VISIT US ON FACEBOOK!

OUR FACEBOOK PAGE--EYE ON WASHINGTON

Stephen Colbert-- Here.

Our "Vintage" Video Collection Click On Image

Our "Vintage" Video Collection Click On Image
Great Political Moments Caught For Your Pleasure

Monday, June 8, 2009

President Obama Gives Good Speeches!

President Obama has become a huge disappointment when it comes to saving the country from itself. We had hopes that he would live up to his promise of Change We Can Believe In. It has morphed into more of the same stuff that Little Boy Bush left behind.

The new book series he is writing has been titled, “I Left It Behind”. Harry Truman entered the Oval Office scared out of his mind. He had a nation to attend to. He rolled up his sleeves and placed a sign on his desk, which read, “The Buck Stops Here!”

After attending the inauguration ceremony in the bitter cold, on January 20, 2009, we all had hope for real honest to goodness change. That day, millions of us felt we did the right thing by voted for this guy. We defended his inexperience, his message, and his call for change, but now I, and many other progressives, am heavily disappointed. I have become so disillusioned that I have coined a new name for President Obama. I am now calling him President Peacock because he has begun to strut his colorful plumy feathers in full display for all to admire and applaud. I could forgive a president who struts his stuff about town, such as when he flew into New York City---Manhattan, where he and his misses attended a show, dinner and the splendor of the city that never sleeps. Good On Ya Barack, but Harry Truman would not have done that until he felt the nation’s suffering citizens were willing to say, ‘You deserve it now, Mr. President. You really busted your butt for all of us!”

We had Little Boy Bush riding the jet plane to Crawford, Texas in order to play in his brush pile, wear his cowboy hat, and his fancy boots driving around the dry, acrid and arid shrub plain where he could talk “Texan” and not look so stupid. A war had emblazoned around him, and the economy had seriously begun to show signs of crumbling, yet he took more time off than any president in his first term. So, really what is there to complain about when Mr. and Mrs. Obama decided to fly, not halfway across the country, but just over the state line? Little Boy Bush logged more Air Force One frequent flyer miles than anyone in history.

So lately, President Peacock has been out-sourcing himself in the Middle East giving great speeches about reconciliation, communication, respect for religious beliefs, tolerance, the strength of the U.S. economy and the resiliency of the American people, as well as the goodness of good people, while doing the work to achieve peace along with extinguishing the threats of terrorism and fanatical extremism. Who can argue with those talking points? Yet, Mr. Peacock, what is the best way to achieve those lofty goals of yours, but for the United States to be an example of those goals, and for the president to correct the greatest economic disaster since the Great Depression, along with dismantling the evils of the Cheney-Bush legacy. Unfortunately, China is laughing at Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner for claiming the U.S. believes in a strong dollar, as President Obama considers Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke as his chief economic regulator. So, President Peacock hires the Wall-Street pyromaniacs to replant the burned out forest, but then, asks the senior fire starter, Ben Bernanke, to guard the matches. These actions by President Peacock show Americans, and the world that he is not Harry Truman, nor Franklin D. Roosevelt during the nation’s most critical, and dangerous times.

Since last year, and on into this current administration the focus has been on rescuing the greedy bankers who stole the economy from everyone else, and various bankruptcies that ensued the nation while sucking out of the treasury $14 trillion, as the real economy was engulfed by an economic firestorm. Beginning in 1999, as the Clinton administration waned furthering the Royal Scam upon the country with the construction of the Future Commodities Modernization Act of 1999, making it illegal to regulate the private investment scam artists and the shadow banking industry located within every major crime syndicate financial bank, which was signed into law by the administration of Little Boy Bush, which allowed for a massive financial heist of America’s middle class wealth concentrating it within the confines of our corrupt Wall Street institutions and then, grabbed by the top executives running those companies. And, of course, there was the shelving of the Glass-Steagall Act, as well, no longer placing a firewall between savings banks and the financial casino-like institutions, such as Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers.

