Jezebels Undermining Financial Overhaul
The ongoing attempt to turn the nation over wholesale to our corporate overlords continues apace. Leading the charge are the Republican harlots, who seem to have never met a corporate phallus they could not find new and clever ways to debase themselves to.
Aiding their charge are Democrat trollops, who have tried to out-GOP the GOP as fellatrix in search of campaign contributions. Ever since the Clinton-era embracing of Wall Street, representative democracy, at least as far as flesh and blood humans are concerned, has suffered greatly. We are a one party nation, morphed into a Corporatocracy, with laws and regulations written by the Corporate campaign donor, for the benefit of the Corporate donor. You humans are merely cannon fodder, who exist mostly to buy corporate products and pay taxes.
The national government has become a giant grift, populated by Jezebels and strumpets. We have a holodeck version of reality, a smash and grab financial policy, an endless stream of corporate giveaways, tax loopholes and bailouts.
That the sheeple tolerate does not mean they are dumb or foolish, but it does speak to the eradication of Democracy. The complete institutionalization of this process has created some angst, but an embedded policy of Bread & Circuses usually serves to distract the masses. We can throw the bums out every two years, but it matters little. A new set of bums merely push the buttons and pull the levers of the machinery — but it is the machine itself that has become so corrupted. To quote P. J. O’Rourke “Voting just encourages the Bastards.”
Today, we learn of more Republicans blocking appointments to all manner of regulatory oversight offices. Because, you know, bankers can self-regulate. And Democrats lack the balls to ram through someone like Paul Volcker to oversee the 5 years-olds we call bankers. They would not want to offend the overlords. Rule 1 in modern politics: Never upset the donors.
The threat to our once great republic is not our deficit or our extended military or terrorism or China — it is our phlegmatic, wheezy, impotent leadership (and I use that last word lightly). The lack of vision, the inability to recognize reality, the selling out to the highest bidder in Washington DC — THAT is our biggest worry. Any of the aforementioned problems could be handled if only the political classes had not sold their collective souls for a handful of shiny beads.
When it comes to financial regulations, our choices are the Party of Make Believe versus the Party of Castrati.
It’s Friday the 13th every day in America.
>
Previously:
The Left Right Paradigm is Over: Its You vs. Corporations (September 27th, 2010)
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May 13th, 2011 at 7:35 am
You nailed it as usual. What’s sad is that my eighty some year old parents actually mourn for what this country has become. This is from the Democrat mom and the conservative republican dad. They are glad they are old and will not see the” ugly times” ahead. And they are grateful that that they knew this country through some of its most trying times when clear leadership would shine through.
May 13th, 2011 at 7:41 am
Yup.
My guess is there are a lot of people who voted Obama feeling like we in the UK felt after electing Tony Blair in 97 – so much promised change yet so little delivered.
May 13th, 2011 at 7:59 am
Barry for president.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:13 am
Both parties are too far right. The (R) camp, by action, the (D), by passivity. Corporatism is now the structure of our government.
Starting to see looks of guilt/disbelief on the faces of some of my friends/associates who, for years, have been among the “conservative” faithful (and who, until now, have fully adhered to the treasonous turncoat, Reagan’s, admonition not to break party ranks). Their realization that they have been and will continue to be buggered comes too late to redeem themselves or to regain their franchise on the American dream.
I still believe that social unrest is our last hope, but, due to the bread and circuses BR mentioned, I don’t see that growing out of our current circumstances.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:15 am
hear, hear
phlegmatic, wheezy, impotent
bang ——- bang——bang
moving right along…
happy B-day Stevie Wonder (61)
Yester me Yester you Yesterday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFLCGPXS1gs
May 13th, 2011 at 8:17 am
LOL
A fun read with the first cuppa coffee and I agree with it. But what now, no matter how mad people get the brainlessly line up and support their tribal group. We saw it with the grassroots teaparty people. We are seeing it now with the democratic left. I’m to where I agree with the “voting only encourages the bastards”.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:18 am
Bush KILLed the Democracy with his Supreme Court Appointments and “Citizen’s United” Against Democracy.
