What’s interesting in the news today?
Open thread, as always.
Here’s some to start things off.
____________________________________________________
A growing number of states (28) are telling the Senate and Obama admin “No thank you” on the idea of new federal gun laws.
From CNSNews
“On March 12 and 14, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed both Sen. Charles Schumer’s (D-NY) “Fix Gun Checks Act,” which would criminalize all private firearm sales and Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) “Assault Weapons Ban.”
These bills have a long way to go before they become law – if they ever do – but states across the nation are introducing their own legislation to preemptively defeat any new federal gun laws.
In Ohio, two senators have introduced SB36, which would prohibit firearms seizures, registration and bans in their state.
____________________________________________________
A riot at the University of Dayton?
From DaytonDailyNews
“University of Dayton administrators will meet this week to evaluate a riot involving more than 1,000 people causing police from 10 jurisdictions to respond to the student campus housing area also known as the UD ghetto early Sunday morning.
After more than two decades without a major St. Patrick’s Day incident, the university had a violent “disturbance” that left broken beer bottles and 11 damaged cars, including a police cruiser, on Kiefaber Street, according to a university official.
“We would describe what happened as a disturbance, said Andy Booher, a lieutenant with the Dayton Police Department. “It was quickly contained because of the response by University police and other jurisdictions.””
____________________________________________________
And here’s a fun read on some Democrats who are starting to point out the obvious. Alternate title, “Obama is Bush II”
From ZeroHedge
“Even Democratic Party Loyalists Starting to Wake Up to the Fact that Obama Is As Bad As Bush … Or Worse”
It’s loaded with fun facts and lots of links, like these…..
“Glenn Greenwald notes that even Democratic party loyalists are getting fed up with Obama’s Bush-like actions:”
“Indeed, more and more Democrats are waking up the fact that Obama is doing a lot of the same stuff Bush did.”
“Income inequality has increased more under Obama than under Bush.”
“Obama has prosecuted fewer financial crimes than President Reagan, Clinton or either of the Bush presidents.”
“Obama has prosecuted more whistleblowers than all other presidents combined.”
And there’s lot’s more. They’re a little late to the party though.
____________________________________________________
So in closing, an old one, yet still fitting……….. “Same As It Ever Was” From PolitiZoid
____________________________________________________
Wandering Views 
The Government of Cyprus is seizing personal bank accounts to pay off their debts. Can America be far behind?
LikeLike
I was just reading a bunch of stuff on the European financial crisis. When the govts start stealing (and yes, they are) the peoples money, riots soon follow.
LikeLike
When they start seizing bank accounts, it’s the end of America.
The end of the Constitution means the end of America.
LikeLike
I think the Framers would regard our current tax scheme as theft, and the Constitution as a largely dead document.
LikeLike
The government of Cyprus is taxing not seizing Cypriot banking accounts to partly pay for an EU bailout. The tax is ridiculous enough, though rather different than a seizure.
LikeLike
It’s a seizure.
LikeLike
Sails,
There’s way more in play than a simple tax. By declaring a “bank holiday” they have effectively removed peoples access to their own money. And the one day “holiday” is now 3 days. What do you call it when the govt takes away your ability to get at your money? Tax is certainly not an accurate definition.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-18/cyprus-bank-holiday-gets-another-extension-bank-reopening-now-set-thursday
“What was initially a single-day Bank Holiday has now morphed into three days as the farce that is the wealth tax in Cyprus will now keep the citizenry from their money until Thursday according to the latest from the Central Bank…
•*CYPRUS CENTRAL BANK SAYS BANKS TO BE CLOSED UNTIL THURSDAY: AP
Which begs the question “Which Thursday?””
__________________________________________
Also, what do you call it when the govt seizes your money and replaces it with worthless bank stock?
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-03-18/europe-are-your-savings-really-safe
“On February 22 2013, we released an article focusing on the little known fact that depositors’ savings were at risk in Europe. At that time we wrote:
It’s a little known fact about the Spanish crisis is that when the Spanish Government merges troubled banks, it typically swaps out depositors’ savings for shares in the new bank.
So… when the newly formed bank goes bust, “poof” your savings are GONE. Not gone as in some Spanish version of the FDIC will eventually get you your money, but gone as in gone forever.
Over the weekend, we received confirmation that Spain is not the only country pulling such schemes: Cyprus along with Germany and the IMF has confiscated savings accounts to help fund a bailout of the country.
Confiscated… as in stolen. To fund a bailout that Cyprus citizens have no interest in funding. In exchange, they, like the Spanish, will receive shares in the garbage banks that were bailed out.”
Like I said, there’s way more in play here than a simple tax.
LikeLike
A tax is a legal systematic taking of a specific amount of money due to some specified activity. i.e. The tax on cable just went up almost a dollar. I can refuse to pay that by cancelling cable. I can not pay gas tax by not buying gas.
A seizure takes what I have.
e.g. The IRS will seize my money if I don’t pay my income tax.
