Bank of International Settlements: the mother of all banks

Project World Awareness found this obscure gem about the path towards a global currency. In the last G20 summit, these leaders have agreed to support the beginning of this global currency by activating the IMF's power to produce money in the form of SDRs (Special Drawing Rights). What could the next step be?

Some have speculated that the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) would be the undisputed choice as a global central bank. It is based in Basel, Switzerland, and boasts a client list of most major central banks around the world. Its influence and power is obvious, and it is known to make or break economies of a country -- the current U.S. recession included.

Barney Frank wants to control your pay

The government has successfully put a limit on top executives working in firms receiving bailout money. Now Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) wants more control in how all employees of these firms are paid:

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

The purpose of the legislation is to "prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards," according to the bill's language. That includes regular pay, bonuses -- everything -- paid to employees of companies in whom the government has a capital stake, including those that have received funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds.

In addition, the bill gives Geithner the authority to decide what pay is "unreasonable" or "excessive." And it directs the Treasury Department to come up with a method to evaluate "the performance of the individual executive or employee to whom the payment relates."

Again, once the government gets a taste of new power, it never relents in grabbing more.

Oh please, not another .gov website!

The Treasury Department announces FinancialStability.gov:

a website dedicated to bringing transparency and clarity to the immensely complex problems in the financial system and the President’s plans to address them.

If Geithner cannot explain it on TV, how can he explain it on a website? I'd rather all that money, time, and energy spent on creating this website used someplace else. Seriously, how many .gov sites do we need with this administration?!

Administration wants expanded authority to seize firms

Not wasting a good crisis, indeed! Team Obama could seek more power for the Treasury Department to seize non-bank financial companies like insurers, hedge funds, etc. Currently only banks can be seized by the government.

This is a dangerous path. What's next? Nationalization of the oil companies?

Another Obama nominee nailed by taxes

This is becoming absurd! Ron Kirk, the President's pick for U.S. Trade Representative, failed to pay nearly $10,000 in taxes according to the Senate Finance Committee.

Next?