American Exceptionalism on EBay: The Pentagon Lightning Gun ... by gimleteye

"We are an exceptional nation. We can do anything we put our minds, to." That's the premise of innumerable campaign speeches by candidates for political office that obscure the great truth of our time: we are only as exceptional as our faults and it is lunacy to pretend otherwise. This is a harsh judgment on a day we mourn the loss of exceptionally trained soldiers in Afghanistan, lost in a war we cannot win and our elected officials cannot let go of, lest they be judged not exceptional enough to serve.

Now, thanks to Wired Magazine we learn about The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Neutralizer. Here is the idea for a JIN: to use lasers to carve conductive channels in the air, then send electricity down those channels and turn hidden bombs into burnt slag. The Bush White House paid a company called ION $30 million to come up with a golf-cart like design. It was an exceptional idea to join other countless billions to protect Americans from terrorism.

Now parts of the JIN are coming up on Ebay, where the underlying principles of American Exceptionalism may also soon appear on auction.

US Century Bank: sixty days and counting down the questions ... by gimleteye

The federal order slapped recently on US Century Bank is one of the harshest -- if not the harshest -- in FDIC history. It stakes out so many problems at the bank, the question begs to be asked: why not just shut down the bank? The question leads to others. Knowing the directors involved and their public personas, from founders Sergio Pino to Ramon Rasco, and insider dealing in Miami-Dade County, why did federal intervention take so long?

Are federal banking investigators, including law enforcement, completely mismatched to problem banks like US Century and its directors? How, for example, did a bank with such systemic problems as US Century (all detailed in the consent order) obtain only a few years ago the largest taxpayer bailout in the state of Florida? If the bank assets are rotten now, they were rotten then, so someone's trust was abused; and we are not talking about bloggers. We are talking about lots of people with accounting and law degrees and fiduciary responsibilities.

To meet the terms and requirements of the consent order,  the FDIC imposed restrictions and conditions on bank operations -- many to be accomplished within 60 days -- that appear insurmountable. It would take an army of qualified bank managers to put the changes in effect so quickly, and the order is largely due to the lack of qualified managers.

There are so many unanswered questions; never mind 60 days, they couldn't be answered in 10 to 20 years.

At the heart of the market meltdown: political polarization in the US ... by gimleteye

The only thing Americans seem to agree on today is the historic low confidence in Congress. But remember: we elect Congress. The feeling of helplessness is well earned.

After serial asset bubbles burst, helping turn the US economy into a shell of its former self, there is nothing left for the Federal Reserve and monetary policy to do. It almost seems beyond the point to explain how the Fed and political interests substantially supported the bubbles, while the mainstream media went AWOL. There is another course-- in terms of fiscal policy. Paul Krugman has been hollering for more than two years that the failure to increase government stimulus spending now-- with the economy in such fragile shape-- is repeating the mistakes of the Great Depression: history that Ben Bernanke knows perfectly well.

But having failed to hold together even his own party and its core principles during the recent Congressional fiasco, President Obama has no leg to stand on.

A scan through the results of the recent Quinnipiac poll shows that Republicans and Democrats are divided as they ever have been. Average Americans may go down kicking and screaming at each other, surrounded by Fox News flame throwers, but it is very clear-- from the income inequality gap-- that the richest Americans have already sailed from the fray on shore while we are well and truly cooking in the heat.

So shake your head at the 14 percent of Americans, according to the August 1 CNN poll, who approve of Congress. That dismal number reflects on us. We are deluded to think we are exceptional Americans. The rest of the world knows perfectly well what happens when the politics of destruction get the bit in its teeth. I call it, reaping the whirlwind.

Something is rotten at the Collins Center. By Geniusofdespair

There was a shakeup at the Collins Center thanks to former FPL turd Jeff Bartell. He led the way to force out Director and President Roderick Petrey. Heard the Miami Herald has it wrong. And what is AIF ass Barney Bishop doing on the Board of the Collins Center anyway? Was Roderick Petrie forced out by them? Did Allison DeFoor have a major role in what happened? Don't have the whole story yet but the shake up is huge at the Center and word is the Tallahassee members might be the staws stirring the drink, all following Bartell's orchestration. Outgoing Board Member Manny Diaz is involved so is Helen Ferre. They were incoming, soon be outgoing, Board Members. They didn't like that first meeting. Merritt Steirheim is in for the time being. Any insiders have the scoop? There is such a turnover on the Board I can't get the membership straight.

Whomever put Barney Bishop on this Board should be shot. He knows as much about public policy and smart growth as I know about Bible studies and the Torah -- yep, nothing!

