Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.

Benjamin Franklin: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

Reviewing the Past GSE/Political Week

GSE Developments

I still am quite PO’d at last week’s Appeals Court opinion which sustained the Lamberth decision and remanded some lesser but still important questions. I hope the few remand requests supported by the judges will be met thoughtfully by Judge Lamberth or whomever.

But, I want—with no personal legal knowledge of what’s involved--plaintiffs (and their legal teams), simultaneously, to opt for a full Appeals Court review, i.e. “en banc,” and also a Supreme Court hearing, hoping the SCOTUS will take the case.

Plaintiffs have 45 days (so I am told by lawyer friends) to seek the “en banc” all judge court examination of the Millett-Ginsburg ruling.

To date, in several courts, the GSEs, their cases and lawyers already have been slaughtered as judicial sheep, so it’s time to shapeshift and continue the fight as wolves.

Better to go down as a predator rather than a lamb chop.

Again, I urge plaintiffs to go both routes—if that’s procedurally permissible—“en banc” review and a date with the Supreme Court. The talent exists among your/”our” lawyers to do both and plaintiffs’ resources should, too.

I am going to repeat myself because it figures into what most of us are thinking.

The Appeals Court decision was a major setback in more ways than one and we can’t pretend it wasn’t.

Judges Millett's and Ginsburg's ludicrous finding was a downer for the plaintiffs, and IMO slowed considerably any haste which Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin might have wanted to resolve quickly GSE matters—which aren’t going away.

But, with Mnuchin TV appearances after Tuesday’s court action, I sense WH movement on GSE matters got shoved “yugely” down the priority list and could be a 2018 or later event.

The Treasury Secretary’s references to speaking to sources on the Hill troubles me because no GOP committee leader, wants the GSEs resurrected…..quite the opposite.

Ergo, besides happy talk, I have no idea what the Treasury Secretary and those congressional leaders could agree on that’s positive re Fannie and Freddie.

My head and my heart tell me—unless Mnuchin does a surprising 180 degree turn and accelerates any remaining desire to act administratively--GSE matters will lose their place to other emerging other issues.

Again, I could be wrong. Secretary Mnuchin may surprise us; the GSE plaintiffs could seek a quick and successful “en banc” review; or Judge Margaret Sweeney could declare that she’s heard and seen enough defendant’s obstruction to decide on the legality for the 2012 Treasury “sweep,” which now has pushed more than $260 Billion into the Treasury’s General Fund.

Just to keep us centered, I’ll repeat why Fannie and Freddie can’t/shouldn’t be casually ignored.

--Housing is too important in our culture and our economy. The alternatives to Fannie and Freddie, as their adherents have learned, all suck and offer only greater big bank control and less consumer benefits. The proper blend of those desirable qualities are hallmarks of why the GSEs offer major benefits to the nation’s homebuyers, as well as the skein of mortgage professionals who rely on that process.

Nature and politics abhors a vacuum and the anti-GSE folks—especially with their congressional support--are better able to move into the space than us with their “let’s give it all to the banks” schemes.

Removing the handcuffs from Fannie and Freddie and moving toward a privately owned GSE utility is the correct move and also should produce economic and political bounty for the Trump Administration and the President who seems desperate for both not to mention public huzzahs.

--The Appeals Court decision and the underlying Lambert ruling, were horribly flawed and hopefully higher courts will see that, plus it’s a scary implication for all publicly owned businesses, if federal financial regulators can initiate and maintain brutal actions not subject to judicial review.

--There still are major court cases pending, most notably before Judge Margaret Sweeney in the court of Claims and the Jacobs-Hindes case in Delaware. Sweeney has been the most hospitable to plaintiff’s lawyers and has been treated most egregiously by the government’s legal team.

--We brag “the US is a nation of laws,” but GSE fans haven’t seen evidence of that in F&F cases to date. Lots of people who helped DJT become President Trump advocated for GSE resurrection, expecting the law to support them.

That should help at the margin, especially if/when his Treasury Secretary and Attorney General truly get involved.

But, in the GSE world, whenever things look the brightest, inevitably we get a visit from cartoonist Al Capp’s old friend, “Joe Btfsplk” who plays skunk at our GSE picnic and messes with/in our party punch.

(For you youngsters.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Btfsplk

Do you best to shoo Joe B. away!

***************************************************************************

Bye Administrative State and Hello What??

Joey Goebbels and “Goebbels” Bannon

Scary Parallels, No Matter How they Break

(The similarities concern me.)

Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) was Adolph Hitler’s chief propagandist and even succeeded him as Chancellor, briefly, after Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide; next day, Goebbels and spouse followed suit, taking their six children with them.

Goebbels was a major Hitler counsellor and thinker, shaping and driving the Fuhrer’s unbalanced behavior and anti-Semitic actions. He also enjoyed a reputation for cinematic expertise.

Steve Bannon, who seems to share Goebbels penchant for leather coats, was a very successful Wall Street guy, husband and father, independent movie producer, writer, former naval officer, major right wing voice at Breitbart News, and President Donald Trump’s most senior conservative thinker/strategist. Bannon also displays disdain, some might say hate, for minorities.

At last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) DC meeting, the nation heard Steve Bannon discuss his vision for the destabilization of America’s prevailing “Administrative State.” Like the POTUS,  Bannon’s aspirations were short on detail but his goal seemed clear.