As the Wall Street pyromaniacs began to experience the rapid fire storm sweeping subprime mortgages, 401Ks, foreclosures, unemployment statistics, then on into the prime mortgage market, pension funds, personal portfolios, and more, these banksta gangstas sitting in the executive suites of the biggest financial institutions were still buying their second and third homes, luxury cars, yachts, airplanes, condominiums, collectible art, country club memberships, and stashing their liquid wealth into accounts opened in places like the Cayman Islands, and other tax haven hideaways.

As Pam Martens tells us Sandy Weill, for example, the former CEO and chairman of Citigroup, walked away from his job with $1 billion in ill-gotten gain. What did he actually create at Citi? Did he create a company with sustainability, job security, or tangible products, like shampoo, or dog food? No! He walked away from a burned out company that he set on fire through “creative” gambling securities scams, through the hocus pocus of imaginative and make-believe AAA rating agencies, credit default swaps, and other bogus scams.

And now, because of the erosion of the Glass-Steagall Act, defining the boundaries between banks and financial institutions, the data released from the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC), on March 31, 2009 revealed “there are 8,246 FDIC insured institutions with total assets of $13.5 Trillion and domestic deposits of $7.5 Trillion. Four institutions, Bank of America Corporation, JPMorgan Chase and Co., Wells Fargo and Co. and Citgroup Inc., four institutions out of 8,246, control 35% of all the insured domestic deposits and 46% of the assets according to the March 31, 2009 figures from the FDIC.”

Ms. Martens went on to report that Chairman Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve has not done anything to reduce this massive concentration of wealth into the hands of a very small portion of the population, and the collusion to corral more government funds to stuff in safety deposit boxes and fatten up balance sheets, since the crisis began, but has encouraged this concentration allowing these monopoly banks to absorb their financially wounded competitors at Blue Light Special prices. Such actions create even bigger “too-big-to-fail” behemoths that when found dying in their insolvency holes drowning in stale champagne, will ask Congress twice over for trillions more treasury minted dollars calling out once more that the sky will turn black, and the country will face mortal danger if they are not rescued again.

The Wall-Street taxpayer bail-out amounting to $14 trillion far exceeds the mere $500 billion offered up to Main Street’s real economy. The Wall-Street bail-out is 25 times bigger than the Main Street offering. Now, had this been reversed, we would be seeing a resurgence of new manufacturing jobs sweeping the work force, no doubt, contributing to a Green economy that would be exportable reducing the trade deficit, stimulating consumer spending, stabilizing the housing market, and replenishing the lost retirement dollars. But, President Peacock, and his flock of financial fundies have not moved toward such sensible solutions.

Part of the national bail-out is the U.S. government’s 60% investment in General Motors, which according to Robert Reich, the nation’s 22nd Secretary of Labor and professor at the University of California-Berkley, GM will eventually be no more. The only reason for the $60 billion rescue package is “designed to give the economy time to reduce the social costs of the blow” when its assets eventually get sold off and the company no longer exists. Dr. Reich went on to say that the $60 billion would have been better spent had it been allocated to retrain auto workers, as well as to give them extended unemployment insurance as they become retrained for other jobs.

As we recall, GM was able to retool during the build up to World War II in order to manufacture tanks and other war machines, therefore, why cannot GM retool to manufacture high-speed rail cars for the development of intra-city transportation corridors? Or, electric cars, such as the Aptera. But, President Peacock has stated that we, the investors who now own controlling interest in GM will say nothing about the products this dying automaker will manufacture. It appears that the GM brand name will eventually be sold to China, as has gone the Hummer.

Dr. Reich wrote that GM was once the nation’s number one private employer with strong middle class jobs paying $60 per hour to workers not requiring a college education. Today, Wal-Mart has replaced GM with their $10 per hour jobs. This is part of the new American paradigm shift the nation has been willing to accept over the last 30 years. Sit down, hold on, and shut up seems to be the mantra of Wall-Street to Main Street.

