links for 2011-09-20

"The U.S. Senate is considering the unthinkable, changing detention laws to imprison people – including Americans – indefinitely and without charge."

The announcement provided: "the estimated cost of the project is between $25,000,000 to $100,000,000."

"Siemens withdrew more than half-a-billion euros in cash deposits from a large French bank two weeks ago and transferred it to the European Central Bank, in a sign of how companies are seeking havens amid Europe’s sovereign debt crisis."

"What we need is a centralized repository for all mortgage servicing data — if we can’t see what the problem is, we’ll never find a solution. But as reports pile up that banks are still rubber-stamping possibly illegal foreclosures, if you want to get a sense of how the housing market is doing, you’re probably better off asking your neighbor than consulting the public record."

"Tony Blair sent a gushing personal letter to Colonel Gaddafi – after yet another visit to Libya – offering to help the dictator identify African projects to invest in, the Daily Mail can reveal."

"By the time I feed my family, I have maybe $400,000 left over."

"I have previously posted a table showing that people support raising taxes as part of deficit reduction by a 2-to-1 margin over the Grover Norquist/Club for Growth/Tea Party position that the deficit must be reduced only by spending cuts without a penny of higher taxes"

"The pro-business Free Democrats, Angela Merkel's coalition partner, is in electoral meltdown, having scored just 1.8 percent in the Berlin election on Sunday. It is the latest in a string of crushing defeats and poses a big risk to Merkel and to the euro rescue. The FDP is resorting to populist euro-skepticism to save itself."

"German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, 43, intends to remain true to the central bank's stability policies, despite all resistance. In an interview with SPIEGEL, he warns of risks on the European Central Bank's balance sheet and calls on lawmakers to reach consensus on an approach to saving the euro."

"A proposed capital surcharge for big banks is not anti-American and will help reduce the risk of big bank failures, a top European regulator said on Monday."

The European Union will call on China this week to boost domestic demand and on the United States and Japan to tackle their public deficits as part of global efforts to rebalance growth, an EU document showed.