US Century Bank and the FDIC: a sharp focus on possible money laundering ... by gimleteye

Eyeonmiami continues to examine the federal Consent Order that brings public scrutiny to the insider piggy bank of Miami-Dade County: US Century Bank. Deep inside the order is a section where the implicit criticism of bank operations is very harsh. The section requires the bank to conform to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and to put in place a compliance plan. One would think, with all the attention on money laundering in South Florida and the political influence peddling of bank directors, US Century Bank would have had an adequate compliance plan and internal controls. This is what the Consent Order says: "After the Board has approved the Compliance Plan, the review and approval shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board. Thereafter the Bank shall take appropriate action to enable the Bank to comply with the BSA Rules." (italics and emphasis, mine)

Eyeonmiami has called US Century Bank the "insider piggy bank" based on the extraordinary ratio of insider loans compared to net worth (nearly 100 times higher than its peer group, according to Bauer Financial) and our knowledge of the lobbying influence of the board's directors and founders, including Sergio Pino and Ramon Rasco, but the FDIC -- and its sharp criticism of US Century's internal supervision -- is notable. "Within 60 days from the effective date of the Consent Order, the Board shall establish a Board committee ("BSA Directors' Committee), consisting of at least five members, to oversee the Bank's compliance with the BSA Rules and this ORDER. A majority of the members of the BSA Directors' Committee shall not be officers of the Bank."

I suppose the members could be county commissioners.

And it gets worse: "Within 60 days from the effective date of this ORDER, the Bank shall establish and implement monitoring and reporting procedures for Suspicious Activity Reports to ensure that all appropriate Bank employees are aware of the procedures, including accurate recordkeeping, form completion, and the detection and reporting of known and/or suspected criminal activity, and their responsibilities in implementing the procedures. Within 90 days of the effective date of this ORDER, the Bank shall contract with an independent auditor to conduct a detailed review of all high-risk accounts and high-risk transactions from November 30, 2009, to the present and determine whether Suspicious Activity Reports and Currency Transaction Reports should be filed."

The benign news reports of US Century Bank scarcely scratch the surface. What else is there?

Rock mining in Palm Beach suffers rare defeat ... by gimleteye

Rock mining is one of the wealthiest, most secretive industries in the state of Florida. It is an industrial activity involving the dynamiting and harvesting of ancient corals to make the base materials for cement and concrete. When you fly out of Miami International Airport, or pass by old lakes in South Miami, what you are seeing is an industrial activity that substantially helped destroy the Everglades. By allowing rock mines in the Everglades, local governments have drastically complicated restoration by the state and federal government and, in the case of Miami-Dade, imposed huge risks (and potential costs) on anyone who drinks water -- that means, everyone.

The laws protecting wetlands in Florida have proven ineffective against special interests that specialize in the lucrative game of lobbying and pushing loopholes into legislation. The best book written on the subject and a very good read: "Paving Paradise: Florida's Vanishing Wetlands and the Failure of No Net Loss".

Palm Beach County is a special example. The county is run by sugar billionaires (the Fanjuls) and rock miners. The sugar barons invite whatever economic activity will keep government at bay, especially government that seeks to restore the Everglades by forcing them to clean up their pollution. The sugar barons are deeply burrowed into protective farm programs protected by Democrats and Republicans alike. The Palm Beach County Commission -- like all county commissions -- have proven eager accomplices in the business of converting wetlands for profit since everyone is doing it.

Push back by environmentalists in the courts consumes an enormous amount of time, money and effort: commodities in increasingly short supply as waning public interest combines with economic and personal financial insecurity to create a laissez faire political climate where any sort of demagoguery attached to the word "jobs" gives momentum to the money changers, lobbyists, and sycophants.

That is why yesterday's news that a district appeals court ruled against a mine expansion in West Palm Beach is so rare. The PB Post reports, "In a decision that environmentalists say could affect the future of rock mining in the county's rural western area, the court ruled the 470-acre expansion planned by Bergeron Sand and Rock Mine Aggregates did not meet criteria spelled out in the county's comprehensive plan -- a long-term blueprint for growth and development." (Ron Bergeron, self-proclaimed Everglades defender, is behind the rock mine.)

What you will see, now, is an effort on many fronts to re-write comprehensive plans across the state of Florida. Why is that going to happen? Because Gov. Rick Scott gave carte blanche to local government when he beheaded the Florida Department of Community Affairs, the beaten-down agency with the sad, difficult task of trying to protect Floridians quality of life and environment from crappy development schemes. The schemers, won. If only people knew. (Click 'read more' for the whole Palm Beach Post story.)

