Daily Democratic Wire 3-9-2010

George Wenschhof

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Fired Up for Health Care Reform - yesterday, at Arcadia University in Philadelphia, President Barack Obama was in campaign mode. He railed against the insurance companies and their unwarranted rate increases.

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Vice President Joe Biden in Israel - hoping to be able to announce the beginning of the Israel-Palestine "proximity talks". The indirect talks are an attempt to restart negotiations which have ended due to continued Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. Biden is also there to reassure continued U.S. security support for Israel. Reuters.com has more here.

It is likely Middle East Envoy George Mitchell is who would be the diplomat to shuttle between Palestine and Israel. Expect Biden to make the announcement after he meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmood Abbas tomorrow.

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More details emerge on Senate plan for financial regulatory reform - the latest information surrounds who is the government agency who oversees what Banks. The NY Times has more here.

The Federal Reserve would be removed of all regulation authority except for the largest 23 Banks in the country. The remaining close to 5000 Banks would either fall under the Office of Comptroller of the currency (National banks), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (state banks) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (savings and loans).

While this proposal decentralizes somewhat the current regulatory structure, it does not deal with the most pressing issue and that is the size of banks. Banks were allowed to grow at alarming speed and size over the past decade and the resulting near financial collapse was the result. Capping the size of banks so they can no longer be too big to fail is what is needed.

The battle between government and monopolies in business took place once before in U.S. history with government prevailing for the good of all Americans. It needs to happen again.

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Remember Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and his holds on 60 Obama Nominees? - well the senator was upset because a 40 Billion military air-refueling tanker contract may be lost by Northrup Grumman which is located in his state. The Pentagon rebid the contract and Northrup Grumman dropped out of the competition, leaving Boeing as the most likely sole source to receive the contract. Politico.com has more here.

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