Now, money, even Foreign Money, controls the Democracy.
2012 will be the Last Year of the Democracy, if we do not get a slate of Progressive Democrats in power to rescind that ruling we’re all dead. [ I've given up all hope from the Republican Side. I predict we will find under-the-table payments to many "Republicans" ]
May 13th, 2011 at 8:18 am
Things financial started out badly with the appointment of Turbo Timmy and got worse with the reappointment of Ben Shalom, the fools who flew the plane into the mountain were rewarded with a new plane.
There won’t be any effective regulation until we’re at the brink of social upheaval. Before too long the distortion of securities valuation brought about by 1.6 trillion Fedbucks and the terminal condition of the Big Banksters brought about by their mortgage fraud induced real estate depression will give us another financial crisis more profound than the last.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:23 am
I am sure the Romans had the same problems.Great institutions generally fall from within due to bureaucracy and corruption.We have both.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:26 am
“Both parties are too far right”
Right and left are irrelevant to the modern party system with it’s cafateria style political activism, where this odd collection of special interests are deemed Republican and this collection is Democrat. And the way they are chosen seem to have more in common with choosing sides on a grade school play ground than it does with adult style governing.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:27 am
It says something about a populace when a collection of corporations can raid the treasury for $10T in tax dollars and nobody gets thrown in jail or physically beaten by and angry mob. Whoever invented American Idol and Dancing With The Stars deserves the Nobel Prize.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:27 am
ya …
like the TresSec Henry Paulson quote I haven’t been able to find again verbatum “once you build em its to late” referring to housing ..
if we have a revolution – it plays into a secondary plan of (re)building .. gated communities/factories direct the rebuild of general society at general society’s expense
pulled an old mix tape out to walk the dog yesterday and this song (original) was in there .. seems to fit the thread
Lets Roll – neil young cover by theneilguy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMAeI_K6zS4
I don’t know .. but there seems to be a situation of capital pushing ru(i)nning the show – over labor – a mismatch of what investment was invented for
May 13th, 2011 at 8:36 am
The proletariat have sold their own souls for the non-stop “bread and circus”.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:43 am
Well-said, BR, nicely concise and accurate. Now that we know the problems….how to implement alternatives? Or is merely leaving the USA the best solution? No “roots” I have, just two feet, & pondering. Friday the 13th—a good time to reflect upon where we are, who’s behind the curtain a-la-Wizard-of-Oz, and where to next. Thanks.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:43 am
Billy Bragg gives us something to think about – agreat speech that works in Amercia as much as England…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BgsHb3jPMM
May 13th, 2011 at 8:50 am
Barry, you evil sohsuhlist commie!
You have meddled with the primeval forces of nature, Mr. Ritholtz, and you WILL ATONE!
We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Ritholtz. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And our children will live, Mr. Ritholtz, to see that perfect world in which there’s no war or famine, oppression or brutality — one vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock, all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeCMSLP3Wy8
May 13th, 2011 at 8:52 am
“I still believe that social unrest is our last hope”
Unfortunately, I think Petey is probably correct. I don’t think voting any longer serves the purpose of purging the system because the sysstem has been gamed.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:53 am
As much as I disliked him as a politician, Ralph Nader got it exactly right. The corporations are the enemy.
May 13th, 2011 at 8:54 am
I think you have a good grasp of the problem. My financial plan has accepted your observations for a long time and assume them to be a constant. So, if you project their corruption into the future, what are the likely economic possibilities? Here’s my view, although, at any point, a divergence may occur that slows the descent. These branches will be intended for the benefit of profits for those who government truly supports and converge with the main tree when spent, then continue downward …
* Spending continues to exceed tax revenues. Neither tax revenues or spending cuts eliminate it, although Washington will do something symbolic and eliminate a minuscule amount of outflow and claim victory.
* As a result of continued excessive spending, the national debt will continue to rise
* At some point, the people who buy US debt will want to be compensated for the risk of funding an unlimited credit card and charge more interest to buy it. The UST will sell more debt to pay the additional interest on both new debt and refinanced debt along with whatever is required for new spending programs and paying for old existing programs.
