What is clear is that ripping off the rich is punished far more severely than ripping off the poor. The lengthy sentence you were given spared countless other greedsters and goniffs from facing the music – what music there is.

In an interview – with a reporter from The New York Times who is writing a book to cash in on a man who has already cashed out – we learn, in the vaguest terms, that Mr M believes the banks he did his crooked business with “should have known” his figures did not figure. Keeping with the deceit that has served him well over the years, he names no names.

That said, how right he may be. There were many who should have known and done something about it. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators for one. Perhaps The New York Times for another. Remember, it was Madoff’s confession to his sons that started him on his way to his new 12′ x 12′ home from home – in a federal correctional institute, where he may dream of his seized penthouse, homes and yachts – rather than any press expose.

For years, he went undetected by business journalists, who knew – or should have known – what he was up to. There are even questions about the speed with which he was sentenced, preventing him from being tried – a process which, through diligent cross-examination, would have brought us more information on the details of his dirty deals.    [FULL  STORY]

National gas prices have reached their highest levels since May – despite the fact that prices traditionally decline during this time of year. Due to your hard work and efforts to end excessive oil speculation, this may soon come to an end.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) plans to propose more than 60 new rules designed to close loopholes and increase oil market transparency. Some of these rules are less controversial and could go into effect as soon as January. The more controversial rules will take more time during which Wall Street lobbyists will seek to undermine the process. In fact, according to the Los Angeles Times, a group of big banks and financial companies are doing everything they can to delay a new rule that would prevent large companies from manipulating the oil market. These are the same companies that received taxpayer-funded bailouts – proving they want to continue making a quick buck at the expense of American consumers.

We have had enough. Oil speculation has cost Americans billions of dollars in unnecessary fuel payments – devastating both small and large businesses, putting Americans out of work and making it nearly impossible for many families to pay their bills. Thankfully, we may finally see an end to the manipulation of oil prices.

Over the next few months, we will continue to monitor this process and keep you informed on efforts to stop excessive oil speculation. Together, we can help protect America’s economic recovery.

Thank you,
The Coalition to Stop Oil Speculation Now

Such four- or five-hour windows are the norm in home services and have been for decades. Are service providers expecting that anyone who needs cable installed or a refrigerator repaired has a stay-at-home spouse? Or do they simply not consider the inconvenience? Either way, the idea rankled. Then I saw a survey by Harris Interactive for SoundBite Communications that made this claim: “One out of two consumers feel like prisoners in their own homes due to long service windows.” That about sums it up.    [FULL  STORY]

It will also point out why more assembly plants will go offshore. You won’t doubt that Ford, GM, and Chrysler are destined to go under, after watching this video.

They will survive, but their assembly operations in the U.S. likely won’t, whether we have provided a bailout or not  (listen closely at the end for the reason why).

Ford Motor Plant In Brazil [CLICK HERE TO PLAY VIDEO]

But Washington is focused on the wrong issues in regard to U.S. trade with China, and for that matter, the rest of Asia. American policymakers should be much more worried about getting left out of the Asian trade story, and the potentially dangerous consequences that would have for the future of the U.S. economy.

What do I mean? Asia is becoming much more economically integrated and intra-Asia trade is growing rapidly. Part of this is just a natural process – as the region gets wealthier, its firms are finding more and more customers at home. But the integration is also part of an active policy on the part of Asia’s leadership. The continent is being bound together by a strong spirit of free trade.

You can see that by the explosion of FTAs inked by Asian countries. According to Ganeshan Wignaraja, an economist at the Asian Development Bank in Manila, who studiously follows issues regarding economic integration in the region, the number of free-trade agreements (FTAs) signed by Asian countries has grown from just three in 2000 to 60 as of July. Nineteen of those FTAs are among just 16 Asian economies. That means Asian countries are increasingly opening markets and dropping tariffs for goods made within the region, and for those countries outside of Asia smart enough to get in on the action.    more …

WASHINGTON — The White House and BP tentatively agreed on Wednesday that the oil giant would create a $20 billion fund to pay claims for the worst oil spill in American history. The fund will be independently run by Kenneth Feinberg, the mediator who oversaw the 9/11 victims compensation fund, according to two people familiar with the deliberations.
The agreement was not final and was still being negotiated when President Obama and his top advisers met Wednesday morning with BP’s top executives and lawyers. The preliminary terms would give BP several years to deposit the full amount into the fund so it could better manage cash flow, maintain its financial viability and not scare off investors.

