency whose incompetency caused the Gold King Mine Spill this past August when they released 3 million gallons of toxic heavy metal contaminated water into the Animas and San Juan rivers?

Small pox is still a threat, ask any Desert Storm vet, we all got re vaccinated.

Interstate Hiway, well it did kill off the railroads, and led us down the path of untold tons of CO₂ via auto emissions.

Social Security as described in a '50's social studies text. "You give the government 3 lbs of butter during your working life and receive 4 lbs of margarine in retirement". (Soooo good Elinore Roosevelt used to hawk it on TV) S.S. is not solvent but it could be if Congress stopped giving it to every over 65 immigrant who walks or swims through the door.

You might have something with lead and public education. When there was lead in plumbing, and little if any Federal Aid to Education SAT scores were X. Now that lead has been removed and we have lots of Aid to Education SAT scores are .73 X.

Acid rain, you mean the stuff, that damaged car finishes and is still occurring?

As for Medicare/Medicaid while the Admin costs are low, the fraud is through the roof. Ever hear of Humana, US Healthcare, etc being ripped off for 10s of millions. If you are a Vet (Happy Veterans Day) you have Tricare a plan sooooooooooo bad, even the VA won't accept it.

Financial Stability?? you're obviously referring to Manhattan multi million dollar apartments as opposed to middle class homes that are worthless. As for Glass Steagal, you are sort of right, it wasn't a lapdog congress as much as to keep our banks competitive with UBS, Oriental, and the other offshore banks. It didn't have to be repealed, only amended.

Civil Rights Act of 64? Wasn't near as good as the '57 version that was gutted by LBJ.

Consumer Product Safety Commission that tracks all Credit/Debit card purchases as well as all bank transactions.

National Institute of Health: ever watch TV? Not an evening goes by without an lawfirm ad telling us the dangers of some FDA approved drug or device. BTW due to there and other alphabet agencies incredible outstanding work, bubonic plague is back.

NASA, used to be good. Something happened, the Shuttle was a poor engineering choice by any standard. It set us back decades, in addition they tossed the blueprints for Saturn V.

National Security is one of the few things you mentioned that is Constitutionally required. We seem to have fallen a bit in the past 20 yrs. Another is USPS, which for some unfathomable reason, you failed to mention.

Thanks for listening, in general I look forward to all of your posts, including this one

Best, and if you can read this thank a teacher, if you can read this without Google Translate, thank a Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Pilot, or Coastie.

"2. Glass Steagal Act (repealed in 1999 by a lapdog Congress)."

I don't think it's fair to blame only Congress for the repealing of Glass Steagall Act

From Wikipedia - President Bill Clinton's signing statement for the GLBA summarized the established argument for repealing Glass-Steagall Section's 20 and 32 in stating that this change, and the GLBA's amendments to the Bank Holding Company Act, would "enhance the stability of our financial services system" by permitting financial firms to "diversify their product offerings and thus their sources of revenue" and make financial firms "better equipped to compete in global financial markets."

That was the major mistake. The separation of those items is what made the difference. When did anyone hear of an insurance company getting bailed out in the 20th century? The FDIC permitted banks to make risky investments, w/o fear of insolvency, the tax payers would bail them out. Congress caused the '80's S&L failures when they changed the tax code involving depreciation allowances making real estate investment less attractive.

Interesting how SE cherry picks his data, then only shows one side and never the "unintended" consequences.

In a perfect world it would have worked.

The fact that scumbag lawyers and bankers saw an easy way to steal billions from the public ruined it for everyone.

The fact that scumbag lawyers and bankers saw an easy way to steal billions from the public ruined it for everyone.

And no one saw that coming (the scumbag lawyers and banksters looking to steal from the public)?

I looked at the Brookings link. Some of those things listed are a joke.

2. Expand the Right to Vote - Expand it for whom? Dogs? cats? The right to vote exists for every American citizen 18 and older (unless that privilege has been revoked due to criminal activity).

9. Reduce the Federal Budget Deficit - Okay, yes it's come down...but let's get real....it's still out of this world. How about some real reduction. Like down to zero.
17. Strengthen the National Defense - Yes, we have the strongest defense in the world....but questionable as to how well the Fed government is doing at keeping it strong...let alone strengthening it.

22. Increase the Stability of Financial Institutions and Markets - I think the jury may still be out on how well the Federal government is performing on this front

38. Make Government More Transparent to the Public - HA!!! Are they kidding?

41. Improve Government Performance

49. Control Immigration - again HA!

32. Ensure an Adequate Energy Supply - This is happening in spite of the Feds

And many others, while noble causes, are not the responsibility of the Federal government such as:

30. Expand Home Ownership

43. Expand Job Training and Placement

45. Increase the Supply of Low-Income Housing

47. Improve Mass Transportation

A certified copy of the original death certificate has always worked for me...I've never had any problems .... you just need the proper paper work....

Actually, that is a rather neat idea from Solar Eagle, submit a death certificate (now to be known as a disconnect certificate), and keep on living. It's all very simple!

BOHICA - Knee-jerk reaction or any way they can justify their rapidly growing budget is fair game?