* The Fed will continue with thinly veiled monetization schemes that finance UST debt, pump the stock market, and inflate commodities. The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer due to rising commodity prices and falling dollars.
* The dollar will fall so far in value that normal everyday living becomes not affordable. Nobody but the Fed will buy UST debt without collateral. Tax benefits will be created for the new and continued poor.
* The end result will be a metaphorical slag heap that defies solution because the cost will, by then, be astronomical. To the good, this end is many years off.
OR
* The US starts living with its means and also acts responsibly and begins a long term program that reduces the national debt a little each year. Taxes rise and spending decreases. The decrease in liquidity compared to recent times causes massive disruptions in all markets that currently are higher due to speculation. Commodities and most equities fall in value, causing a decrease in wealth. Cash is king. Prices fall to income levels. The Fed views this as deflation. Most Wall Street jobs disappear because there is no need for people to manage excess liquidity that no longer exists. Homes continue to fall until average people can buy them again. Lots of speculative credit defaults, causing banks to fail. People who owe money will have no opportunity to repay it with inflated dollars. The 2% pump the Fed has promoted for decades will be viewed as the root of all evil as opposed to the grease that keeps the wheels moving. To slow the decline, the Fed continues to pump with additional QE programs, same as above.
Analysis. QE is here to stay for either scenario. Buy when QE is certain. Sell when it ends. QE1 demonstrated the concept. QE2 proved it. Scenario 1 is the more likely as it kicks the can down the road more effectively and evades blame. Avoid personal debt. Even a pet cocker spaniel could time either market effectively. The old metrics are no longer valid.
May 13th, 2011 at 9:23 am
A Hogarthian tableau
earthy blog poetry
May 13th, 2011 at 9:31 am
whskyjack:
We’re a Corporatist country. One more step to the right, and we’re into Fascism, and I don’t use that word hyperbolically. That the (D) and (R) parties each support the corporatist status quo, albeit from different angles, supports my contention they are both too far to the right. Republican/Democrat, Right/Left are not synonymous.
Our problem isn’t spending, per se. It’s allocation. The middle class, in its zeal to disenfranchise the lower class and to delude itself that it was both self-made and on the A Team, ended up choking itself instead. They bought the magic beans AND gave the store away. Those are the folks who look shell-shocked nowadays.
May 13th, 2011 at 9:40 am
My strategy to fight this monster theft ring is to only vote for politicians that dont accept corporate contributions (or ignore them). So I voted for Ron Paul in the primaries and Ralph Nader in the general election. This is the only way to scare the ruling class.
Other people have multiple reasons for rejecting these candidates (minor policy differences, appearance, unelectability). But campaign promises mean nothing if politicians are already bought. Obama should have shown any thinking person that a mainstream politician only has one policy–keep that money coming in! They have no other fixed principles, beliefs, or moral anchors.
May 13th, 2011 at 9:51 am
Barry…..Sounds like it’s time for another book…..before we’re in a new depression. Don’t think this will get you on Queen Kudlow’s show though..
May 13th, 2011 at 9:53 am
The heart and soul of the country is the people and their intrinsic goodness. But our heart is wounded; our soul heavy with despair; and our goodness taken advantage of by corporate tycoons and politicians whose greed and hunger for power and fame work against the people instead of serving them for the betterment of society.
Instead of doing the right and best things for our country, to preserve and strengthen our heart and soul and goodness, they offer us the freedom to work for low wages as they move better jobs out of the country, and to buy guns to defend against those left behind — the desperate and mentally ill among us.
Instead of inspiring us to “the better angels of our nature” and being exemplars of the same, they encourage us, like themselves, to worship at the altar of things and money, but with their power to rig the game, they end up with the lion’s share of both.
Instead of accepting their rules of the game, we should make them follow ours.
May 13th, 2011 at 10:08 am
stop voting for the attack ads the money buys
if you cant do anything smarter
vote FOR the attacked….
May 13th, 2011 at 10:12 am
(smarmy voice) CAAALLL duncan doright. Tell him to stop diddling your daughter…..
dont call him
vote for him
May 13th, 2011 at 10:12 am
Of course, in both above scenarios, I forgot to exclude Silver. It’s real. Buy the dips today and be swimming in santorum when it’s time to cash out.