The real economy jobs are disappearing. Credit is not flowing. Borrowing has narrowed. The economy has contracted more than 6% average annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008, and first quarter of 2009. From December 2007 through April 2009, the economy has burned up 6 million jobs. Dr. Morici has estimated that the economy will likely have lost more than 8 million jobs as the recession wanes.

The editor note on the website layoffdaily.com has calculated that “we would need 48 straight months (4 years) of 350,000 jobs added a month to reach January 2008 employment levels [which had been 4.9% and considered full employment]. Keep in mind that to get there, we need every last one of these rosy projections to happen [create 7 million jobs to get back to 4.9%, adding 137,000 new jobs to keep up with the pace of working-age population growth], plus a sustained job growth rate unseen in our lifetime, plus no worsening or new financial crises, no additional sector collapses, no double dip recession, and no black swans.” Wow! Now that is a tall order for President Peacock!

According to Tyler Durden of zerohedge.blogspot.com, it seems that credit default swaps, those bets that specific stocks will drop in value, continue to be purchased in the billions of dollars every month in nearly every sector. He wrote that the “net notional value change [with JPMorgan] was an almost record $2.1 billion in the name alone (on $52.1 billion in gross) on a ridiculous amount of contracts.” The gambling continues. The real economy suffers. And, Ben Bernanke, Timmy Geithner, President Peacock and Congress sit on the sidelines doing nothing to control such stuff.

Bernanke had spoken about keeping mortgage interest rates down in order to encourage home buying, but he has been buying up mortgage backed securities, and treasury issues that he has been printing up, which has driven up mortgage interest rates, and not dropped them. It just seems Bernanke has been saying one thing to the homebuilders but doing another to sabotage their survival.

There is good reason to be disappointed in President Obama. What he has done is just not good enough. It seems he was promising us more, but it appears we misunderstood those great speeches he gave us. The motto, “Change We Can Believe In” was just part of a darn good speech.

Thanks for reading, Jerry

28 comments:

James Evans said...

I like this post and the others on this site. Were you really an Obama supporter? I wasn't because I really don't trust politicians. In general I am extremely positive but when it comes to politics I am cynical. I hope that everyone can learn from this mistake, and the unfortunate pain we are going to have to suffer. We will have to come together as citizens to make changes ourselves. Nobody can do it for us.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Lots of very bad people are or were great speakers. We need great leaders, but the sheeple can't seem to make the distinction. We have spent more in 100 days than every President from Washington through W. Almost $13 Trillion Dollars in lent, spent or guaranteed money. Do either of you have any idea what we have just done to our children and grandchildrens future?

muralsigns said...

Keystrike, Thanks for making your comment and taking the time to read the post. I appreciate your positive input. Yes, I supported Obama, and continue to hope that he can wake up to the fact that great speeches are not enough. I hope he can wake up to the fact that acting showy while strutting his fanciful tail feathers isn't enough, especially during a major crisis. He must change the way this nation does business. He must realize that the financial monopoly economy does not produce anything when it is all said and done. What it produces is paper wealth and nothing more. It can burn as fast as it is made. While the auto industry has crashed, GM has cars and trucks on the road to show for its efforts.

You are so right when you say we have to come together as citizens to make changes ourselves. Through that example, we change the way others do things, too.

SPECTRE, thanks for the comment! You always have something relevant to say. The Sheeple are grazing and keeping their noses to the ground. They don't see the wolves standing out in the field watching them giddily. Bush left Obama with a massive disaster to begin to clean up. I don't agree with his housekeeping methodology. Interesting that Paul Krugman has come out saying that the recession will be over in the next few months--by September. He says it appears the economy is now stabilized even though un-underemployment continues, foreclosures are growing, jobs are disappearing, tax revenues are declining, etc. He will have to be made accountable to his statements of this week! I hope he is right. Stability is better than the lack thereof.

The last 30 years of Reaganomics, Clintonomics, and Bushiesonomics have destroyed the future in many ways, but a new American paradigm will be better for this nation in the long run. Spendonomics needed to hit the skids.

What really needs to be done is to dope slap the financial sector and watch them like a hawk at suppertime. This will likely happen, but to what degree is unforeseen, at this point.

take care!