I am on Vacation. By Geniusofdespair

I will be gone for a few weeks. Might write, might not.

Gimleteye is in charge. I hope he moderates your comments and leaves you nasty responses so you won't miss me too much.

Story of A Pig: Lynda Bell. By Geniusofdespair

That pig County Commissioner Lynda Bell has got to go. Are you listening Vanessa Brito of Miami Voice?

Here is what she did. She insisted on this wetland's task force to f--k with Derm. Seriously. It was so transparent what she was doing even Commissioner Moss referred to it - I have it on video ...he didn't say f--k however. He said about Lynda's proposed Task Force: "The thing we can't do is throw DERM under the bus on this issue. That is my concern." So, with that warning, Lynda got her friggin' task force.

This week it was formed. There were 7 members to be nominated, one by the Mayor and 6 by the 13 County Commissioners. Lynda made 6 of the 9 nominations. All 6 of her nominees made it on the task force. She had 5 picks originally which was already piggish but then she had the GALL to add a 6th nominee late Monday after 5 (the choices were suppose to have been in Monday - See email above) The fix was in. She certainly didn't need that 6th nominee except to pummel the lone environmentalist that was assured a seat prior to her 6th entry. That is why I am calling her a pig, she didn't need 6 nominations when most other Commissioners only made 1. I swear this Bell woman is trouble with a capital "PIG".

Special thanks goes out to County Commissioners Rebeca Sosa, Xavier Suarez, Sally Heyman, Barbara Jordan and Jean Monestime for not going with Lynda's slate. Even Dim Bruno managed not to go with the pack entirely. The rest (except Audrey Edmonson and Dennis Moss who didn't vote) voted as expected. Bovo, the new guy, will soon be part of the unreformable majority. We now await the Mayor's appointment. Don't expect good things from this task force.

My picks would have been, Dennis Olle nominated by Xavier Suarez, Sara Fain nominated by Jean Monestime and Laura Reynolds nominated by Dennis Moss. By the way Lynda Bell, Laura Reynolds lives in your district.

So not only did Lynda cook up this dreadful task force, she got all her people on it by nominating all of them. Oink. District 8 voters...What did you do?? You had better right this wrong -- Lynda Bell -- before she does some real damage. She is as devious as Natacha Seijas. Little surprise as there is a Seijas confidant, Jose Luis Castillo, in her district office most days, and his wife also works there.

Lois, call me, let's talk some more!

Diana Cardenas and GOP driven Homophobia: tragar un cardo ... by gimleteye

Al Cardenas may never get closer to power than during the grand old days of the Bush era, but now that his wife, Diana, has become a star blogger against homosexuality there may yet be life for the Cardenas marriage in the Michelle Bachman wing of the radical right. "Marriage is a vital social institution between two members of the OPPOSITE sex. It goes way beyond just an emotional relationship---it serves a vital role in the stability and continuity of our society, something which homosexual marriages cannot provide," writes the new thinker of the radical right. Cardenas' husband is now chairman of the American Conservative Union, part of the Grover Norquist / Karl Rove corporatewiki. Their reality-based community defines homosexuality as an illness. Whether they believe it or not is immaterial: pouring gasoline on the culture war during an economic crisis has always been a profitable strategy for the radical right: count on more.

US Century Bank, Miami-Dade County's insider piggy bank: FDIC on conflicts of interest ... by gimleteye

The premise of the HBO hit series, "True Blood", is that vampires live in uneasy harmony with humans, who have a taste for each others' blood. One of the conceits that also harmonizes with our conflicted natures is the capacity of vampires to "glamor" humans to make them believe or forget whatever they want. The thrall could be compared with the public response to the crisis triggered by financial institutions who made speculation a high virtue and wrecked the economy; for which there is still no accountability. The New York Times yesterday reported how directors of failed corporations like Enron and Lehman Brothers have gone on to rewarding positions in other public corporations, "Ex-Directors of Failed Firms Have Little To Fear". Today the federal banking regulator, FDIC, is dealing with hundreds of banks still propped up with infusions of taxpayer money. These could be called "the walking dead" or "zombie banks". The biggest recipient of TARP funds in Florida is US Century Bank: whose founders and board of directors are well known in Miami-Dade county political circles. Last week's Consent Order with US Century Bank in Miami shows how federal regulators are holding the line with US Century, or at least trying to, with its ratio of insider loans to net worth nearly 100 times its banking peer group. The federal FDIC focused its Consent Order on accountability, insider conflicts, management capability, and ethics. Here is one example:

The Death Knell of the Republican Party or a Portent of Thing to Come? By Geniusofdespair

According to the Miami Herald, this was said by Moderate Republican, former Florida State Senator Nancy Argenziano after jumping ship to run as a Democrat:

"The Republican Party has left me, and I will run as a Democrat, in a sense permitting a claim to ultimate bipartisanship, along the lines of Ronald Reagan. The current iteration of the party abandoned real Republican principles long ago to cater to ideologues and corporations – the Koch entities, most notably – whose interests lie in the profiteering of America and the sacking of the middle class. Current Republican leaders have neither patience with nor allowance for honest elected officials, and they demand that members of the various legislatures – who, after all, have sworn to uphold the Constitution – instead just follow the hijacked party line and shut up."

