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Date Posted: 03:30:54 04/08/09 Wed
Author: Bobby N. Harmon
Subject:

VULTURES IN THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

CV05-00030 - U.S. Dept of Justice, Office of the U.S. Trustee, David C. Farmer, Trustee vs. Bobby N. Harmon - Exhibit: "The Commodity Futures Trading Commission"�

From: bobby_n_harmon@yahoo.com

Sent: Wed 4/08/09 6:18 AM

To: Barack H. Obama (president@whitehouse.gov); Eric Holder (AskDOJ@usdoj.gov); David Farmer (farmerd001@hawaii.rr.com); Steven Guttman (sguttman@kdubm.com); Carol K. Muranaka (ustp.region15@usdoj.gov); David A. Ezra (theresa_lam@hid.uscourts.gov); Judith Neustadter (Judy@tiki.net); Kevin S.C. Chang (shari_afuso@hid.uscourts.gov); Barry M. Kurren (tammy_kimura@hid.uscourts.gov); Securities & Exchange Commission Enforcement Division (enforcement@sec.gov); U.S. Treasury Dept. Office of Inspector General (hotline@oig.treas.gov); Office of Inspector General US Dept of Justice (oig.hotline@usdoj.gov); Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (ustrustee.program@usdoj.gov); Robert Faris (hib@hib.uscourts.gov); Thomas Fitton (info@judicialwatch.org); SEC Office of The Inspector General (oig@sec.gov)

Cc: ACLU Hawaii (office@acluhawaii.org); All Representatives (reps@Capitol.hawaii.gov); All Senators (sens@Capitol.hawaii.gov); Andrew Walden (hfpeditor@email.com); Aon Insurance Managers (mike_coulter@agl.aon.com); Arthur Rath (imua@spamarrest.com); Benjamin Kudo (bkudo@imanakakudo.com); Bradley Tamm (btamm@hawaii.rr.com); Carl Morton (ethics@hawaiiethics.org); Charles Goodwin (HONOLULU@FBI.GOV); Charles Hurd (mcp@mediatehawaii.org); David Shapiro (volcanicash@gmail.com); Dee Jay Mailer (ksinfo@ksbe.edu); Dorothy Sellers (hawaiiag@hawaii.gov); Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (ustrustee.program@usdoj.gov); Hugh Jones (hugh.r.jones@hawaii.gov); Insurance Division Fraud Branch (insfraud@dcca.hawaii.gov); J C Shannon (Hapa1234@aol.com); James B Nicholson (jamesbnicholson@aol.com); James B. Farris (Farrisj@adr.org); James Cribley (jcribley@caselombardi.com); James Wriston (jwriston@awlaw.com); Jeffrey Watanabe (jwatanabe@wik.com); Jim Dooley (jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com); Jo Ann Uchida (rico@dcca.hawaii.gov); Joe Moore (news@khon2.com); John D. Finnegan (info@chubb.com); John Goemans (wip@kamuela.com); Judge Lloyd King (hib@hib.uscourts.gov); Judith Neustadter (Judy@tiki.net); Judson Witham (jurisnot2@yahoo.com); Ken Conklin (ken_conklin@yahoo.com); Kenneth Hipp (khipp@marrhipp.com); Lawrence Reifurth (dcca@dcca.hawaii.gov); Linda Lingle (governor.lingle@hawaii.gov); Lyn Flanigan Anzai (lflanigan@hsba.org); Margery Bronster (info@bchlaw.net); Marsh Affinity Group (prosecure@marshpm.com); Michael N. Tanoue (mtanoue@paclawgroup.com); Michelle Tucker (michelle@sterlingandtucker.com); Nathan Aipa (nathan@pitluck.com); Office of Inspector General Civil Rights Complaints (inspector.general@usdoj.gov); Office of the U.S. Trustee District of Hawaii (ustp.region15@usdoj.goV); Paul Alston (palston@ahfi.com); Randall Roth (rroth@hawaii.edu); Rick Daysog (rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com); Robert Bruce Graham (bgraham@awlaw.com); Robin Campaniano (aigh001@aighawaii.com); Samuel P. King (leslie_sai@hid.uscourts.gov); William K Slate (Websitemail@adr.org); Jim Terrack (tnthawaii@aol.com); Don Michak (dmichak@journalinquirer.com); Rocco Sansone (rocco.c.sansone@marsh.com); Ted Pettit (tpettit@caselombardi.com); Mark Burch (burch@hawaii.edu); Laura Thielen (dlnr@hawaii.gov); Vaughn & Lynda Robinson (ronpaulslcutah@yahoo.com); Rebecca Christie (rchristie4@bloomberg.net); Catbird (the-catbird@hotmail.com); James Duca (jduca@kdubm.com); Ian Lind (diary@ilind.net); Roy F. Hughes (hthughes@hawaii.rr.com); Malia Zimmerman (Malia@hawaiireporter.com); Elisa Yadao (Ka_Hana@notes.k12.hi.us); Jack Cashill (JCashill@aol.com); Marshall Chriswell (mc@whistleblowers.org); Tom Flocco (tom2@tomflocco.com); Michael Moore (mike@michaelmoore.com); Eric Shine (civilrights911@socal.rr.com); Laser Haas (laserhaas@msn.com); Lucy Komisar (lkomisar@msn.com); Democrats.com (activist@democrats.com); Debra Sweet (debrasweet@worldcantwait.org); Jane Kirtley (kirt001@umn.edu); V K Durham (vkdtdht@pionet.net); John Jubinsky (Jube@tghawaii.com); Yamil Berard (yberard@star-telegram.com); Global Exchange (communications@globalexchange.org); William K. Black (blackw@umkc.edu); Carole Williams (cjwms@up.net); Susan Tius (STius@rmhawaii.com); Alex Jones (alex@infowars.com)