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Thank you for your kind words, and a big back at ya to your blog which I always enjoy reading.

You know my feeling concerning both partys, and this debacle and it's handling by TPTB are the proof of that which I speak.

Are you following the IMF Bond Story? These IMF Bonds the Russians ($10 Billion)and China ($50 Billion) have indicated they may/will buy is an indication of their determination to cripple the Reserve Status of the Dollar and crash our Treasury Market because a viable International Bond market will decimate our own. We have the largest liquidity pool in the world right now, but that could change very quickly.. We are approaching the midnight hour I'm afraid on the whole deck of cards.

Losing our Reserve Status would put us in the same place as Wiemar Germany. How's that for scary?

Anonymous said...

I think one of the great things about Obama is his ability with half-truths. He offered change and we have it.

Secured creditors - now an oxymoron

Supreme Court has no power over government (as TARP sets a prescident)

Explosive dollar policies are now good due to a naming change to QE

A celebration of the gay union to replace the month of the bride and groom

Green shoots - the market rallies on announcements that the collapse slowing

And now it is apparent gov't will have to increase taxes, as it (the beast, as I describe it) isn't ready to shrink to a sustainable size. USA had a little change before Obama, but he has increased the pace of distruction immensely. Change is what Obama offered and he has delivered. We have change.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

It's true Obama had a huge mess when he entered office, but let's not forget that he was Senator before President. Did you happen to see him, or anyone else save a few, speak out on or write legislation to stop the abuses that were occuring while the Housing Bubble was ongoing? Didn't think so.

The problem with asking for change is sometimes you actually get it.

Reality, always cold and cruel, can be far different than what spews forth from the flowery words of a great orator. Just ask Reverend Jimmy Swaggart.

The New York Times Above The Fold said...

Look 13 trillion seem like a lot of money, but remember we are in a time of great change. an agarian nation need little. We have maintained a 0 percent social spending program policy for pretty much the entire history of our country, minus social security and medicare. Education is state funded. So, if you think the world is changing then yes it's going to cost money. IT's a damn shame that we have to buy our freedom from the robber barron banks. I hope the stimulis is enough. It may not be, and the neo cons will blame the stimilus, not the bail outs. they have a gun to the governments head. The bankers are holding all the cards. The only way obama can deliever on change is if the people revolt agains the bankers. He can't do it alone. The congress is owned by the banks, all candidates who run for office must sign a pledge to represent the people not the banks or big business. Carl of Jerry and Carl

muralsigns said...

SPECTRE, I have not been following the IMF story regarding the IMF bonds, but did copy a story about it off the Net this afternoon. Will read it later. Thanks. It does seem that there is a power struggle going on over currency dominance between China, Russia and the US. That is probably one reason why Obama is traveling Europe now in order to make deals. I do agree that as a Senator, Obama was playing his cards. He had the presidency in his mind. He was building consensus and a coalition. That is why we need term limits. Congress should be more than just making deals with one another, and with lobbyists.

Anonymous, I tend to feel a bit as you in regards to how so much of what we want to see happen is not happening. We may likely disagree on the exact specifics, but that frustration, malaise, and regret comes through. Thanks for your comment!! And, taking the time to read the post.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

NY Times, He can't do it alone? Are you kidding me? His pick for Treasury Sec. should of told you all you need to know. I won't mention all the Clinton retreads and tax evaders that fill his cabinet. Who do you think picked these people? $13 Trillion may not seem like alot to you but our creditors think differently. They no likey! Our actual total including unfunded liabilities now stands at $63 Trillion Dollars which is over 400% debt to GDP. During the worst of the first depression it was never worse than 270%. Should I mention that during the first depression we were a creditor nation because of our industrial base and that we financed our own way out of the debacle without having to go hat in hand like now? You have been snowed just like most, but then again, we always get the govt. we deserve.

James Evans said...

Glad to see an intelligent debate going on here.

SPECTRE, I agree wholeheartedly with your take on the economy. We must have studied the same sources. I hate to be negative but sometimes reality needs to be stated plainly and it looks as though big trouble is coming down the road.