And in Chronicle Online she said:

"Contrary to the current crop of Republican leaders, I do not want Halliburton in charge of the Pentagon, BP heading up the Department of Environmental Protection, or Enron making energy policy.

I have a problem with those who have hijacked the Republican Party to use it for their own self gain; those who wouldn’t have a clue what a Republican platform is and who have mutated the “R” philosophy beyond recognition. I take offense that they use the hard-working grassroots level Republicans to help promote a philosophy that they do not practice. Many good Republicans who worked hard for this party have written books telling us what was happening, apparently to no avail. It cannot be that all that matters is that our side wins at any cost. I refuse to believe anyone could not see the harm in doing that."

Is Florida the epicenter of the Civil War within the Republican Party? We have the Charlie Crist third party candidacy for Senate, another jumped-ship Republican. We have the unruly, insane Governor, Rick Scott - proof that Republicans are off their rockers. Now we have Nancy Argenziano - a small player in a big debate in a "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" moment - who tries to answer the question: What the fuck has happened to Republicans?

US Century Bank: more on the federal consent order ... by gimleteye

Last week the FDIC issued the schematic for the transfer of US Century Bank to new ownership. It is the rarest of chances for the public to examine, alongside federal regulators, the insider bank to Miami Dade County's political order. The consent order gives the board of US Century Bank one last chance, but regulators have taken a fair measure of who they are dealing with and issued an order with a full set of red camera lights along the way.

The Order in that respect seems an extraordinary document. The order provides certain performance yardsticks that must be met, but makes certain that the directors and officers of US Century are not going to be doing the measuring themselves, waiting for example for the return of a housing boom to refloat a portfolio loaded down with underwater loans. The regulators demand honest accounting: "the bank shall eliminate from its books, by charge-off or collection, all assets or portions of assets classified as "Loss" ... that have not previously collected or charged-off." There is even more. The regulators anticipate that there are even more rotten loans buried in the US Century books and will require that if there is a subsequent audit, that within 30 days the bank will have to shed off 50 percent of detritus classified as "doubtful". And then it goes on to further say, you can't bait and switch: "Elimination of any of these assets through proceeds of other loans made by the bank is not considered collection for the purposes of this paragraph." For loans over $1 million, within 60 days, US Century must show regulators "the financial position of each such borrower, including the source of repayment, repayment ability, and alternate repayment sources; and an evaluation of the available collateral for each such credit, including possible actions to improve the bank's collateral positions." Wow. Double wow.

The Consent Order requires a management plan and evaluation of existing US Century management. Any new or replacement personnel must have "requisite ability". Within 30 days, the bank is required to hire an independent consultant to analyze what is happening at the bank "for the purpose of providing qualified management". The Order reaches a step further, that the bank will "certify" that "neither the firm, nor any individual involved in the work to be performed, is affiliated in any manner with the Bank."

The regulators outline a capital plan but also impose a written contingency in the event that the bank fails to meet certified objectives. "The contingency plan shall include a plan to merge the bank. The bank shall implement the contingency plan upon written notice from the Supervisory Authorities."

The bottom line: US Century has agreed to show regulators everything, including the financial condition of insiders whose loans distinguish the bank from its peers: (Bauer Financial, reporting on March 31, 2011 bank results)

Can Obama Win Another Term? By Geniusofdespair

In today's New York Times' the Editorial Page headlines were:

To Escape Chaos, A Terrible Deal
The Diminished President
Our Unbalanced Democracy
The President Surrenders

Obama doesn't have balls. Somehow he lets the Republicans not only dodge the bullet every time but they even come out looking good. How do they come out unscathed:

They stay on message no matter what happens.

When are Democrats going to learn to wordsmith down to a coherent one line/one paragraph message and stick to it? This isn't rocket science. It is the dumbed-down American way. Do you think Americans even know what the debt ceiling is? It is now more important to them than jobs, and worse, it is in everyone's vocabulary because Republicans 'stayed on message'.