LikeLike
AJ, Zero Hedge is a dubious source. It is notorious for distorting complex financial matters. I quite agree that this Cyprus move is a dangerous precedent , though it is far from stealing any bank account. Despite the myth and paranoia that European bank accounts are in the process of being stolen, so far, worse casing it , they are in danger of being taxed.
For a nuanced view of the matter, check out the following from a WSJ editorial today:
Cyprus is finally getting a bailout, and what an instant classic of euro-crisis dysfunction it is. Nine months after Nicosia first requested a rescue, the deal that emerged Saturday is slapdash, short-sighted and manhandled by politics.
The novelty of Saturday’s deal is that, for the first time in the euro crisis, depositors will contribute to the cost of recapitalizing banks. As we went to press, the plan was for Nicosia to extract €5.8 billion via a one-off 9.9% “stability levy” on deposits larger than €100,000 and a 6.75% levy on deposits smaller than that. The International Monetary Fund will pitch in €1 billion, and the European Stability Mechanism lends the rest, for a total of €10 billion.
At 0.2% of euro-zone GDP, Cyprus hardly poses a systemic economic risk. But if there is a bailout, these columns have pushed for uninsured depositors to take losses. Cypriot banks are overwhelmingly deposit-funded, which means that writing down senior bondholders wouldn’t substantially reduce the total bill for recapitalization. The choice is between hitting big depositors and hitting euro-zone taxpayers. Germany and the IMF have also angled for the former.
However, Saturday’s decision to bite both large and small depositors was guided more by Cypriot politics than by German pressure or economic logic. Nicosia presumably wished to minimize the burden on large depositors, many of them Russian, so as not to derail progress on renegotiating a €2.5 billion loan from Moscow. Nicosia also fears scaring away offshore cash that has flowed in to take advantage of its weak money-laundering enforcement. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said as much on Friday, declaring that he couldn’t have accepted a double-digit levy on large depositors.
The 9.9% ceiling on the large-deposit tax means that small savers also had to take a hit. Cypriot banks hold about €30 billion in insured deposits and €35 billion in uninsured deposits. If the goal is to get a total of €5.8 billion from depositors, then you need a levy of around 7% on insured deposits.
It’s not clear if taxing small deposits violates Cyprus’s guarantee on deposits up to €100,000, though there are practical risks in any case. Fearing bank runs, the Cypriot cabinet has petitioned to extend Monday’s bank holiday through Tuesday, even though the European Central Bank has said it will offer unlimited liquidity to banks that experience deposit flight. According to Greek radio on Sunday, the Greek central bank has shipped nearly €5 billion to Cyprus to help banks meet their customers’ cash requirements.
Europe is also setting a dangerous precedent, even if the Cypriot deal is supposedly unique. The principle toward which Europe has agreed to move with its new banking union is that taxpayers won’t pay a dime to save banks until all bank creditors have been wiped out. So it’s progress that depositors are being put on the block.
But by apparently sparing senior bank bondholders, the euro zone has again shown that no principle is above political meddling. The cleaner solution would have been a 20% haircut on deposits over €100,000, with writedowns on all bank debt. This would have respected creditor hierarchy and, by not trampling on deposit insurance, honored the rule of law.
Uncertainties still cloud the deal, and the Cypriot Parliament could veto it Monday. But one thing is clear: In the way it was cooked up and the way it apportions the pain, the Cyprus bailout is a step backward for legal predictability in the never-ending euro-zone crisis.
LikeLike
Talk about biblical confusion within the church … :
http://www.christianpost.com/news/rob-bell-supports-same-sex-marriage-says-he-is-for-fidelity-and-love-92064/cpt
LikeLike
Donna, these leftist “evangelical” hacks, including Bell, lack any depth of Christian theological orthodoxy and being emotional, even gushy, souls they have essentially caved to the secularist view that dominates American cultural heights.
The only Christian churches that have steadfastly held to orthodox Christian theology and morality are the Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches along with the few Protestant ones including the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. These churches have both theology clarity and strict catechisms. There is no confusion about their views, though, with careful order, they review issues and are not averse to carefully reasoned change.
LikeLike
Pardon me, in the above second paragraph I meant to say theological.
LikeLike
I largely agree with Sails’ analysis of American Christianity. A big problem is congregational government. As a Southern Baptist I grew up with this type of church polity, but have come to believe it is unbiblical. The theology of Southern Baptists has stayed largely conservative, but that is for cultural reasons. It is extremely dangerous for theology to be dependent on culture.
LikeLike
Ricky, yes, Christ’s Word that we ought to render unto Caesar what is his and unto God what is His, doesn’t assume culturally independent churches. I recently resigned from the Congregational Church that my family has belonged to in New England since 1635 and joined a local Missouri Lutheran Synod Church.
LikeLike
Pardon me again; in the above I meant to say …culturally dependent churches; either early Alzheimers or an ordinary senior moment!
LikeLike
Ricky makes an excellent point about the importance of having a biblical model for our church government. It’s not a minor issue. The biggest dangers are those that are not led by elders (as prescribed in the NT) but are under the sway basically of the man who happens to be pastor at the time (and the majority of the congregation).