May 13th, 2011 at 10:14 am
This just in…. Meredith Attwell Baker, a Federal Communications Commission official who just four months ago voted to approve a mega-merger between Comcast and NBC, is resigning from the FCC to become a lobbyist for … wait for it … Comcast.
The revolving doors are everywhere! This is the kinda crap that is far too pervasive between DC and corporate America.
May 13th, 2011 at 10:15 am
and, as, another, Textbook example..
this flippin’ dude..Iowa Attorney General, Tom Miller…
BUSTED: Another Black Eye For Iowa AG Tom Miller: Cold Called Bank Of America Lawyers Asking For Contributions
Matt Taibbi reported a couple of weeks ago that Iowa Attorney General, Tom Miller, “has raised $261,445 from finance, insurance and real estate contributors since he announced that he was going to be coordinating the investigation into improper foreclosure practices.”
Now, it comes to light that Miller made cold calls to the very law firms representing the nation’s largest banks to ask for campaign contributions.
TIME reports:
Miller says he does not believe his fundraising efforts among lawyers representing potential targets of his investigations give the impression of impropriety. Nor does he believe that negotiating with the lawyer who gave him $5,000, Meyer Koplow of New York’s Wachtell Lipton, now representing Bank of America, presents a conflict of interest. “All of this is just so much of a stretch,” Miller says.
That Miller sees no impropriety in all this is precisely the problem. As George Carlin has said, “It’s a big club…and you ain’t in it.”….
y mas..
Matt Taibbi On Iowa AG Tom Miller
BofA Lawyer Gave Iowa AG Tom Miller $15K
Geithner Speaks: Foreclosure Fraud Whitewash Agreement Coming Soon To A Blighted Neighborhood Near You
http://dailybail.com/home/busted-another-black-eye-for-iowa-ag-tom-miller-cold-called.html
~~
just, out of curiosity, when do these Acts begin to approach Treason ?
May 13th, 2011 at 10:16 am
What we need is basically what John Galt wanted, but INVOLUNTARY, and with the disgorgement of the ill-gotten over the last ~40 years wealth. A “Cultural Revolution” of sorts if you wish… A purge of everything that’s been corrupted by the existing system: from K-street to Wall St, from the Hill, to the W.H., from SEC to insurance rip-offs.
The confiscated wealth can be used to pay down the debt,and since most of the debt already owned by them – it can be simply retired….
May 13th, 2011 at 10:17 am
It’s not that the public are sheeple. They know full well what’s going on. They just aren’t sure what to do about it – yet.
One thing for sure, the corporate overlords just love it when Left and Right attack each other rather than them.
May 13th, 2011 at 10:21 am
and vote for the attacked because you dont know sh… about your local candidates anyway,
except who is running the attack ads
May 13th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Hear hear! You said it!
I worry that the Citizens United decision was the point of no return.
May 13th, 2011 at 10:44 am
I wish I could find something with which to disagree, but alas I cannot.
The corporatocracy seems to me to have attained a life of its own. The most highly compensated corporate executives notwithstanding, I think most business managers see themselves as Johnny Gogetter and stewards of their companies and industries. They are the ones hosing down the politicians with money, and as you have pointed out before, it’s a great investment.
Are the wealthiest one or two percent, who own 60%+ of America’s financial wealth (and thus the corporations)so enamored of wealth that they want to deprive the poor of housing, healthcare, education and dignity just to get incrementally more? The Koch brother, yes, but the Mars heirs, the Johnson heirs, the Walton heirs? It is hard to fathom, but it is happening whether they wish it to or not.
Add to this Fox News. Add also the racism that has found new currency with a black man in the White House, a hundred senators that all want to be in the White House, the vastly out-sized egos in the house of representatives and a supreme court whose decisions have become 100% predictable—it’s all I can do to keep from going home, pouring a double and slitting my wrists.
Have a nice weekend.
