Tag Archives: Republicans

Stephen Lendman ~ Austerity When Stimulus Is Needed

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Steve Lendman blog February 23 2013

cartoon_usEconomyOn December 31, 1933, The New York Times published John Maynard Keynes “Open Letter” to Franklin Roosevelt.
On November 25, 2008, the London Guardian republished an abridged text. It urged:
  • “spend, spend, spend;”
  • supply “cheap and abundant credit;”
  • stress “speed and quick” recovery; reform can come later;
  • focus on “increas(ing) the national output,” boosting purchasing power, and “put(ting) more (people) to work;”
  • “increasing aggregate purchasing power is the right way to get prices up and not the other way around;”
  • undertake “a large volume of loan expenditures under government auspices;” at the same time, work cooperatively with business; and
  • choose projects that “can be made to mature quickly on a large scale, as for example the rehabilitation of the physical condition of the railroads.”
Roosevelt, in part, followed Keynes’ advice. More was needed. Depression continued. End of decade war spending ended it.
Obamanomics is polar opposite FDR’s. Cut, cut, cut, replaced spend, spend, spend. People needs get short shrift. Imperial priorities matter more. Do do corporate ones and benefits afforded America’s rich.
Conventional wisdom is wrong. Economic policy is wrongheaded. Conditions are dire. Main Street’s in protracted Depression. Austerity deepens hard times. Sequester piles on more.
Paul Craig Roberts calls America’s economy “dead.” Recovery is illusory. There is none. The worst is yet to come. More on that below.
“The consequences of a dead economy when the government is wasting trillions of dollars in wars of naked aggression and in bailouts of fraudulent financial institutions is a government budget that can only be financed by printing money,” says Roberts.
“The consequence of (doing so) when jobs have been moved offshore is an inflationary depression.” It can arrive when least expected. Forewarned is forearmed.
Roosevelt vowed to revive economic growth. Obamanomics prevents it. Don’t expect media scoundrels to explain.
March 1 triggered $85 billion in sequestered cuts. They’re automatic. Obama ordered them. He blamed Republicans. He lied. Throughout his tenure, he demanded them.

Michael Snyder ~ There Is A Reason They Call It “Programming”

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Govt Slaves February 16 2013

Do you believe you really think for yourself?

Did you come up with your attitudes, opinions and beliefs on your own, or are they continually being shaped and molded by someone else?

Could it be possible that you and everyone around you is actually hooked into a real life version of “the matrix” that is constantly defining your reality for you?

Sadly, the truth is that almost all of us have willingly hooked ourselves into a colossal media system that literally tells us what to think.  In the United States today, the average American watches 153 hours of television a month.  We also spend huge amounts of time watching movies, surfing the Internet, reading books and magazines, playing video games and listening to music.  Many Americans are so addicted to being “connected” that they will actually become physically uncomfortable if they are at home and there is total silence.

Unfortunately, as I pointed out in a previous article, somewhere around 90 percent of the “information” that we are allowing to be endlessly pumped into our heads is owned by just 6 gigantic media corporations.  So could it be possible that the thousands of hours of “news and entertainment” that you are allowing these gigantic corporations to fill your head with each year is having an effect on you?  Does the mainstream media have more control over you than you ever dreamed possible?  If you want to continue on in blissful ignorance, stop reading now,  but if you want to take “the red pill”, keep on reading because the further down the rabbit hole you go, the stranger that things get.

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Majority of Americans Say Federal Government Threatens Freedom

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Washington’s Blog January 5 2013

Pollsters from Across the Political Spectrum Say that Americans Distrust Government

For years, “conservative” pollsters have said that Americans are furious at the government:

Liberals may be tempted to think that this is a slanted perspective. But non-partisan and liberal pollsters are saying the same thing: Continue reading →

Greg Hunter ~ Weekly News Wrap Up January 25 2013 [Video]

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USA Watchdog

Debt and guns are really the only two topics in Washington D.C. this week.  The House of Representatives passed a bill that will suspend the debt ceiling until mid-May.  It’s has a cute little clause called “No Budget No Pay,” but I think that’s just a side show gimmick.  The real deal is the Republicans are throwing a political hot potato over to Harry Reid and the Democrats in the Senate.  They are basically saying okay, your turn to come up with a budget, the debt ceiling is off the table for now.

