Archive for the ‘Washington D.C.’ Category
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 30th, 2013 7:23 AM |
If the American public is concerned about the dysfunction within Washington D.C., after reading two inside editions on the games being played within our nation’s capital, the public should be even more concerned than ever.
I recently completed two enlightening books, Confidence Men by Ron Suskind and Bailout by Neil Barofsky. I recommend both to those who want to gain a real understanding of how our nation’s capital does NOT work, that is, does NOT work for us. (more…)
Tags: book review Bailout by Neil Barofsky, book review Confidence Men by Ron Suskind, Neil Barofsky Tim Geithner, Ron Suskind larry Summers Tim Geithner Ben Bernanke, waste fraud abuse and corruption in Washington
Posted in General, Washington D.C. | 3 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 2nd, 2012 6:28 AM |
I truly appreciate those in our nation who can properly frame the debate which MUST be had if we are to protect our country and the future for our children. I heard just such a man last evening. I compel you to listen to him.
Who is this man?
Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma. He laid out not only our greatest problem but also indicted the corrosive culture in Washington that has allowed this problem to grow. Coburn provides the barometer by which all of our supposed politicos should be measured.
What did Coburn have to say? A lot. Try these on for size… (more…)
Tags: are we becoming Greece, Coburn interview may 1 2012, leaders in Washington, leadership in Washington, national debt, Senator Tom Coburn on career politicians, Senator Tom Coburn on character, Senator Tom Coburn on culture in Washington, Senator Tom Coburn on culture of careerism, Senator Tom Coburn on failing in Washington, Senator Tom Coburn on issues in Washington, Senator Tom Coburn on leadership, Senator tom Coburn on our greatest threat to our country, Senator Tom Coburn on parochialism, Senator Tom Coburn on problems in Washington, Senator Tom Coburn Republican of Oklahoma, Senator Tom Coburn The Debt Bomb, The Debt Bomb by Tom Coburn, Tom Coburn interview with Greta van Susteren, waste fraud and corruption in Washington n, We have no leadership, where are our leaders in Washington
Posted in General, Washington D.C. | 7 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 7th, 2011 6:55 AM |
Truth, transparency, and integrity.
The compromising of these virtues may be the cost of doing business in our nation but make no mistake the price we collectively pay is enormous. Whether in Washington or on Wall Street, the ability to compromise our prized virtues has truly been raised to an art form.
From derivative transactions which disguise unprecedented levels of risk to bond indentures which require advanced legal degrees to interpret, our ‘friends’ on Wall Street with assistance from ‘their’ friends in Washington have displayed little regard for the aforementioned virtues which are the foundation for real ‘sense on cents’.
More often than not,though,the violation of our virtues is viewed in an impersonal light. Wall Street and Washington are behemoths. The American public and investors at large are faceless. In my opinion, our financial services industry and government would just as soon keep it this way.
Let’s challenge them. (more…)
Tags: bad business practices, Bernie Madoff, bringing sunshine to wall street, business virtues, complaint of Sivere vs Demos, cost of doing business, David Kotz, George Demos, JP Morgan Whistleblower Peter Sivere, New York Office of SEC, New york State Supreme Court Appellate Division, Peter Sivere, POGO, project on Government Oversight, Raj Rajaratnam, regulatory capture, SEC OIG, Sense on Cents, truth transparency and integrity, violating business principles, Wall Street-Washington incest, whistleblowers
Posted in General, SEC, Wall Street, Washington D.C., whistleblowers | 13 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 25th, 2011 7:57 AM |
Information is everything.
Regular readers of Sense on Cents are well aware of my having written that statement on many an occasion. Those on Wall Street who gain early access to critical information have a decided advantage. Those in Washington who gain the upper hand in controlling the flow of information are also at a decided advantage.
As these realities become ever more prevalent, Americans and people worldwide are working harder and digging deeper to attain unbridled access to information in order to determine the truth and promote transparency. With major media outlets often failing us in these pursuits, where do we turn for this information? The internet.