May 13th, 2011 at 11:10 am
Anybody see a way out other than
- purely publicly-financed campaigns
- campaign donations must be made into a blind trust
- for local and state elections, donors must be residents of the state or locality
?
May 13th, 2011 at 11:11 am
Barry,
Amongst all your insights over the years, this piece this morning, is surely one of the best you’ve ever penned.
I would ask … just WHO (?) have the politicos sold their souls to, and are we sufficiently aware of the lineage of that here in Amerika, to really understand the evolution of our own collective denial and misappropriation of all our own genius and true wealth (at the ultimate expense of the environment I might ad) … I think not … no way.
Just take a stepped back look at the last decade for example … from that moment those towers were toppled and the corporate media chimed in with the Bush regime to allow an absurdly fictitious conspiracy theory to become what is now known as “the official story” … our nation has been so misled by those who control Washington in
tandem with those who control the corporatocracy and their media ass kissers … there has been no respite in an
increase of not only denial about what is and is not “reality”, but further to that, in an exponential increase in an
awkwardly fragile new alternative reality … the birth of the “Technosphere” supported and manipulated by many tangential pathological nightmares … think “military, security, prison industrial establishment” to the extent of
which old General Eisenhower would himself be amazed as he leans over to whisper in the ear of George Orwell
something to the effect of … “Geeez Orwell, it’s gone far beyond even what you and I had allowed ourselves to be
concerned about in our worst moments” … to which Orwell then replied … “And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’”
That’s where we are now … living within the pinball machine / slot machine world of the controlling slogans !
We’re all spectators now … occasionally slipping off the edge of the precipice down into the playing field and if
lucky not too damaged by the results … but sooner or later the light will go out and the house will shut down. My
bet is (and why I mentioned the environment above) is that the natural world will pull the rug out from under us
before we have time to fully destroy ourselves … thereby forcing us to change into something different and maybe
even worse than we already are … a digitized human race forever enslaved by it’s own allegiance to it’s own data.
As the young ones say now days “like whatever” … so be it.
L. Holt
Santa Fe, New Mexico
May 13th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Barry: Maybe it’s time for you to make a move on the world of academic economists. Another book would be great but I can also see you putting together an outstanding program under the joint auspices of say the Institute for New Economic Thinking and the Harvard Kennedy School. The content would focus on the real-time consequences of playing the Jezebel with our current socio-politico-economic issues. Loosely, a kind of economic Council of Trent except the reformers would be allowed to vote and it wouldn’t have to take 18 years.
May 13th, 2011 at 11:31 am
Here is an interesting study that looks at the financial crisis in a different way.
Diagnosing ‘Seizures’ in the US Economy
ScienceDaily (May 12, 2011) — Since 2008, the U.S. economy has been “seizing” uncontrollably. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher says that a comparison of the multifaceted economic downturn with the uncontrolled spasms of an epileptic is not inappropriate — and may say something about the origins of the disaster.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110512151406.htm
(link is to the rest of the article)
May 13th, 2011 at 11:56 am
The mischief springs from the power which the moneyed interest derives from a paper currency which they are able to control, from the multitude of corporations with exclusive privileges which they have succeeded in obtaining in the different States, and which are employed altogether for their benefit; and unless you become more watchful in your States and check this spirit of monopoly and thirst for exclusive privileges you will in the end find that the most important powers of Government have been given or bartered away, and the control over your dearest interests has passed into the hands of these corporations.
Andrew Jackson’s Farewell Address, March 4, 1837
May 13th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
SEC’s Revolving Door to Wall Street Gets Fresh Scrutiny
At least 219 former officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission have left since 2006 to help clients with business before the agency, bringing fresh allegations of a “revolving door” that leaves the commission too cozy with the Wall Street firms it regulates.
According to a report to be released on Friday, between 2006 and 2010 there were 219 former SEC employees who filed letters with the agency indicating their intent to represent a client with business before the commission.
In all, those former officials advised firms on SEC business nearly 800 times, according to an advance copy of the report seen by Reuters.