The talks have been complicated by the fact that BP’s ultimate liabilities for the cleanup and lost business are unknowable since the two-month-old leak of its well in the Gulf of Mexico could be spewing oil for months more. To date, BP has spent more than $1 billion on containment, cleanup and claims from the Coast Guard, fishermen, oil workers and other businesses from Louisiana to Florida.

Since late last week, the negotiations have been closely held given the market sensitivity for BP, which has seen its stock lose about half its value since the spill. BP’s next dividend for shareholders is another issue on the table. Some members of Congress have called for blocking any dividend payments, though the legality of such action is in dispute, or for putting the dividend in another escrow account pending payment of claims to victims. Either option would be problematic for many institutional investors and pension funds with stock in BP.

BP shares, which had been trading lower, regained lost ground in Wednesday’s morning session. Shares were slightly higher shortly after reports of the escrow fund leaked out.

Mr. Feinberg is now the administration’s “pay czar,” the overseer of executive compensation at the nation’s biggest financial institutions, a role created in response to public outrage at big bank bonuses after the 2008 and 2009 financial bailouts.

A specialist in mediation and dispute resolution, Mr. Feinberg was special master for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and previously helped in cases involving compensation for victims of Agent Orange chemical poisoning from the Vietnam War and asbestos-related injuries.    more …

This amendment was introduced to counter a weaker amendment that would have required only a one time audit just of Fed emergency programs. The new amendment was similar to the original H.R. 1207 audit bill introduced by Congressman Ron Paul and added to the House financial reform package.

“The Sanders Amendment is no substitute for a complete and thorough audit of the Fed,” said John Tate, President of Campaign for Liberty. “With this vote, we now have a record of those who really want transparency and those who only pay lip-service to it while upholding the status quo.”

If the entire financial regulation bill makes it out of the Senate, it heads to the House, where House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank will choose which version to move forward on.

“The Dodd bill itself is just another bad piece of legislation, which will benefit no one except the Fed and its friends at big banks,” said Tate. “It institutionalizes bailouts for banks and subsidizes risky financial decisions.”

“Despite what happens with the financial regulation bill, we will continue pushing Congress for an up or down vote on H.R. 1207, which is the only full audit to allow true transparency in our financial system.”

The Wall Street Journal
March 24, 2010
By JOHN BOLTON

Google’s decision to stop censoring searches on its China-based servers, rerouting search requests instead to its uncensored Hong Kong facilities, is historic. Google has shown itself unwilling simply to be on the receiving end of whatever Beijing dishes out—and highlighted the growing importance of Hong Kong and Taiwan in shaping the decisions that foreign businesses in China must make.

When an enterprise of Google’s global dimensions and visibility reverses course in China and is no longer a passive, compliant subject of government diktats, it sends a message to enterprises world-wide: You can do the same. Submissive participation in the mainland Chinese market is neither inevitable nor unavoidable. Do not fear to assert your interests, and those of your present and potential Chinese customers.

For the most part, foreign companies doing business in mainland China previously assumed that their risks lay on the side of not complying with Beijing’s orders, however burdensome or threatening to profits or property interests, physical or intellectual. Leaving the Chinese market was unthinkable, and defying or contesting Beijing’s directions just as unthinkable.

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DeSwaan
Bloomberg News

Outside the Hong Kong Exchange
DeSwaan
DeSwaan

Of course, as Google could envision, bucking this conventional wisdom is hardly risk free. Google may be mistaken about its own commercial interests and have to climb down in the near future—Chinese authorities are already filtering results from Google’s Hong Kong search engine for mainland users. Beijing’s rapid and angry response shows it fully understands the dimensions of this clash, and it may yet win, forcing Google back into censoring searches, or pushing it entirely from the mainland for being uppity.

The company announced starkly that “the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement.” That position shows how aggressively Beijing’s current leadership will act to control domestic information flows, and foreign businesses generally.    more …

For the first time in well over a decade, China has limited rising spending on defense to a less than double-digit increase. In early March, Beijing announced that the 2010 defense budget would total approximately 532 billion yuan (US$78 billion), with the 7.5% increase representing half the 14.9% rise approved in 2009.

China is accustomed to being accused of not providing accurate information. Jia Yong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee (CPPCC), recently described these allegations as “groundless”.

Japan has consistently expressed concerns about China’s military spending. In light of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s 2008 promise that China “would not spark an arms race with its neighbors or pose a military threat”, Asia Times Online asked
several experts to assess the impact of the new defense budget on Japan. We put the question to them twice in somewhat different statements.

An immediate response came from Michael Green, Japan Chair and a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.

“It is the nature of Chinese deployments and operations rather than the official number that is at issue,” said Green. “But the lower number doesn’t hurt China’s image!”   more …