We'll take a look at a few financial bombshells that are being reported by Bloomberg. Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson warned Hedge Fund managers about the takeover of Fannie and Freddie and $7.7 trillion in secret loans by the Fed to the largest banks in the country earned them $13 billion. Then, the Senate is expected to vote tomorrow on the provision that would mandate military detention for terrorist suspects, American citizens included. Also new research shows that young voters care big time about their civil liberties and reject America's militaristic approach to foreign policy. So why are the candidates who uphold those views, like Ron Paul, treated like they're fringe? And then don't miss happy hour.
MSM: Cain Overload v. Drone Blackout
The mainstream media is going nuts over Herman Cain and his affair allegation. But you know what they should be focusing on instead? Take this piece from Wired's Danger Room, detailing how media access to drones and drone pilots at Creech Air Force base has essentially been shut down, blacked out. And of course, this major media blackout happens to be occurring at a time when the drone campaign that our country, the military, and the CIA are waging is the most heated it's ever been.
Banks Profit $13Bil off Secret Fed Loans
Bloomberg reported that the Federal Reserve had given out $7.7 trillion in loans to the nation's largest banks in secret through March of 2009, banks that at the time were publicly talking about their strength and solvency, and who ended up profiting $13 billion off these loans. As former US Congressman Alan Grayson had noted, is the fed supposed to pick winners and losers? Nomi Prins, author of "Black Tuesday" discusses.
Gov't Withholding Manning Evidence?
The pre-trial hearing for Bradley Manning is just seventeen days away, but his civilian defense lawyer, David Coombs is working hard to build their case. Coombs has made a court filing, calling on three federal reviews that conclude that Manning's leaks did not harm national security, and caused little if any damage to America's reputation and interests abroad. According to Wired, Coombs hopes to use the Defense Department report to prevent witnesses from labeling the leaks as potentially damaging, as that claim differs from what the reports say.
Detainee Provision: Martial Law v. Exec Power
The Senate has begun deliberations on the National Defense Authorization Act, which would authorize $682 billion for military personnel, weapons systems, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and national security programs in the energy department. But the controversy is the provision that would put detention of terrorist suspects in the military's hands, including allowing for the indefinite detention of American citizens, and mandating it for non-citizens. Marcy Wheeler blogger at Emptywheel.net discusses.
*Correction- Empty Wheel blog is no longer part of Firedoglake. It can be found here. http://www.emptywheel.net/
Show & Tell: Do Taxes Affect Quality of Life?
Last time we told you about the Republican claim that higher taxes would lower living standards in the US and asked if the US standard of living would increase if taxes were raised on Americans? Find out what people are saying. Now, we spoke about a Bloomberg report which detailed $7.7 trillion in secret loans that the Fed doled out to the banks through March of '09, which they turned around and made a cool 13 billion off of. So what do you think, would Dodd-Frank have been stronger if Congress would have known the truth then about the size of the Federal Reserve's loans to US banks?
FTC's Toothless Settlement with Facebook
Today the FTC and Facebook finally reached a long awaited settlement on the social networks very dubious privacy practices. As part of settlement Facebook will now be required to get users consent before they make changes to their privacy settings, and must submit themselves to a privacy audits for the next 20 years. They'll also be forced to block users from accessing accounts that have been deleted after 30 days.
Ron Paul: The Millennial Candidate?
As we watch the countdown to the next presidential election we'll take a look at how young voters feel. A November Pew Research report shows that millennials take a starkly different position than older generations when it comes to the tradeoff between civil liberties and security from terrorism. We'll take a look at this and ask, the Independent Women's Forum's Nicole Neily, when will our politicians catch up, to what young people want for the future?
Tool Time: Rick Scott 'Cares' About the Homeless!
Florida governor Rick Scott while serving Thanksgiving dinner at a homeless shelter in East Naples said "I care completely about all these programs." But he sure has a funny way of showing it. Remember those epic budget cuts that killed the state's education program? It also completely destroyed the $7 million funding designed to help homeless families find new homes, housing initiatives, and preventative measures to fight homelessness.
MSM: Cain Overload v. Drone Blackout
The mainstream media is going nuts over Herman Cain and his affair allegation. But you know what they should be focusing on instead? Take this piece from Wired's Danger Room, detailing how media access to drones and drone pilots at Creech Air Force base has essentially been shut down, blacked out. And of course, this major media blackout happens to be occurring at a time when the drone campaign that our country, the military, and the CIA are waging is the most heated it's ever been.
Banks Profit $13Bil off Secret Fed Loans
Bloomberg reported that the Federal Reserve had given out $7.7 trillion in loans to the nation's largest banks in secret through March of 2009, banks that at the time were publicly talking about their strength and solvency, and who ended up profiting $13 billion off these loans. As former US Congressman Alan Grayson had noted, is the fed supposed to pick winners and losers? Nomi Prins, author of "Black Tuesday" discusses.
Gov't Withholding Manning Evidence?
The pre-trial hearing for Bradley Manning is just seventeen days away, but his civilian defense lawyer, David Coombs is working hard to build their case. Coombs has made a court filing, calling on three federal reviews that conclude that Manning's leaks did not harm national security, and caused little if any damage to America's reputation and interests abroad. According to Wired, Coombs hopes to use the Defense Department report to prevent witnesses from labeling the leaks as potentially damaging, as that claim differs from what the reports say.
Detainee Provision: Martial Law v. Exec Power
The Senate has begun deliberations on the National Defense Authorization Act, which would authorize $682 billion for military personnel, weapons systems, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and national security programs in the energy department. But the controversy is the provision that would put detention of terrorist suspects in the military's hands, including allowing for the indefinite detention of American citizens, and mandating it for non-citizens. Marcy Wheeler blogger at Emptywheel.net discusses.
*Correction- Empty Wheel blog is no longer part of Firedoglake. It can be found here. http://www.emptywheel.net/
Show & Tell: Do Taxes Affect Quality of Life?
Last time we told you about the Republican claim that higher taxes would lower living standards in the US and asked if the US standard of living would increase if taxes were raised on Americans? Find out what people are saying. Now, we spoke about a Bloomberg report which detailed $7.7 trillion in secret loans that the Fed doled out to the banks through March of '09, which they turned around and made a cool 13 billion off of. So what do you think, would Dodd-Frank have been stronger if Congress would have known the truth then about the size of the Federal Reserve's loans to US banks?
FTC's Toothless Settlement with Facebook
Today the FTC and Facebook finally reached a long awaited settlement on the social networks very dubious privacy practices. As part of settlement Facebook will now be required to get users consent before they make changes to their privacy settings, and must submit themselves to a privacy audits for the next 20 years. They'll also be forced to block users from accessing accounts that have been deleted after 30 days.
Ron Paul: The Millennial Candidate?
As we watch the countdown to the next presidential election we'll take a look at how young voters feel. A November Pew Research report shows that millennials take a starkly different position than older generations when it comes to the tradeoff between civil liberties and security from terrorism. We'll take a look at this and ask, the Independent Women's Forum's Nicole Neily, when will our politicians catch up, to what young people want for the future?
Tool Time: Rick Scott 'Cares' About the Homeless!
Florida governor Rick Scott while serving Thanksgiving dinner at a homeless shelter in East Naples said "I care completely about all these programs." But he sure has a funny way of showing it. Remember those epic budget cuts that killed the state's education program? It also completely destroyed the $7 million funding designed to help homeless families find new homes, housing initiatives, and preventative measures to fight homelessness.
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