May 13th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Amen BR. All voters should be caring about is jobs and financial reform in this next election and the hard part is most of them don’t realize that the two go hand in hand, IMHO. I think one of the reasons why there is a bull market in cash on corporate balance sheets is that behind the scenes corporations are very concerned about another financial crisis or recession and want to stay liquid in order to get through what may be around the corner and thus for the most part they only invest in efficiency initiatives (outside of energy and materials co.s). Until they see real meaningful financial reform of Wall Street, they might not have the confidence to invest in growth b/c risk of financial calamity is much higher when Wall Street is as un-checked and defended by politicians as it is currently. So basically, more financial reform = more jobs. That is my hypothesis and I don’t think it is anywhere close to mainstream America’s point of view – they feel reform/regulation = less jobs but really hiring is about confidence and when Wall Street reigns it is hard for corporations large and small to have as much confidence as when Wall St. is in check.
May 13th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
That is wrong. This country was never supposed to be a democracy but a republic. See the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRQ76FYvw7M The video is well worth everyone’s time.
The video shows that there are really two forms of government: oligarchy and republic. Democracy is the means by which you convert a republic into an oligarchy.
May 13th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
This is the part that Barry posted that I had a problem with, That the sheeple tolerate does not mean they are dumb or foolish, but it does speak to the eradication of Democracy.
May 13th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
not sure how to take some of the comments. since its obvious that both parties have been co-opted. and those who think this is new, haven’t looked very far back. its not new. we only had a few decades where it at least looked to be less obvious. and the gold standard didn’t help. as it happened with it and with out. and the with and without a national bank (aka the Fed). and the only time it was sort of on a leash was after the great depression. but that leash seems to been broken. and even with the greatest economic collapse since the great depression, some seem determined to not learn from the mistakes that lead to it.
May 13th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
On the democrats side we desperately need to revive and elect progressive democrats. Unfortunately the more progressive candidates are, the less likely they are to get elected in the general election. Could a progressive candidate with a strong anti-corporatist and “tax-the-rich-don’t-cut-the-old” platform be attractive enough for both sides to get elected (if they softened on welfare/environment)? Maybe a strong works program would help (“as in don’t give people welfare give them a job”). It’s usually the handout for nothing that rubs the working lower classes the wrong way and gets them to vote against “liberals”.
On the GOP side the early tea-partiers had potential, but it is clear that the party has been so overwhelmed with corporatist that the elected tea-baggers are all drinking tea with the pinky lifted and at the corporate table. At the outset they always were a lot more corporate friendly so with the failure of the tea-party revolution I do not see how the GOP could possibly be wrestled away from full corporate control.
May 13th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
We the Large Corporations of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Corporate Oligarchy, establish ourselves beyond Justice, insure the masses are tranquilized and distracted, provide poor folks for the common defence, promote the general Welfare of the Wealthy Elites, and secure the Blessings of Subsidies and Bailouts to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
May 13th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Hi Barry,
What do you think of Ron Paul running for president? I don’t know too much about Ron Paul, but I watched a few of his interviews and he had some interesting ideas. Although I think some of the “right” things he mentioned would probably take the US economy down in the short term, but his ideas seem to be good for the long term. Do you think he can make a difference?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-Things-You-Dont-Know-About-tsmf-1270980629.html;_ylt=A9G_RsXhic1NiqUA8RK7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTFhNWZrNGdwBHBvcwM4BHNlYwNzcGVjaWFsRmVhdHVyZXMEc2xrAzV0aGluZ3N5b3Vkbw–?x=0
May 13th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Do you get the feeling that right about now we have traded the country for a few beads, trinkets, a flat screen and an iPhone?
What do you know, history does repeat.
May 13th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
All I want to say was, hear, hear! On Jezebels Undermining Financial Overhaul
Without being a Chris Whalen at IRA, for example, is there any way for us to influence the process back on track rather than just giving up.
I’m so disgusted it’s sad!
I was thinking is there any way to use my wealth (money) to influence the process with my congressman, and when I looked at the rules for contributing, I really became depressed (today, at least) as that is so directed toward institutionalizing the dual (no difference) party system!
Thanks, keep up the great work.