I think the "bankers" were a huge part of the problem but we can't ignore the individuals in our society who over-leveraged themselves with too much debt. This belief in free money and using homes as ATMs is what I mean when I say we have to make changes ourselves in order to save this country. People should not be consuming more than they are producing. I understand emergencies, or loans to start businesses or receive an education. But in an economy 70% driven by consumer spending, we have entered dangerous territory. I believe homes will continue to default due to the coming Alt-A and option ARM resets.

Lots of the government numbers are not exactly reliable as well. For instance you can check out the jobs report and look at broader measures of unemployment. The headline number is distorted by the "birth death model" which is suspicious if you check the methodology... plus part-time & discouraged workers are not included in the number which is typically reported.

The core problem though is that the Federal Reserve has been spending money hand over fist to keep bond rates low. However I don't believe they have the power to do this. When the rates spike so will mortgage costs and that will make a recovery impossible. The ability to repay all of this debt is being called into question.

They're selling $11bn in 30-year bonds today.. let's see how that goes!

I laughed when people said Obama did not have the experience for the job because I generally don't trust "ageism". However I'm wondering if this is the case now. Even I was shocked with his pick for Treasury Secretary, etc. I'm wondering if the average person will ever wake up to this. And, if and when they do, will they take the appropriate response? I suppose I'll have to look at history for the answer.. that makes me slightly nervous!

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

keystrike, thank God for the Internet, and we do seem to of read and digested much on the same material on the Internet to get at the truth of the matter.

I agree with your thought on wreckless individuals, but what really changed for individuals? They have always wanted more redit than they could afford. If the banks had carried out their fiduciary duties, consumers would not be in the shape they are in today. The keys were the doing away with Glass-Steagall and securitizing mortgage debt be it consumer or commercial debt. Once you took out the banksters having any skin in the game, the handwriting was on the wall. Still, the most blame has to go to the govt. itself for being bought and paid for by said banksters.

muralsigns said...

Keystroke, nice assessment! I do believe that overall the American people have cut back their spending. The savings rate has increased from zero to ~ 4%. This is what is scaring Bernanke. He is issuing bonds, and buying them up because bond buyers are become scarcer. And, because there are bonds coming due that have to be paid off.

This bill in Congress to give big dollar incentives for people to go out and buy a domestic car just shows the desperation. Lure Americans back into the credit trap with a big carrot, instead of fixing the real problem of financialism.

Obama has the intelligence, and the skill-set to be president. Come on, Little Boy Bush sat there for 8 years. Yeah, you are saying, "And look what he did."
That is right; he had no skill-set, but he got his agenda accomplished, but with a big price tag.

McCain, with lots of governmental experience would be doing very much of the same, since he has been beholden to the financial sector since the Keating Savings and Loan days.

bye for now, jerry

muralsigns said...

SPECTRE, you are right, de-toothing the Glass-Steagall Act was critical in allowing for this disaster, but don't forget the creation of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 1999, brought to us by the neo-con Congress at the end of the Clinton era, and signed into law by Bush, upon taking office. This act made it illegal to regulate any private banking derivative and securities trading done by the Shadow Banking industry.

It appears that there are no attempts to place teeth into any regulation, and Obama is considering Bernanke as the chief regulator! YIKES.

jerry

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, they are all playing the American People like a finely tuned flim-flam fiddle. Both groups are talking pie-in-the-sky plans while they both drain the last nickel from the American Treasury. The best part will be both groups claiming nobody could see it coming just like they have done since this credit/debt crisis started. I figure with them jumping into healthcare, God help us all based on experience, they can crash everything that much faster. We all remember the rock solid numbers from the Prescription Drug Plan that had no basis in reality, but people just don't care.

Once you have a voting population of more than 50% voting for more and more benifits, you are toast. Did we learn nothing from history?

By the way, I picked my moniker for a very special reason. It refers to the org. which James Bond Fought. I think the District of Corruption is every bit as evil as what "shaken and not stirred" James had to battle. Deflation because the FED won't kill itself with hyperinflation. It's how Empires die after all.