We Democrats need a new candidate. Actually we need a new party but that is another post. If Dems don't find one, I am going to become a Republican for a while (again) so I can mess with the Tea Party during the primary. If all the independents and Democrats become Republicans for the primary - we could control them.

By the way, all you repugnant Republican trolls, you aren't welcome in this post's comment section.

US Century Bank: barely floating with $1.6 billion in deposits ... by gimleteye

In a just world there would be a trial of US Century Bank and its founders in Miami, Florida, who were just slapped with what might be one of the harshest, if not the harshest, consent orders in US banking history. And if there were a trial the insiders who used US Century as their piggy bank would also be called to account for turning a federally chartered institution into a political apparatus to control the local levers of power governing zoning and permitting in farming and wetlands. But it is not a just world, is it?

The closest view the public may ever have of justice is the federal Consent Order slapped on US Century, its officers and directors by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) with its pale disclaimer: "(US Century Bank) has consented, without admitting or denying any charges of unsafe or unsound banking practices or violations of law or regulation related to weaknesses in asset quality, management, earnings, capital, liquidity, and sensitivity to market risk, to the issuance of this Consent order by the FDIC and OFR (Florida Office of Financial Regulation)."

US Century Bank was the late manifestation of the empire, now vastly reduced, of uber lobbyist Sergio Pino. It started as a simple plumbing supply business and leap-frogged to vertical integration with mass produced housing; a local aspirant to Lennar, one of the nation's largest homebuilders whose fortunes were built from mass production housing in the former Everglades. Pino's chief lieutenants, Ramon Rasco, Rodney Barreto, Jose Cancela, Armando Guerra, and others; built fortunes from the ring suburbs, growing like a toxic culture in a petri dish. For the model to work, the builders required minimum friction and speed in execution; that meant quick zoning to provide housing and supermarkets and strip malls, and then financing and connections to off-load commercial and residential mortgages. Unlike Jorge Mas Canosa, whose corporate empire was built on county road contracts and a highly public persona, the growth of US Century Bank started in the chamber and hallways of the county commission but the main operators retreated from view and hid within boards of lobbyist associations like the Latin Builders and South Florida Builders. They erected legislative turnstiles and gates barring the public from seeing how the worst economic bust since the Great Depression was built into the model.

Unless there is a forensic audit of US Century Bank that reaches the public, we will never know the exact details (and The Miami Herald, whose leadership was complicit in its own way with the downtown power structure, lawyers, and lobbyists for the housing boom will not be of much help except to provide facts without context or commentary.) But we can imagine both the just world and the trial.

The deposed witnesses would include every elected official who counted on the builders and developers in South Florida for campaign contributions that tie back to US Century Bank. Their votes on the Urban Development Boundary and infrastructure serving the bleak suburbs of Miami-Dade County (like those surrounding Tamiami Airport or Homestead Air Force Base) were oaths of allegiance to the speculators and thieves who claimed to be delivering "what the market wants" while fattening their bank accounts. Their defense: "there is no crime playing the system better than our opposition."

The witness list would include former Miami-Dade Mayors and their county managers; Alex Penelas, Armando Vidal, and Steve Shiver, Carlos Alvarez, former county commissioners Barbara Carey Shuler and Carrie Meek, Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, Jimmy Morales, recalled commissioner Natacha Seijas, her ex chief-of-staff Terry Murphy, sitting commissioners Joe Martinez, Javier Souto, Pepe Diaz and Dennis Moss, Barbara Jordan and Audrey Edmunson and the phalanx of political consultants who serve them including Armando Guttierez. It would also include past and county department heads; John Renfrow, Miami Dade Water and Sewer, Bill Brandt, and former DERM chief Carlos Espinosa. By taking apart the insider dealing and political operations of US Century Bank, the trial would expose how $7 billion in infrastructure deficits accumulated; how those deficits served the business of bankers and developers and how Chamber of Commerce values ("Growth pays its own way") eroded our quality of life, water quality and our Everglades and dimmed our economic prospects by setting South Florida on a course where only more growth and development could bail us out. The disclosures would paint the picture of corporate politics disguised as democracy; from county commission races to presidential campaigns like the one that delivered the United States to George W. Bush through the halted recount in downtown Miami and its legacy, FreedomWorks. (for more, you will have to read our archives).

One has to read between the lines of the FDIC Consent Order with US Century to understand just how suspicious and mistrustful federal regulators are. Over this week, we will focus on a few of the highlights. For example on Page 3:

The implication is that official records of the Board of US Century Bank or incomplete or maybe in a storage box that can't be found. Complaints to the Florida Bar Association and to the Division of Professional Regulation would be in order. If only it were a just world.