May 13th, 2011 at 11:11 pm
As always, until someone comes up with a new action plan, it seems that sitting at our computers ranting at and knuckle-pumping each other in agreement is about as far as we are going to get in protest.
And not voting isn’t a plan. Our government is structured such that if even ONE person votes, that is all it would take to win. And that winner might well turn out to be the greater, rather than the lesser of the two evils. You’ve heard the old “dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t”?
May 14th, 2011 at 2:35 am
After governments formed in antiquity there were monopolies of power in the form of monarchies and dictatorships. They ruled through the use of physical force.
Fast forward …economic power is trumping physical power now …imho it is a natural progression for corporations to take control of the world.
The important question …what form will our equivalent Magna Carta or Declaration of Independence take …against the monopoly of power held by the corporations?
There is only one clue …information should trump economic power, just as economic power trumped physical power.
I think we are in the middle of a MAJOR paradigm shift similar to the American Revolution.
May 14th, 2011 at 6:26 am
While what you say of our “leadership” is true, I believe you place too much importance on the elected officials. True, there is no more left/right, it is you vs. corporations, and things could be changed rather quickly, the power is available if it were used. That power is in the hands of the citizenry yet they are too comfortable, too middle class, too busy with TV, and too busy debating rather than acting.
I would change this sentence as follows… “The threat to our once great republic is not our deficit or our extended military or terrorism or China — it is our phlegmatic, wheezy, impotent citizenry (and I use that last word lightly). ”
This is the problem with the Tea Party. They want to mobilize yet they really do not want responsibility. they just want government to leave them alone.
May 14th, 2011 at 9:49 am
It will have to get a lot worse before the bread and circus effect wears off.
I will continue to vote for the worst, most obviously corrupt Corportist candidate in hopes that they will excelarate the collapse.
May 14th, 2011 at 9:52 am
Joseph Foster, Author, ‘’Destruction of America”, subtitled “Stand up for America’ ’Release date May 2012
My blog: http://boblupoli.blogspot.com
Excellent Article and comments;
Lobbying should be confined to State and the American people and banned as to foreign and corporate entities. If such a change does not occur in time American Democracy will fail, and in the distant future a revolution may occur as it did in Russia, China, and France and other countries.
America today is locked in on a pattern of failure, one of which is total disregard for its high spending which exceeds the US government revenue, both of its political parties are locked into a pattern of failure, and neither political party can make the change, add to its pattern of failure, it has encouraged its Industries to seek cheap labor abroad, on this latter factor the powerful lobbyist in Washington working for special interest prevents politicians from making a change..
I do not accept the concept of Global trade when its aim is to have American workers compete with low wages paid in emerging market countries, and the De Industrialization of America.
The US middle class will in time be totally destroyed, the world is mired with poverty currently three billion people lives on $62.00 per month, third world countries have not got a handle of their population growth, the poor continue to have ten children or more and for the most part, they grow up uneducated.
America has decided to opt for cheap labor the supply is endless, as America create new enterprise that enterprise will whenever possible seek to employ low paid workers abroad.
The new jobs created in America are mostly low paid jobs
America the dream land for millions that came to this shore is no more, most of the politicians elected are for the most part, serving those that heavily funded their campaign to be elected, and moreover they are influenced to do what is good for a special group, with disregard of the implication of the majority of Americans.
We have become the joke of the world the people are not being told, how lopsided
Our trades with the rest of the world which translate to America buy more than you sell the rest of the world. It means massive trade deficit for the US, the numbers are ignored by Washington, the promise given by other countries that have gained advantaged is not to worry, make us more prosperous and we shall buy more from you, , that is not happening and will never happen.
May 14th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I am pushing 60, but am ready to join the youth on the barricades, just tell me when.
May 14th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
This was really interesting on the multi-tasks of this thread – and good rainy Saturday afternoon fair:
“NATIONAL COUNCIL ON U.S.-ARAB RELATIONS CRAIG A Conversation with John Hofmeister Founder and Chief Executive, Citizens for Affordable Energy and Former President, Shell Oil Company Topic: Arab-U.S. Energy Relations: Issues”
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/ArabUSE
(and I’m not accusing John of Jezebelness)