Acronym, Definition. SPECTRE, Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion (fictional; James Bond) ...

jerry, of eye on washington said...

SPECTRE, thanks for your moniker clarification. I like it.

I really don't believe that anyone in our current government could get away with saying that they were blind-sighted by what will end up a deep recession, and depression for many. There have been too many outspoken high profile critics that have been warning them.

Regarding health care, it is my opinion that a single payer system would be best for everyone. Currently, a growing number of Americans are without any coverage, and many have found that out-of-pocket health expenses, after being treated for serious medical conditions, have declared bankruptcy after saving their entire lives. I just have to mourn for them.

Currently, 50 million are without coverage. In just only 2 years, we went from 40 million to 50 million.
Next year it will likely be 60 or 70 million.

As perishable products increase in cost-inflation, and wages stagnant or decline for many, those without coverage will climb, as well as bankruptcies and foreclosures.

Small businesses can no longer afford to pay for health plans if they are to stay alive. If they cannot, they will just close up or reduce payroll. It is a catch 22.

A single payer system will reduce the greed factor, high salaries for CEOs, and lower administrative costs to around 6% instead of 17%. There would be no reason that a person with a job could decide to buy additional health coverage if they wished. But, for the rest, they would be covered.

Single payer might actually raise wages by allowing workers to move to better paying jobs without the concern of losing health coverage. Good workers would have more mobility raising wages. We might see a greater chance for standard-of-living stabilization.

In spite of the US having the most costly form of health care, their ranking among the industrialized world is low. We really aren't getting what we pay for.

thanks for your comment, jerry

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, govt. running healthcare? You will find me hiding under the bed. I can't wait to find out who lives and who dies in this new healthcare utopia. You understand we are giving them permission to decide who is viable or needed and who is not rght? I mean right now they tell us that a 9 month old baby still in the womb can be called something other than alive, and this baby can be aborted by the doctor grabbing the baby by the legs, pulling it out until nothing but part of the head is still in the birth canal, piercing the skull and brain and then sucking the brain out before throwing the baby away. Do we want these same people making decisions about grandma or Uncle Tom? Again, let's be very careful what we ask for because abortions performed as I describe could just as easily of come from a medical book the Nazi Party published. Imagine watching the procedure in black and white thinking it's something the Nazis did to babies. Wouldn't we be just as disgusted and sick as all the other things they tried on innocent human beings?

One other thing I should mention. A woman has the right to choose, and I'm not questioning their right. I'm questioning the fact that with everything available today for an unwanted baby, why are we still allowing this hideous brutality to continue.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, I see what you mean after watching this video of the President talking about healthcare.
We are in good hands. LOL! My hope is that we all get the same great care as our veterans at VA Facilities. END SARCASM!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDJSVPAx8xc

muralsigns said...

SPECTRE, I have never known or been privy to such an abortion that you described, and I have been involved in the health care industry for decades. If such an abortion has occurred, I believe they are very infrequent. I believe the number of abused kids, neglected kids, and extremely poor kids outnumber, by far, the number such abortions you have described.

I am afraid you have not outlined how to fix the health care problems of the number of uninsured, the growing number of insurance companies that fail to pay bills and services that their customers end up paying when claims are filed resulting in the patient/customer going into bankruptcy to pay out of pocket expenses that should have been covered.

As my Canadian relatives say, they would never trade their national health care system for our failed health care system.

Please state how you would fix the broken system and keep it from breaking in the future as more Americans fall into the economic abyss.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, they also do injections to the heart, but why bother mentioning it when the other is bad enough. I'm curious how you think late term abortions are performed...especially with you in healthcare. I believe the Senate debated the procedure when it was done away with under W. You might check on that since it was recorded I'm sure.

Concerning Canada, you can have it. My daughter broke her foot in BC, and the Doctors were on strike in ERs. I have a first hand experience with their utopian system, and it sucks. Just ask all the Canadians who stream into our country to get healthcare. Hell, a dog can get a CAT Scan faster than a human, but there I go again with the machine making your healthcare decisions for you. Silly me.