(Now that he’s out of the official fascist closet with his personal (and to me, dangerous) ideology, black leathers and all, Mr. B now has earned my nickname of “Goebbels,” which I will attach to him evermore.)

I think it is ironic historically, that 74 years ago, in February, 1933, Adolph Hitler announced his foreign policy which was all about securing “living space” for his German master race and paced his rampage through Western Europe and Russia, killing millions and laying waste to nations, cultures, national borders, and dozens of ethnicities.

As per his CPAC performance and many of his previous activities, writing, and movies,  Goebbels Bannon is all about busting up US institutions with no idea what will follow, and apparently not worrying about the collateral damage to our democracy, since the goal is just the breakup. 

While Joey G was brutally anti-Jew, we know Bannon’s strong views on Mexican and Muslim immigrants and according to his ex-wife, Bannon didn’t want their twin daughters attending school with Jewish kids, claiming the Semites all were “whiny.”

I wonder if all Trump supporters believe in Goebbels Bannon’s dream of tearing down so many familiar societal walls in America, replacing them with what?

And if those hearty party followers don’t buy in, will they let anyone know?

I’m not ready to accept the GOP spin that most of those unhappy participants at congressional town hall meetings are not real constituents upset with the general weak-kneed behavior displayed by GOP Members of Congress and Senators.

The congressional lemming “follow the Republican leader over the cliff” performance is present. I guess one way to ignore those back home complaints is to pretend they are not real or somehow the agitation of “outsiders.”

But, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and those criticisms just might represent legitimate voter outrage. We’ll know in two years when most MoC’s run for re-election.

However, as per Goebbels Bannon’s political prescription, it’s tough to hide the off key resumes of DoE’s Betsy DeVos, HUD’s Ben Carson, EPA’s Scott Pruitt, AG Jeff Sessions and Ag’s Rick Perry, Transportation’s Elaine Chao, etc. given their new careers. 

Each is a legitimate cabinet-level agency disrupter and implementer who fast could facilitate that Goebbels Bannon destruction process.

The Boss

This week, while continuing his attacks on the media, President Trump called for a huge military buildup and upgrading our nuclear arsenal to make sure we have more nukes than any other country. (I doubt that shakes up the North Korean leader who, likely just offed his brother, lots of other relatives and competitor close aides.)

Neither of those muscular POTUS campaign promises is objectionable on the surface, except I wonder where he is going to get the money? More deficit spending justified by he who promised to balance the budget, using the justification of what ….besides the need for the military industrial complex to general more revenue?

The Admin’s cash needs dovetail with the Steve Mnuchin unwise announcement, that tax reform will be the Admin’s major initiative this year.

Tax reform could produce simplicity, which would be nice, but not  grand revenue.

If there are 200 lobbyists armed and ready to kill the GSEs, there are 2000 or more registered lobbyists-- and hundreds more for the asking--equally armed and ready to kill, expand, distort, or preserve their paymasters’ various tax exclusions for which they’ve worked for years and years to get and keep.

Major tax reform is not a leisurely back nine at Mira Lago and any presumed disappearance of tax breaks—without replacement tax bennies--will be fought mightily including by many Republicans.

Or as Louisiana’s legendary Sen. Russell Long, historic tax legislation pass master, once opined, “The Senators all say, don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax the fellow behind the tree!”

There is a reason why our Tax Code is so snarled and tangled and it largely is about little addition here and amendment there, most were misidentified intentionally as revenue raisers, or revenue neutral, which add up to hundreds perhaps thousands of interests not paying their fair share of federal taxes necessary to do all of those things President DJT wants to do, build our defense forces, a Wall separating us from Mexican, a $Trillion for infrastructure spending, and reduce federal taxes for individuals and corporations alike.

DJT’s tax/budget numbers won’t/don’t add up, never have and never will. I fear the result may be the moneyed interests just tapping the US Treasury for their own balance sheets and share price increases, employing misleading 10 year revenue predictions calling any success “deficit neutral.”

(I’ll be curious to see next month what 10 year revenue number the first DJT Budget has for the GSEs.)

Psst. The future is unknowable and nobody accurately can project tax spending and revenue 10 years into the future. Official Washington never has and never will.

That doesn’t stop the OMB, CBO, and bunches of other three and four letter federal sources from doing it. But their revenue and spending prediction miss far more than hit. (Think about all of these weapons systems you read about and their spiraling upward costs?)

And, that’s a bipartisan comment. Democrats and Republicans both engage in that BS math.

President Trump could be the successful  exception but I don’t think tax reform—despite Sean Spicer’s and Kellyanne Conway’s cheerleading--is a near term political winner, just as I didn’t think  President Obama should have pursued “Obamacare” as his first major legislative initiative.

Obama used up a lot of political capital, didn’t sell it well, got only Democrat votes, and didn’t root it in enough of a political foundation to keep it protected from GOP attacks and now, likely, major legislative changes. (Although some of the congressional town hall meetings maybe making the majority congressional think twice about that partisan legislative surgery.)

My blog advice then to President Obama and now to President Trump, is first seek a major national infrastructure effort. Go for smart projects which are needed and not substitutes for already planned private spending.

That’s low hanging political fruit.

Trump could get bipartisan support in every congressional district where municipal repair is necessary, allow the public (voters) to see new bricks and mortar rising before their eyes, produce some of the jobs DJT seeks, and bank some political support which he can use down the road for your other priorities (like the GSEs???).

Maloni, 2-27-2017