Obama Has New Bank Plan, CNN Praise, China Yanks AVATAR, Letters

January 21st, 2010 - by: danny

OBAMA ANNOUNCES PLANS TO REGULATE BANK SIZE

• The NYT: Obama to Propose Limits on Risk Taking by Banks

President Obama on Thursday will publicly propose giving bank regulators the power to limit the size of the nation’s largest banks and the scope of their risk-taking activities, an administration official said late Wednesday.

At the same time, he is proposing a commission to deal with deficits, an issue the right has been raising incessently. Economist James Kwak says it will not do much

• Baseline Scenario.com: Commission to the Rescue!

It looks like President Obama is going to create the bipartisan commission to cut the deficit that Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg have been pitching—except that now Judd Gregg is against it.[More here Ã¢â€ â€™]

Time For Timmy “Turbo Tax” Geithner To Go

• Did the Peddlers of Subprime Mortgages Target Women?

In a three-part series for Women’s eNews, Molly Ginty found strong evidence that they were. Among those who could have qualified for prime mortgages in 2006, at the height of the boom, 29 percent of men were stuck with subprime loans — but 38 percent of women ended up with the faulty products, according to a new analysis of federal data performed for Women’s eNews and the Investigative Fund.

The racial bias in subprime loans has been widely reported. Ginty’s series sheds light on another way in which the pain of the subprime crisis has not been felt equally.

Part 1: In Subprime Fallout, Women Take Heavy Hit
Part 2: Women’s Key to Home Ownership Opened Debt Trap
Part 3: New Year Offers Promise of Mortgage Relief

•Florida Unemployment Compensation Tax Rate Goes Up 1000% (YUP, THAT’S RIGHT–ONE THOUSAND PERCENT)

• THE DEBT BOMB FACING THE WORLD

Your letters on Haiti:

DXM: the Haiti story that has always been with us is like a slingshot pulled back and pulled back and pulled back and snapping for not having let go. the current “rescue” is as Katrina-like and as much a “Crime of Our Time” as what we see US involvement in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan to be. The Siege (the movie) says, “We’re the CIA. Something always goes wrong.” Don’t kill yourself over this impossible story. Maybe we can help who is helping; Fidel, Chavez, the NGOs, even goddam Israel! Anyhow, “The Disaster Within The Disaster: It’s Time To Investigate The Aid Fiasco” was a helluva nice piece of writing. But who’s listening? And what will be the topic of your PRN radio broadcast on Thursday?

Mlmackay responds to my argument this way:

Your diatribe was forwarded to me and I read it carefully. You are a sick person filled with hate and and I feel sorry for you. The first amendment of our constitution grants you the civil right to vent this crap. Good luck to you.

Rupah Shah writes:

Dear Mr Schechter,

I read your article “Why Is The Haiti Disaster Response So Screwed Up”. It is one of the best I have read on Haiti earthquake’s disastrous state of Relief. I posted the link on one my favourite leftist blogsites and it is very well received! www.tinyrevolution.com

@Rupa Shah: Thanks so much for your link in a previous thread to Danny Schechter’s very forthright piece on the fubar’ed U.S.-U.N. relief effort and beyond. I was really glad I followed your pointer, but I almost didn’t; a couple of words to give an idea of the author and topic greatly increase the odds of readers making use of your finds. Thanks again; I think it’s one of the more important articles written since the quake.

Anna Taylor writes about CNN:

A minor matter BUT head-scratchable: notice that the water they ARE dropping is in itty bitty bottles … 20 oz., looks like. Aside from the litter, this is NOT a significantly-useful amount of water per person. And I dunno if there’s such a thing as a plastic Molotov cocktail, but … By me, Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta — who had General Honore on there early, with a very critical rap — have been amazing! And, oddly, Don Lemons in Atlanta. (I’m watching a LOT of television.)

Jerry Prager:

GREAT web site. Thank you. — Jeff Prager | Founder & Publisher – Retired | Senior Magazine

• The new issue of ColdType, the best online magazine with critical content is out. You can download it for free

Props for CNN

• Daily Beast column “CNN’s Haiti Triumph”

let’s see if he wants to join MC.

Gloria Bonilla comment: “dude i read ur blog every chance i get. u rock!”

• LA TIMES: News Corp’s ‘Avatar’ Yanked in China

China’s state-run movie distributor is yanking the 20th Century Fox blockbuster “Avatar” from 1,628 movie screens in favor of a biography of ancient philosopher Confucius. Propaganda officials are concerned that “Avatar” is taking too much market share from Chinese films.

Another day, another blog– but for how much longer? We will tell you next week. For now, your comments welcome to Dissector@mediachannel.org

Join me, Thursday mornings, on News Dissector Radio on ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com at 10 AM. Today I will be speaking with Jocelyn MCalla, veteran Haitian human rights activist, and now a senior advisor to Haiti’s envoy to the UN. Tune in at 10 AM on the News Dissector Radio. Call 1.888.873.4643 with your comments.

The News Dissector