Nominee to head Commodity Futures Trading Commission wins OK from Senate Agriculture panel
By MARCY GORDON | Associated Press | Mar 16, 09 7:54 PM CDT in Business

President Barack Obama's choice to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a nomination which raised concern among some lawmakers, cleared a hurdle toward Senate confirmation on Monday.

The Senate Agriculture Committee approved the nomination of Gary Gensler as chairman of the federal agency, sending it on to the full Senate. Though senators on the committee were polled individually, there was no customary vote count for and against, just a recording of no negative votes.

The nomination of Gensler to lead the relatively obscure agency has touched on key questions as Congress and the administration _ driven by the worst economic crisis since the 1930s _ prepare to tighten regulation of the financial markets and complex instruments. The concerns among lawmakers stem from Gensler's actions as a Clinton administration official in an area blamed for aggravating the financial crisis _ the complex investments known as credit derivatives.

Gensler's confirmation had been delayed by concerns voiced by Agriculture Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and others over what they have said was Gensler's past deregulatory stance.

"With our current economic crisis, it is painfully clear that our nation's financial system requires a much stronger and more effective regulatory scheme, and it is important that we have an effective leader at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission," Harkin said in a statement Monday after the committee vote. "I am hopeful that (Gensler) will lead effectively in reforming and restoring regulation of trading in futures and other derivatives contracts."

Gensler promised at his confirmation hearing before the committee last month to act forcefully and independently as a regulator. He said it was clear in retrospect that he and others in the Clinton administration "should have done more to protect the American public through aggressive regulation, harder regulation" of the financial markets.

The CFTC, which regulates futures and options trading in commodities like oil, natural gas and agricultural products as well as financial instruments, has become a focus of the public debate over putting government reins on the massive global markets for credit default swaps and other derivatives.

Credit default swaps, a form of insurance against loan defaults, are traded in a secretive market valued at around $60 trillion. They figured prominently in the credit crisis that brought the downfall of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. , a government rescue plan for giant insurer American International Group Inc., and the sale of brokerage icon Merrill Lynch & Co. to Bank of America Corp.

Gensler said he and other economic policymakers in the late 1990s had recommended tighter regulations in several areas and "we should have fought harder for them." He testified that his views have "evolved" since then.

Gensler, who was an assistant secretary of the Treasury Department and later undersecretary for domestic finance, worked with Clinton's Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to keep credit default swaps away from regulation by the CFTC or the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Finance officials from rich and developing countries meeting in England over the weekend, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, agreed to tighten oversight of credit derivatives as well as financial markets and hedge funds. Obama has pressed for an overhaul of U.S. financial regulations to restore transparency and trust to the markets.

The Bush administration, as part of its own regulatory overhaul plan, proposed merging the functions of the CFTC _ which has only about 500 employees, the same level as in 1974 _ into the larger SEC. Decisions on the future powers of individual agencies will fall to Congress and the administration as they craft the financial overhaul.

http://www.newser.com/article/d96vf9e80/nominee-to-head-commodity-futures-trading-commission-wins-ok-from-senate-agriculture-panel.html

# # #

Excerpt from The Catbird Seat - Part II; The Nests:

Commodity Futures Trading Commission - From: The Buying of the President (1996 ed): . . .

[Phil] Gramm has also been criticized for mixing government business and campaign politics by using his Senate office staff to work on campaigns. . . . At least two different aides to Senator Gramm have written memos about how Gramm�s wife, Wendy...should be used for his reelection bid. . . .