I also think there are some in both parties that know all too well how serious the economic situation really is.  According to John Williams at Shadowstats.com, this is Congress’ last chance to fix the budget problems.  If nothing is done-again, Williams is predicting some serious negative fallout for the dollar and U.S. markets.  I’ll have an in-depth interview on Monday with him.  You will not want to miss this.

Senator Diane Feinstein unveiled a new assault weapons ban.  She wants to make dozens of guns illegal.  It will never get through Congress, but isn’t the timing odd?

The economy is teetering on the precipice of another meltdown, and she wants to take guns away from law abiding citizens.  Meanwhile, zero legislation on the state of mental health in this country.  Zero investigation on all of these psychotropic drugs pharmaceutical companies are handing out like cough drops, and zero prosecutions on big bankers that have committed trillions of dollars in fraud and crime against the American people.  This is a crime spree that is unprecedented in U.S. history. 

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Greg Hunter ~ Weekly News Wrap Up January 4 2013 [Video]

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USA Watchdog

The Fiscal Cliff turned into a can-kick on tax policy.  Yes, they averted some nasty tax increases for many Americans, but there were zero spending cuts.  In fact, the legislation added $4 trillion in debt!!!   I’d say President Obama won round one, but not by much.  I have to give a little credit to Democrats and Republicans for the compromise, but this is still the “blame game theater.”  Now, Republicans are going to demand cuts and hold the debt ceiling over the President’s head.  This is going to be much nastier than the last round.  The big losers are the American people because, while there is some closure on tax policy, there is now an even bigger impasse looming on spending cuts.  The Democrats and the President do NOT want to make them, but they want the debt ceiling raised by at least a trillion bucks.   If Congress can’t get it together in a meaningful calm, measured way, there exists the distinct possibility of debt downgrades from the ratings agencies, a dollar and Treasury bond sell offs, a spike in interest rates and a government shutdown–all at the same time.  This street fight is far from over.  By the way, don’t you find it odd that neither party will talk about the $85 billion a month the Fed is printing during this big budget negotiation?  This is propping up the banks and the government to infinity.

The minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting last month were released this week, and many members were talking about ending QE or money printing in 2013.  To that, I say–no way!  According to Jim Sinclair, the Fed couldn’t end the money printing “. . . without ending the economic world for decades to come.”  Sinclair is very bullish on physical gold.

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David Borden ~ Senate Judiciary Committee To Examine Marijuana Legalization

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Activist Post | December 14 2012 | Thanks, Vk

Stop The Drug War

Huge news this morning: Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has sent a letter to the drug czar about the Washington and Colorado initiatives, Benjy Sarlin at Talking Points Memo noted today:

Leahy wants information:

How does the Office of National Drug Control Policy intend to prioritize Federal resources, and what recommendations are you making to the Department of Justice and other agencies in light of the choice by citizens of Colorado and Washington to legalize personal use of small amounts of marijuana? What assurance can and will the administration give to state officials involved in the licensing of marijuana retailers that they will not face Federal criminal penalties for carrying out duties assigned to them under state law?

But it’s even bigger than that. Leahy is planning committee hearings on marijuana legalization, to include consideration of legislative options, including “amend[ing] the Federal Controlled Substances Act to allow possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, at least in jurisdictions where it is legal under state law.”

I am wondering just how huge this may be. Leahy has good views, but he’s also a careful senator who would not care to be at odds with his fellow Democratic committee members or the president. He’s also a former prosecutor who dislikes uncertainty or disorder in the law and its implementation.

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Greg Hunter ~ Weekly News Wrap Up December 14 2012 [Video]

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USA Watchdog

The Fed made it official, this week, with continuation of money printing to infinity.  The Federal Reserve is now engaged in $85 billion a month in pure QE.  It is continuing to buy the sour mortgaged-backed securities at a rate of $40 billion a month from the big banks, and it is now directly buying $45 billion a month of U.S. government debt.  The Fed says it is to spur employment, but my sources say it’s propping up the banks and the government at the expense of the dollar.

The so-called “Fiscal Cliff” of tax increases and spending cuts are staring us all in the face.  The President says “one way or another, taxes are going up.”  He thinks the GOP will fold and give him higher rates, but I would not be so sure.  Why doesn’t either party talk about this ongoing banker bailout the Fed is conducting?  We could save a lot of money there couldn’t we?  The best we could hope for is a can kick into next year.  I just do not see a grand deal by December 31st.