Against this backdrop, I am not surprised to see political powers in Washington accept and embrace the reality of the power of the information superhighway and put an ‘eye in the sky’ in order to monitor the traffic. To what do I allude? (more…)
Tags: access to information, Are you in?, are you in? is obama's new rallying cry, ars nightmare, Auction Rate Securities, Director of Progressive Media & Online Response, failure of media, financial regulatory reform, FINRA, finreg, House Speaker John Boehner, Huffington Post, information is everything, Jesse Lee's new role at White House, obama 2012, obama bowing to saudis, obama in 2012, obama shaking hands with chavez, obama shaking hands with netanyahu, power of the internet, regulatory capture, Representative Grimm, Senator Jeff Sessions, Senator Jon Kyl, sense of disenfranchisement, slogan for obama re-election campaign 2012, truth transparency integrity, Wall Street-Washington incest, what is obama's new slogan for reelection, what is regulatory capture, whistleblower protection, White House Beefs Up Online Rapid Response, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, who is Dan Pfeiffer, who is Jesse Lee, will obama get reelected
Posted in Barack Obama, General, Obama Administration, Washington D.C. | 5 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 25th, 2010 11:47 AM |
People can debate the relative strength of the economy all they want. I firmly believe that from a macro-level, our economy has years to go before it has a real chance to recover. Why years?
1. The banking system overall remains loaded with an excessive amount of delinquent loans. Uncle Sam will continue to siphon money from the American public and deliver it to the banks. In the process, these “earnings” will be utilized to write down the values of loans and securities it holds at inflated levels.
2. Credit will not truly flow until the health of banks, especially the smaller and community based banks, is substantially stronger. (more…)
Tags: AMA, America's banking industry, America's economy, American economy, American Jobbery Act, American Medical Association, another stimulus package, can we trust washington, community banks, cooking the books, delinquent loans, financial industry in America, health care legislation, health of banks in america, lack of trust in Washington, Medicare physician reimbursements, mini-stimulus, more stimulus spending, Obama Administration, Obama-care, Washington is part of the problem
Posted in General, Washington D.C. | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 20th, 2010 9:17 AM |
Incestuous relationships can last a long time. When two willing consorts are engaged in incest without it being exposed, the incest can grow and ultimately become cancerous. Incestuous partners may believe they are pleasing each other at little expense to other family members. What a lie. Make no mistake, there is always a third party involved in incest. Who is that? Collectively, the family. In the case of our financial crisis circa 2010, the incestuous relationship between Wall Street and Washington has badly damaged the American family. Let us not allow either of these incestuous partners to define our current turmoil by asking family members to pick sides.
Why am I writing this? (more…)
Tags: FINRA, FINRA-ARS, incestuous relationship between Wall Street and washington, independent investigation of finra, Obama Administration, Obama's trip to Wall Street, SEC charges against Goldman Sachs, timing of SEC charges is cover for Obama, victims of financial crisis, victims of incest, Wall Street-Washington incest
Posted in General, Wall Street, Washington D.C. | 4 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 9th, 2010 9:12 AM |
Who in America is going to stand up and accept appropriate culpability for his/her contribution to our current economic crisis? Who in America is also willing to expose the incestuous nature of the Wall Street-Washington relationship which provided the cover for the activities which have debilitated our nation?
Let’s review what we have learned so far:
1. Blame has been directed at bank executives…but they got paid handsomely, and have not accepted full responsibility.
2. Blame has been directed at ratings agencies….but they also got paid handsomely to provide ratings, while not really knowing what they were doing. (more…)
Tags: Ben Bernanke, blame for crisis, Chris Dodd, culpability for crisis, Fannie Mae execs, FCIC, finger pointing, FINRA, Franklin Raines, Freddie Mac execs, Larry Summers, Leland Brendsel, mortgage originators, Phil Gramm, public service, public service and private wealth accumulation, ratings agencies, reasons for our economic crisis, regulators, Rham Emanuel, Robert Rubin, SEC, Tim Geithner, Wall Street executives, Wall Street-Washington incest, Washington, what is to blame for our economic crisis, who is to blame for our economic crisis
Posted in General, Wall Street, Washington D.C. | 5 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 23rd, 2010 6:11 AM |
Sifting through all of the pros and cons of healthcare reform, I strongly believe the greatest fear for the majority of Americans is that Uncle Sam will screw up the delivery of healthcare itself. Healthcare is the equivalent of the third rail for Americans. Uncle Sam can go ahead and touch almost every other aspect of our lives, but when it comes to our health and access to our physicians, now that is truly personal.
