ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM

I feel that my purpose in life is to state the obvious which explains why I am not a current member of the NYT editorial opinion staff.

DOCTOR/PATIENT RELATIONSHIPS

The Patient appeared for his biannual check-up.

The Doctor had the bank manager dress down, so to speak, and after taking blood and urine and performing the godawful prostate exam (this patient always drips) and checking for vital signs the scene came to the normal chat that had become a ritual over the last couple of decades.

Doctor: Is there anything in particular that causes you concern?

Patient: In what manner?

Doctor: I just wish to know if there is something in particular that is bothering you at the present time?

Patient: Well my benefits are not what they used to be at my employ! I mean I used to receive twice what I now receive for my 401K; my co-pay for family medical is four times what it used to be and Kevin—my youngest—has this asthma problem which is costing me a mint; and my wife has become this damnable bitch and....

Doctor: I am a doctor, not a union benefits representative or a counselor for chrissakes, I am not interested in your current employment situation or your familial issues; although I wish you the best! I just wish to know if there is something in relation to your particular physical condition that causes you concern as a man of 48 years of age.

Patient: Oh, well I guess there is one thing bothering me.

At that point the patient, fully naked, stood up and bent over. He began licking his gennytrotters.

Doctor: What in the hell are you doing?

Patient: Well Doc, it hurts when I do this. Never did before. Is there anything I can do? Do you have any advice of a medical nature?

Doctor: Yeah, don't do that anymore!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

DEAR ABBY:

My husband is a kind and loving bloke and has done all he could have done to protect me and me seven children from the onslaught of economic peril and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

But every once in a while he comes home drunk and kicks the shite out of me and me youngest.

The police, in time will intervene and have interviews with all concerned.

I will then procure a court order and have him kicked out of the home for awhile and he begs to come back.

And with his tears and with my own fears of losing any chance of economic survival for me and my children I give him a second chance. A second chance that I have given him on several occasions.

What should I do?

Signed: Stuck in Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again.

ABBY: My advice: Don't do that anymore.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Much has been made in recent months of the government's glaring failure to police Wall Street; to date, federal and state prosecutors have yet to put a single senior Wall Street executive behind bars for any of the many well-documented crimes related to the financial crisis. Indeed, Flynn's accusations dovetail with a recent series of damaging critiques of the SEC made by reporters, watchdog groups and members of Congress, all of which seem to indicate that top federal regulators spend more time lunching, schmoozing and job-interviewing with Wall Street crooks than they do catching them. As one former SEC staffer describes it, the agency is now filled with so many Wall Street hotshots from oft-investigated banks that it has been "infected with the Goldman mindset from within."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/is-the-sec-covering-up-wall-street-crimes-20110817?page=2

Last month, 2012 Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney indicated that he is open to repealing at least large swathes of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, even as the country is still recovering from the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. “The level of over-regulation and burden which has been placed on the financial services sector I think is unnecessary and will cost us jobs down the road,” Romney said.

Upping his attack on financial reform, Romney said yesterday that bank regulators are akin to “gargoyles,” looming over banks and scaring them into not making loans:

Romney said the Democratic-led overhaul has created “uncertainty” that paralyzes Main Street. “Banks are afraid to make loans right now because of the government hanging over them like gargoyles,” Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and business executive, said during the roundtable discussion…“Almost everything the president did had the opposite effect of what was intended,” Romney said. “He said, okay, we’re not going to re-regulate the banking sector. Well, what he caused was the banking sector to pull back, and that’s the very sector that’s got to step forward to help get the economy on its feet again.”

Romney has previously defended Wall Street from criticism, saying that those pushing for stricter regulation were acting “as if Wall Street greed is something new.’’ Late last month, Romney delivered a speech in New York in an attempt “to woo Wall Street donors,” which netted him $1 million.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/06/21/250664/romney-financial-reform-gargoyles/

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The world’s largest oil company by market value, ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM - Analyst Report) has projected the expenditure to clean up a July 1 oil spill into the Yellowstone River in Montana at $42.6 million, as per a filing with the federal regulators.

 

http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/59797/Exxon%27s+Oil+Spill+to+Cost+%2442.6M

WASHINGTON — The House Republican agenda this fall will focus on repealing environmental and labor regulations that GOP lawmakers say are driving up the cost of doing business and discouraging employers from hiring new workers.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., says in a memo to his fellow Republicans that as soon as Congress returns to Washington next week he will start bringing up bills to repeal or restrict federal regulations. He also said the House would also act on a small business tax deduction...

By pursuing a steady repeal of job-destroying regulations, we can help lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over small and large employers alike, empowering them to hire more workers," Cantor said in his memo.

He said that in the first week after Congress returns from its August recess the House will vote on a bill preventing the National Labor Relations Board from restricting where an employer can locate in the United States.

The bill is in response to an NLRB lawsuit against Boeing Co. claiming that the manufacturer violated labor law in opening up a new airplane production line in South Carolina. The agency alleged that Boeing was punishing workers in Washington state for past strikes and wants the company to return the work to Washington. Boeing denies the claims.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/29/house-republicans-regulations-environment-labor_n_940387.html

How much do we have to pay to get out of going thru all these things twice?

DON'T DO THIS ANYMORE!