What I do see are plenty of employers cutting people back to less than 30 hours a week and laying off people to avoid the requirements of Obama Care.  Look for unemployment to spike next year.  The only reason why it’s going down in the official government numbers is because hundreds of thousands are no longer counted in the work force every year.

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G. Edward Griffin Documentary ~ The Collectivist Conspiracy

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Govt Slaves | November 30 2012

In this exclusive 80 minute video interview, legendary conspiracy author G. Edward Griffin explains how his research, which spans no less than 5 decades, has revealed a banking elite obsessed with enforcing a world government under a collectivist model that will crush individualism and eventually institute martial law as a response to the inevitable backlash that will be generated as a result of a fundamental re-shaping of society.

Griffin discusses the similarities between the extreme left and the extreme right in the false political paradigm and how this highlights a recurring theme – collectivism. Collectivism is the opposite of individualism and believes that the interests of the individual must be sacrificed for the greater good of the greater number, explains Griffin, uniting the doctrines of communism and fascism. Both the Republican and Democrat parties in the United States are committed to advancing collectivism and this is why the same policies are followed no matter who is voted in to the White House.

“All collectivist systems eventually deteriorate into a police state because that’s the only way you can hold it together,” warns Griffin.

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Webster Tarpley ~ US Preparing For Genocidal Austerity Against Working Class [Video]

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  | November 12 2012

Dr. Webster Griffin Tarpley says the so-called United States ‘fiscal cliff’ gives an excuse for the government to implement genocidal austerity against the working class.

The fiscal cliff refers to a variety of tax increases and spending cuts that are set to kick in from January 1 2013 unless the Republicans and the Democrats can come together with an alternative budget plan.

Press TV conducted an interview with Dr. Tarpley, author and historian from Washington, to discuss the issue.

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Greg Palast ~ The War Between the Billionaires (And Election Theft)

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 OpEd News | November 6 2012

Rob Kall

Rob Kall ~ I spent almost an hour talking with one of the best investigative reporters in the world, Greg Palast, about his newest book, Billionaires and Ballot Bandits. And we got into something very interesting– that there’s a war between two kinds of billionaires– The vampire squids and the Vultures. And yes, this affects the elections and the nine ways they are going to be stolen and corrupted.

Rob Kall:  And welcome to the Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show -(WNJC 1360 AM), out of Washington Township, NJ, reaching metro Philly and South Jersey.

My guest this evening is Greg Palast.  He’s got a new book out-Billionaires and Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in Nine Easy Steps. Now, Greg has been on my show perhaps more than anyone else since I started doing OpEdNews.com and my radio show, Bottom Up Radio. He’s also the author of Vulture’s Picnic and the New York Times best sellers, Madhouse and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. He’s an incredible, kick-ass, investigative reporter who doesn’t hold back, as you’ll find out.  His reports go on DBC [Deanoz Broadcasting Company] and in The Guardian. He has had done investigations that produced a 4.3 billion dollar jury award, and he’s got a story to tell about what’s happening with this election that is horrifying, terrible, disgusting. Welcome to the show Greg!

Greg Palast: Horrible, terrible, and disgusting” what a way to introduce me Bob.  Yeah, it’s a comic book for god’s sake! Billionaires and Ballot Bandits is a comic book, a fifty-page comic book, which happens to be surrounded by two hundred pages of my best investigative reporting and worst jokes, which is then surrounded, wrapped up by two chapters by Bobby Kennedy, Jr.  This is all based on our work, and Ted Rall’s work and my work for Rolling Stone magazine, investigating the theft of American elections.  It’s non-partisan; I’m not here to elect Obama or his mama, but the truth is that most of the steals, not all of it by any means, but most of the steals are being done by GOP billionaires. Thirty-seven billionaires have gotten together in an organization called Restore Our Future, meaning billionaires’ future, and they are using every trick in the book (and there are nine, in the book) to shoplift the election.  And by the way, the real fight is not about Obama- these guys never liked Romney, these billionaires; they don’t care if he goes down in flames, which he will.  The issue for them is the United States Senate.  They are in the process right now, I’m telling you, that there’s going to be”there are nine senate seats, which are going to be swiped, and I don’t care if the GOP wins them with votes, it’s a question of winning them by stealing it.  That is no-no if we’re having a Democracy. So we’re talking, literally, about billionaires buying the United States Senate by ballot banditry.  Not pretty.  It is very funny though, I’ve got great stories and great comics”but, you know.

