news from mid dec2012

Republican who served under Reagan and Bush Sr says that current Republican Congressional language is nonsense and gives some recent GAO charts to prove it

Krugman says yesterday's statement by Bernenke, Federal Reserve Chair is an admission that we are already in the latter half of an american lost decade and current discussions vis-a-vis the upcoming fiscal cliff won't address the basic problems as the previous article conveniently points out

foreclosure stories  from the lawyer who took robo-signing to court by David Dayen

why are Feds allowing banks that are guilty of fraud to continue defrauding the public, their customers? 

more local St Louis news on that from November

npr asks that and other questions about the record $1.9 bn Federal fine levied against HSBC this week

Big news in Europe this week as Eurozone accepts Euro Central Bank oversight of 200 banks. They've been debating this for years...

I was impressed with the Robin Hood Relief Fund raising $15 mn, so far for Sandy victims but they need so much more

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On December 12, 1508, our Editors tell us (pp 266-8) Marin Sanudo discussed budget matters of the College and the Senate of Venice, importantly, before the war of the League of Cambrai. The mercenaries wanted to know how much money they could spend for men and equipment, before going out into the field. Normally in peacetime, Venice regularly levied protection fees from cities in the region. A few days later, the Senate voted to levy such taxes on the cities and see what they could gather. After the massive defeat at Agnadello in May of the following year, most of these subject cities were eventually captured by the French or forces of the Emperor and Venice would not be able to levy from them for many years. In subsequent years, this war and it's need for funds and Venice's inability to raise them, caused the senate to grant all manner of laws allowing this or that means to making money. From accepting loans in exchange for public office to raising taxes on prostitutes, there needed to be more sources of money.

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Also I've been watching this week as this guy has been tweeting every drone strike since 2002