Can Uncle Sam deliver? I guess it is possible, but regrettably Americans increasingly do not trust the “old man” on this topic. (more…)
Tags: Colossal Risk, do you trust our government, Dr. Never, fear of healthcare, fears of healthcare reform, healthcare, healthcare is the third rail, lack of confidence in government, The Great Society, trust in government, Uncle Sam, Vast Ambition, why doesn't America trust Washington
Posted in General, health care reform, Washington D.C. | 4 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 28th, 2009 12:04 PM |
I almost vomited this morning upon reading the lead article in The Wall Street Journal. The principles and values I cherish and which I believe are the keys to our long term economic prosperity are under continual siege. The American dream is under siege, as well. Our nation’s economic future has never looked so cloudy and uncertain. Why? As The WSJ writes, After the Bailouts, Washington’s the Boss:
Only as the recession recedes will it become fully evident how permanently the state’s role has expanded and whether, as a consequence, a new, hybrid strain of American capitalism is emerging.
One thing is clear: The government is a much bigger force in today’s U.S. economy than it was before the financial crisis. “The frontier between the state and market has shifted,” says Daniel Yergin, whose 1998 book “Commanding Heights” chronicled the ascent of free-market forces starting in the 1980s. “The realm of the state has been enlarged.”
Why am I so concerned? For the following reasons: (more…)
Tags: After the Bailouts Washington's the Boss, Daniel yergin Commanding Heights, economic future, long term economic prosperity, power of the vote, state's role in economy, vote out the incumbents, Wall Street is chairman of board, who's the boss, you're the boss
Posted in General, Wall Street, Washington D.C. | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 23rd, 2009 12:27 PM |
Band-aids, quick fixes, partisan posturing, and the like will do little to address the structural and cultural deficiencies which played into our current economic crisis.
High five to SH for sharing a report (a link to the full report is provided at the end of this post) by Harvard Business School’s William A. Sahlman entitled “Management and the Financial Crisis (We have met the enemy and he is us…).” Sahlman does an outstanding job of pinpointing five critical components of firms and institutions that failed during this crisis. At the end of this post I have provided a link to Mr. Sahlman’s 35-page report, but allow me to provide some highlights. Sahlman writes:
I assert that most of the problems evidenced so prominently during this financial crisis can be traced to failures in five related managerial systems inside each major private and public actor in the financial markets:
Incentives – how risk and reward are shared; how people behave if they act in their own perceived best interests given the structure of pecuniary and non‐pecuniary payoffs
Control & Information Technology – how limits are placed on behavior; how information is captured and shared; how risk and reward are measured and how those assessments affect tactics and strategy
Accounting – how managers choose accounting policies; how managers measure economic profits & losses, as distinct from GAAP profits and losses
Human Capital – the process by which people with certain characteristics (skill, experience, networks, character, and attitude) are attracted and managed or encouraged to leave any organization
Culture – the values that guide individual and group decisions
While Sahlman thoroughly reviews these five factors and how they misfired in a number of failed institutions, he goes one step further in addressing why they misfired. I commend him for it. He writes: (more…)
Tags: accounting, competence, controls and information technology, culture, factors leading to the economic crisis, greed and incompetence on Wall Street and Washington, human capital, incentives, management, Management and the Financial Crisis by HBS William Sahlman, we have met the enemy and he is us, what caused the economic crisis, what led to the economic crisis, William Sahlman Harvard Business School
Posted in General, management, Wall Street, Washington D.C. | 1 Comment »