Rob Kall: Now you and I have a similar take on billionaires. I’ve been writing and saying for a year and half that we’ve got to de-billionairize the U.S., and you have a chapter that talks about a similar idea.

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Mike Harris ~ ‘Two-Party System An Illusion, Both Funded From Same Source’ [Video]

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 | November 5 2012 | Thanks, Minty

Almost 30 million Americans have already cast their votes for President, queuing for hours at early polling stations across the country. Although too soon to tell which way the vote is swinging, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are locked together according to most polls. But lost in the rivalry between Republican and Democrat, are the alternatives that many Americans have longed for.

For perspective on what the third party candidates have to offer, RT talks to Mike Harris, managing director of AMT Capital Partners.

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Michael Krieger ~ The Seventy Percent

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libertyblitzkrieg | October 25 2012 | Thanks, Kevin

Whoever expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization expects what never was and never will be. -Thomas Jefferson

Bipartisan usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out. -George Carlin

The Seventy Percent

People are going to be pissed off no matter who wins this election and that is a very important social dynamic I believe is vastly under appreciated by the majority of mainstream pundits and analysts out there.  This is also very distinct from the environment that prevailed in 2008.  Four years ago, the financial markets were crashing and the economic future of America was circling the toilet bowl, yet a majority of Americans embraced the potential of a young, inexperienced biracial politician from Illinois who was saying all of the right things.  Despite the gigantic disappointment he has proven to be as President, there is no denying that he had all of the Democrats and most Independents under his spell on this day four years ago.

Fast forward to 2012 and the county isn’t “divided” as mainstream media talking heads like to say.  The country is pissed off.  Genuine and legitimate frustration permeates the land from sea to shining sea and rightly so.  Ever since the banker coup of 2008, crony capitalism has been institutionalized as the only real way to make money.  If you aren’t connected or “too big to fail,” sorry but America isn’t the place for you.  What makes the economic nightmare so much worse is that it is being coupled with a complete and total decimation of civil liberties.  One by one the Bill of Rights is being ignored and indeed trampled on systemically by the political and economic oligarchs emboldened by their successful takeover of the executive, legislative and for the most part judicial branches of government.  Many Independents disagreed with Obama’s economic philosophy but gave him a pass because he promised to end the wars overseas and restore civil liberties.  Instead, what we got was a President who signed the NDAA on New Year’s Eve 2011, which included section 1021, allowing for the indefinite detention of American citizens without trial until the “end of hostilities.”  Well, because now know the Orwellian “war on terror” is never-ending, the indefinite detention is forever.  The worst part is that Obama claims he didn’t want these powers yet when a group of high profile plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against section 1021 and won a ruling deeming it unconstitutional, what was the President’s response?  He appealed it to death until he found a panel of judges to agree with him.  Not only did he want this power, he seems to crave it.  Another well deserved Noble Peace Prize.

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Stephen Ohlemacher ~ Think There’s A Difference? Taxes Go Up In 2013 For 163 Million Workers No Matter Who Wins Election

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The Jeenyus Corner | October 21 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama isn’t talking about it and neither is Mitt Romney. But come January, 163 million workers can expect to feel the pinch of a big tax increase regardless of who wins the election.

A temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes is due to expire at the end of the year and hardly anyone in Washington is pushing to extend it. Neither Obama nor Romney has proposed an extension, and it probably wouldn’t get through Congress anyway, with lawmakers in both parties down on the idea.

Even Republicans who have sworn off tax increases have little appetite to prevent one that will cost a typical worker about $1,000 a year, and two-earner family with six-figure incomes as much as $4,500.

Why are so many politicians sour on continuing the payroll tax break?

Republicans question whether reducing the tax two years ago has done much to stimulate the sluggish economy. Politicians from both parties say they are concerned that it threatens the independent revenue stream that funds Social Security.

They are backed by powerful advocates for seniors, including AARP, who adamantly oppose any extension.

“The payroll tax holiday was intended to be temporary and there is strong bipartisan support to let that tax provision expire,” said Sen. Orrin of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “The continued extension of a temporary payroll tax holiday has serious long-term implications for Social Security and, frankly, it’s not even clear that it has helped to boost our ailing economy.”

The question of renewing the payroll tax cut has been overshadowed by the expiration of a much bigger package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush. The Bush-era tax cuts also expire at the end of the year, and Congress is expected to try to address them after the election, in a lame-duck session.

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