LikeLike
And, yes, Rob Bell has had unorthodox views (though popular esp with young Christians) in the past. So in some ways this comes as little surprise.
LikeLike
“…myth and paranoia…” Hmm. A government is seriously considering an effectual raid on the accounts of everyday depositors. People have grave, reasonable concerns that they will lose their money to that government. I’m not sure why such fears should be regarded as paranoia.
LikeLike
Leftist to the left of Michael Moore have been upset with Obama since he didn’t close Gitmo, appointed Wall Street insiders to his cabinet, and intensified the drone program. This section of the left gets very little press so it appears there late to the party but there not. The two party system leaves the left with very little choice and Obama is the least bad choice.
The Cyprus bank plan is theft. I don’t know the particulars of Cyprus banking but most Euro countries have deposit insurance. Given people feel confident the first $100K is insured (in the US and Canada anyway), any type of bank tax should exempt whatever level is insured. (In the same way, the first $10,000 in income is not taxed in Canada) However, as the WSJ mentions Cyprus makes a fair bit on money as an off-shore haven for laundered money — the favored banking haven for Russia and the Middle East — and Cyprus doesn’t want upset the foreign money supply.
Beyond all that the plan is theft and stupid. Instead of strengthening the bank system, it will weaken it. Yes you can have a banking holiday but electronic banking allow many especially foreigners to circumvent it. Once the holiday is over, the banks will have lost the trust of its depositors. Foreign money will move elsewhere and locals will use the internet to bank in other EU countries.
LikeLike
Myth and paranoia had to do with the false claim that the the accounts of Cypriots were being seized and stolen as opposed to a one time tax on the accounts to help pay the EU bailout. In fact, the EU is at present negotiating with Cyprus to work out a better way to help pay back the bailout that would do away with the one time 9.9% tax on large deposits- mostly Russian- and 6.5% tax on the mostly Cypriot small deposits.
As usual, you are taking words rather out of context without offering an iota of analysis of the issue involved. You might try a careful analysis of the WSJ article.
LikeLike
Some good reading on the so-called debt/deficit crisis;
Apparently Boehner admits its not really the deficit;
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/18/boehners_debt_confession_reveals_gops_intentions/
As for St. Patrick’s Day — last year it was over 20 degrees celsius in Ontario and university students celebrated in the streets with bonfires, overturing police cars and bottle throwing.. Only first year students live on campus in most Ontario schools creating “ghettos” in every university, so imagine 20,000 18 – 22 year olds block after block with a drinking age of 19. This year it was – 5, alot less work for the police.
LikeLike
I realize its a one time tax. The government is also the insurer and if the insurer taxes or takes a percent of the amount they agree to insurer its a breach of agreement.
I’m not surprised the EU might want to change the plan in order to prevent a money flight. When I first heard of the plan on the evening news, I couldn’t believe the IMF and EU didn’t see the problems it would create — it doesn’t take a degree in finance to know a bank run was inevitable.
And if you think its not to protect their reputation as a place for Russian money no questions asked you are naive.
LikeLike
Sails,
Regardless of your opinion on ZeroHedge, the fact remains that these bailouts did what ZH said. Just like the housing bubble, they called it.
““On February 22 2013, we released an article focusing on the little known fact that depositors’ savings were at risk in Europe. At that time we wrote:
It’s a little known fact about the Spanish crisis is that when the Spanish Government merges troubled banks, it typically swaps out depositors’ savings for shares in the new bank. ”
Now what do you call it when against your will, your govt forces you to forfeit your money for stock in a poorly managed financial institution? I’d call it theft. Not to mention rewarding bad behavior on the part of banks. It’s bad enough when the govt does it with tax dollars, like with GM, but this is raiding private accounts to do the same thing. It rewards poor financial decisions and managment at the expense of bondholders.
LikeLike
Sails, I understand what your “myth and paranoia” hyperbole was in reference to, but you failed to provide analysis as to how anyone was being “paranoid.” News outlets across the spectrum are referring to the Cyprus story as “seizure.” Perhaps they, like some here, may not have the nose for “nuance” that you do, but taking money that was merely deposited in bank accounts–even if only a fraction–is theft, hardly removed, technically, from seizure.
Further, when people witness a govt considering what Cyprus is considering, and when they see the condition of failing governments and the debilitating effects of socialism, and the propensity for politicians to think *more* socialism is the solution to ubiquitous debt problems, and on and on, one is not being “paranoid” to be concerned about the prospect of out and out seizure.
I don’t care what it’s called, there is no appreciable difference between seizure and tax here. Nuance schmuance.
LikeLike
solar — this isn’t socialism, this is the IMF taking money from the people to protect the banks. Socialism for the rich only
LikeLike
hwesseli: I didn’t mean to imply that this was mere socialism, only that the mentality behind it is similar; namely, that government is the solution to all problems, and has license to act as such.
LikeLike