Aug. 29, 2007

Aug. 29, 2007--Politicians, regulators and financial specialists outside the United States are seeking a role in the oversight of American markets, banks and rating agencies after recent problems related to subprime mortgages. Their argument is simple: The United States is exporting financial products, but losses to investors in other countries suggest that American regulators are not properly monitoring the products or alerting investors to the risks. “We need an international approach, and the United States needs to be part of it,” said Peter Bofinger, a member of the German government’s economics advisory board and a professor at the University of Würzburg.While regulators in the United States have not been receptive to the idea in the past, analysts said that Europe and Asia had more leverage now. Washington might have to yield if it wants to succeed in imposing bilateral regulations on government-owned investment funds from emerging economies. “America depends on the rest of the world to finance its debt,” Mr. Bofing NYT C1

--GENEVA (Aug. 28) - The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said. AOL

--Justice Department lawyers spent Tuesday scrambling to find a way to stop Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti Jr. from filing a lawsuit today, the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, on behalf of hundreds of thousands of people who blame the Army Corps of Engineers for levee breaks during the storm that caused widespread flooding, The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. LAWYERS USA

--The arrest report accusing Senator Larry E. Craig of disorderly conduct in a bathroom stall at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport said Mr. Craig’s actions followed “numerous arrests regarding sexual activity in the public restroom.” The airport police in Minneapolis would not elaborate yesterday on the earlier arrests, but information about efforts to prevent public sex at the airport — and at others across the country — is available online through Web sites that cater to the very people police hope to stop.

In June, when Mr. Craig, Republican of Idaho, was charged with making overtures for sex to an undercover police officer, a Web site that lists places for gay sex worldwide included this alert about the Minneapolis airport beside the words “Heads Up!” in red letters: “Airport police sting here in progress. Four arrests so far this week.” –NYT A15 GOP better figger out U-Tube FAST….