Friday, June 25, 2010

Quick Hits: Volume III

-Congressional leaders Friday morning agreed on legislation which will significantly impact Wall Street.

Key House and Senate lawmakers approved far-reaching new financial rules early Friday after weeks of division, delay and frantic last-minute dealmaking. The dawn compromise set up a potential vote in both houses of Congress next week that could send the landmark legislation to President Obama by July 4.

The final and most arduous compromise began to fall into place just after midnight. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) agreed to scale back a controversial provision that would have forced the nation's biggest banks to spin off their lucrative derivatives-dealing businesses.

The panel also reached accord on the "Volcker rule," named after former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker. That measure would bar banks from trading with their own money, a practice known as proprietary trading.


What really struck me was a quote by a certain lame duck Senator (emphasis mine).

"It's a great moment. I'm proud to have been here," said a teary-eyed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee led the effort in the Senate. "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done."


The emphasized excerpt of that quote is eerily similar to that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while in the process of a separate government power grab (i.e. The health care bill).

“But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it...."


Glad to hear the liberal narrative never changes when they nationalize America's private sector.


-The Twin Cities endured some nasty weather Friday evening, which included severe thunderstorms, hail, etc. However, I didn't really have a handle on how serious things were until I checked with local TV station KARE 11. So when I saw weather guy Sven Sundgaard with his suit jacket off, sleeves rolled up and the top button on his shirt unbuttoned? That's when I knew the situation was perilous!


-In his ten seasons with the New York Giants, running back Tiki Barber was the team's heart and soul on offense. Over the final 2-1/2 seasons of his career, Barber had as his quarterback Eli Manning. While Manning struggled to learn the NFL game, Barber continued to excel until his retirement after the 2006 season.

Since his departure from the NFL, Barber has had a rough go of it. It started in the 2007 preseason when Barber criticized Manning, saying his attempts to lead the team were, at times, "comical." Surprisingly, the mild-mannered Manning fired back, which I'm sure stunned Barber.

Since then, Manning has won a Super Bowl, married the smokin' hot Abby McGrew and signed a $100-million contract extension.

And Barber? Earlier this year it was learned that he cheated on wife Ginny while she was pregnant with twins. As such, he was not allowed in the delivery room last month when Ginny gave birth to twin daughters. And when the divorce proceedings began, Barber revealed he was fired from his on-air gig with NBC TV, resulting in his inability to meet the financial obligations of the divorce settlement.

Perhaps Eli could float Tiki a loan, eh?

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