TARP Recipient Ownership Trust Act of 2009

I received the following announcement from Senator Mark Warner today. I may not agree that the economy is beginning to improve, but I do think this is very good policy and I applaud him for proposing it:

October 8, 2009
While there are recent promising signs that our country's economy is beginning to improve, I share the concerns of many Virginians about the federal government's role in assuming significant ownership stakes in several private companies -- namely General Motors, Chrysler, AIG and Citigroup.Taxpayers are understandably worried about how much of their initial investment they can expect to get back.

I believe more immediate action is necessary to enforce some "rules of the road" on the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, that would more fully protect the taxpayer -- removing any hint of politics from the federal government's temporary ownership stake in these companies -- and provide a clear strategy for selling taxpayer ownership of these companies.That's why I have introduced, along with Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican colleague from Tennessee, the TARP Recipient Ownership Trust Act of 2009. Here is what our bipartisan proposal will do:

If the government owns more than 10 percent of a private company, this ownership stake would be placed in an independent trust supervised by three trustees, appointed by the President, with a responsibility to maximize the return-on-investment for the taxpayers.
These three trustees should be neutral, respected business executives, with recognized records of accomplishment, and with the skills and knowledge to maximize taxpayer returns on our ownership stake.

The trust will have a responsibility to sell these assets by the end of 2011. That should give taxpayers confidence that they will not still own a significant share of stocks in these companies five, 10 or even 20 years from now. This week, I was pleased that the Washington Post editorial board endorsed our proposal, and the Wall Street Journal's Dow Jones Newswire wrote about our efforts to design a responsible strategy for ending our ownership in these companies.This is just one aspect of financial reform we must tackle – and sooner rather than later. Other critical issues include taking steps to prevent any institution from becoming “too big to fail,” putting our entire system at risk -- updating our disjointed system of bank regulation -- and consideration of improved consumer protection tools. I can assure you that we will continue to work in a responsible and bipartisan way to address these challenges.

Regards,

Mark Warner

Obama Case Update --

I recently received this "birther" commentary from a very smart and admired friend. This is about the 5th time I have received this since the beginning of the year. I would like to state for the record that this is, IMHO, another hysterial and reactionary piece which uses innuendo and half truth as though they are facts. There are too many holes in this document to seriously consider it, but I will say that the Occidental College transcripts were never released as claimed, and even if they were, the one thing they wouldn't have shown is that Barak Obama -received, under any name, a FullBright Scholarship to attend Occidental as an undergraduate. FullBright Scholarships are only granted to grad students.

There are many valid questions surrounding President Obama and the issue of his birth. They are currently being adjudicated in California and we should see a ruling inside a week. It won't resolve the issue and is sure to be appealed regardless of the ruling, but it is active.

I think the more pertinent issue is that both the President and the Speaker of the House have claimed they will operate the most transparent government in history, yet to date, the President has not only refused to allow transparency surrounding his personal records, but has spent a huge amount of money to keep them blocked. Where is the transparency he promised? Why is it OK to question McCain's citizenship credentials but not candidate/President Obama's? Why is it fine for Obama, a public figure by choice, to hide his personal records and writings from public scrutiny?

More important, what happens if and when the actual Hawaii birth certificate comes to light? Does the question of what he wrote in his Columbia thesis and the Harvard Law Review automatically become moot? Do the questions of why he sealed them go away? Do the sealed records of his actions as a legislator in the state of Illinois no longer matter? Do we no longer have a right to transparency in matters of Obama's public life?

I think these issues do matter and think they are the true smoking gun. This is my concern -- He uses the "birther" controversy to divert attention away from his true feelings and writings which may show that his beliefs are diametrically opposed to those of the majority of Americans. I think that if his University writings come to light, he will be bounced out of office in a heart beat. I think he is using this birth certificate issue to divert attention from the important inquiries into his past.

Meet the Soetoros

Lolo Soetoro, Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro,baby Maya Soetoro, and 9 year old Barry Soetoro

This registration document, made available on Jan.. 24, 2007, by the Fransiskus Assisi school in Jakarta, Indonesia, shows the registration of Barack Obama under the name Barry Soetoro made by his step-father, Lolo Soetoro.

Name: Barry Soetoro
Religion: ...... Islam
Nationality: ...... Indonesian How did little INDONESIAN, Barry Soetoro, (A.K.A. Barack Obama) get around the issue of nationality to become president?
Someone who tells lies is a L __ __ r?

PART 2:
In a move certain to fuel the debate over Obama's qualifications for the presidency, the group
"Americans for Freedom of Information" has released copies of President Obama's college transcripts from Occidental College .Released today, the transcript indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia as an undergraduate at the school.

The transcript was released by Occidental College in compliance with a court order in a suit brought by the group in the Superior Court of California.

The transcript shows that Obama (Soetoro) applied for financial aid and was awarded a fellowship for foreign students from the Fulbright Foundation Scholarship program.
To qualify, for the scholarship, a student must claim foreign citizenship.This document would seem to provide the smoking gun that many of Obama's detractors have been seeking.

Along with the evidence that he was first born in Kenya and there is no record of him ever applying for US citizenship, this is looking pretty grim.

The news has created a firestorm at the White House as the release casts increasing doubt about Obama's legitimacy and qualification to serve as president.

When reached for comment in London , where he has been in meetings with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Obama smiled but refused comment on the issue.Britain 's Daily Mail has also carried the story in a front-page article titled, "Obama Eligibility Questioned,"
leading some to speculate that the story may overshadow economic issues on Obama's first official visit to the U.K.In a related matter, under growing pressure from several groups, Justice Antonin Scalia announced that the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments concerning Obama's legal eligibility to serve as President in a case brought by Leo Donofrio of New Jersey . This lawsuit claims Obama's dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president.

Donofrio's case is just one of 18 suits brought by citizens demanding proof of Obama's citizenship or qualifications to serve as president.Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation has released the results of their investigation of Obama's campaign spending.

This study estimates that Obama has spent upwards of $950,000 in campaign funds in the past year with eleven law firms in 12 states for legal resources to block disclosure of any of his personal records.Mr. Kreep indicated that the investigation is still on-going but that the final report will be provided to the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder. Mr. Holder has refused to comment on the matter.