That is particularly interesting in light of the powerful position she held in Washington as chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. As the nation�s leading regulator of futures contracts for all agricultural commodities, Wendy Gramm was under tight ethical constraints as to the degree and nature of her personal daily interaction with agribusiness interests.

In other words, the chairwoman of the powerful federal regulatory agency overseeing agriculture commodities futures trading would be helping her U.S. senator husband raise campaign funds from the corporations and individuals she regulated. . . .

The CFTC oversees federal regulation of the nation�s fourteen commodities and futures exchanges. At those exchanges, contracts to buy and sell a seemingly endless variety of commodities are traded: oil and gas, soybeans, cattle, pork belies, corn, precious metals, cocoa, lumber, cranberries, and sugar, to name but a few. The regulatory duties of the CFTC are aimed largely at ensuring fairness and stability at the nation�s commodities exchanges. . . .

One week after Bill Clinton won the presidential election it became clear that Wendy Gramm would be leaving the politically appointed CFTC post. On November 16, 1992, nine energy companies wrote to the commission seeking to exempt energy derivative contracts, a business valued at $5 TRILLION a year, from federal regulation....

In response to the energy companies� request, Wendy Gramm set in motion the process that led to those energy derivative contracts, and other exotic financial transactions, being exempted from regulation. . . .

A Center for Public Integrity investigation shows that of the nine companies that requested the exemption, seven had donated to Phil Gramm campaigns through PACs, company officers, or employees. . . .

Cumulatively, Gramm�s campaigns had received $157,250 from the people who were asking his wife to exempt energy derivatives and the other transactions from regulation....

During Wendy Gramm�s tenure with the commodities commission, Phil Gramm accepted $38,500 in commodity honoraria, according to his actual disclosure records...

At the same time she was heading the commodities commission, he was on the Senate Banking committee. That means that Phil Gramm, too, had regulatory jurisdiction and oversight regarding commodities.

On July 24, 1990, Phil Gramm voted to kill an amendment that would have lowered the sugar price support from eighteen cents a pound to sixteen cents a pound. That was a potential conflict of interest because Gramm�s disclosure show that at the time the couple owned between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of stock in a sugar company named Castle and Cooke.

http://www.kycbs.net/Catbird2.htm

Related references:

http://www.kycbs.net/AOL.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/Aloha-Air.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/Castle-Cooke.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/Chief-Clinton.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/IMF.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/MaunawiliValley.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/Punahou.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/Treasury.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/World-Bank.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/Yucaipa.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Alston-Paul.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Anzai-Earl.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Anzai-Lyn.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Case-Dan.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Case-Steve.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Clinton-Bill.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Clinton-Hillary.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Farmer-David.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Geithner-Timothy.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Gramm-Phil.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Gramm-Wendy.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Obama-Barack.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Paulson-Henry.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Rubin-Robert.htm

April 8, 2009

Dear President Obama, Attorney General Holder, Mr. Farmer; Mr. Guttman; Ms. Muranaka; Judge Ezra, Judge Chang, Judge Kurren, and All Concerned:

Due to the discovery of relevant facts in this case, I am adding the subject Exhibit which relates to your lawsuit that, as I have stated previously, violates my Constitutional Rights of Free Speech and a Fair Trial by a jury of my peers, and Federal and Hawaii Anti-SLAPP statutes.

In view of all the facts that I have presented in this and hundreds of other Exhibits and witness descriptions, it is beyond comprehension that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; Assistant U.S. Trustees Curtis Ching, Gayle Lau and Carol Muranaka; Judges Eden Hifo (fka Bambi Weil), Kevin Chang, David Ezra, Barry Kurren, Lloyd King and Robert Faris, and Trustees Mary Lou Woo, James Nicholson and David C. Farmer; the American Arbitration Association arbitrator Judith Neustadter Fuqua, and attorney Steven Guttman can still claim that they were non-conflicted, impartial, and unbiased in this case.

In spite of all this factual evidence, however, I am again asking that we attempt to reach a global settlement of this matter through confidential negotiation or mediation rather than continuing these costly and seemingly-endless court proceedings.

If you still are NOT willing to attempt to negotiate or mediate a settlement, then I ask that you perform your mandated review of this new Exhibit in accordance with Judge Ezra's Order, and advise me if you find it contains any so-called "protected subject matter", and whether or not you intend to OBJECT to my filing a Motion to reopen this case.

Mr. Farmer, I respectfully request your immediate reply. If I do not receive a response from you or your insurance carrier within 15 days, I will assume that you have found no "protected subject matter" in these updated pages, and that you will NOT file any objections to my Motion.

Very truly yours,

Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU, ARM

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