You want to fix healthcare? Get govt. the Hell out of it. Name a program started by our govt. that hasn't cost us more than was origianally sold to voters? The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Honestly, this really doesn't matter because we both know we are broker than shit and depend on the continued issuance of Treasury Securities that seem to of gone out of fashion with our creditors. We can't pay for the promises we already made much less add new programs.

I read yesterday that our govt. could tax each of us and our companies 100%, and we still couldn't touch our debt. Not even close. This is the only fact that matters.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Here's an entry from Karl Denniger who I really respect. He's been dead on for 3 years running. Between this and the Obama Youth Corp., I'm afraid we are moving towards fascism.

Tuesday, June 16. 2009
Posted by Karl Denninger

Goebbels Media (UPDATE: Authenticated)

I'm not sure I believe this. (VERIFIED)

Credit to Drudge of course, but reproduced here as Matt's "smoking gun" page gets changed from time to time, and this one is too important to let slip beyond the inevitable 30-second-long public attention span.

As far as I am aware this has never happened before in any administration - Democrat or Republican.

A free and independent press is one of the legs on which all representative governments rest. If we have lost it, The American Experiment's remaining time is short indeed.

UPDATED: I have personally authenticated the purported letter from the RNC via a phone call to their national headquarters. They have verbally confirmed it and promised to send me written confirmation by email.



ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda:

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

MORE

Late Monday night, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a complaint to the head of ABCNEWS:

Dear Mr. Westin:

As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC's astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.

Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party's views to those of the President's to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party's opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.

In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.

Respectfully,
Ken McKay
Republican National Committee
Chief of Staff

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

For anyone who missed Obama's Militaristic Youth Corp video, it's a must see. The RED jackets are nice and will be pretty for all May Day Celebrations.


http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=57605355

muralsigns said...

Hi there SPECTRE, you go after it early. ;)

I have seen those red jackets, but I am not too concerned about the color except if I see The Bloods cruising through my neighborhood. I guess any sports team with a red jacket is a bad choice? Youth corp? I will tell ya there are many young people with little to do and with low choices for legitimate jobs. I will give this one a chance first.

Don't you remember when the US had a nurse's strike? Anyway, I guess there are millions of people who have paid insurance who have waited 6-8 hours in emergency rooms over the last several decades who can generate up horror stories, too. And will also tell that their insurance carrier refusing to pay for the care. Again I ask, what is your plan to fix the problems?

My friend in Toronto was recently diagnosed with a blood disease, and was in the hospital immediately. The doctors were on it right a way and his diagnosis came within two weeks after many road blocks and dead ends during the analysis phase. I could go on and on with first hand stories of Canadian success stories. I could also go on and on with first hand unsuccessful stories regarding the US insurance carrier health care system.

Like I said, late term abortions was not something I was witnessing, or knew anyone who underwent such a procedure. It is rarely done.

What is more of a problem today is the foster care systems. Kids neglected, abused and poorly treated when suffering from special needs of many sorts. Kids bounced from home to home because they cannot get adopted.

Having worked in pediatrics for nearly 40 years, this I am witness to.

And finally, I, too, highly respect the work of Karl Denninger (market-ticker.denninger.net). Why should any of us be surprised that a sitting president is trying to control some of the news? Tell me a president that did NOT do that at some level. As we all recall GWB actually embedding into the news networks and NYT, as well, his fake news writers.

jerry

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, how about they do something in red, white and blue with a nice American Flag that you can't miss since we are paying for the Obama Youth Corp. I think we both know the difference between a sports team and a govt. run program that has the youth looking like a semi-militaristic group. It sure as Hell ain't the Boy Scouts.

No argument from me regarding the terrible state of childrens Services in almost all states. Again, I'm not arguing abortion, only the late term elective type. All human beings deserve better than this inhumane procedure.

Concerning healthcare, tell me how to pay for what we have currently promised, let alone add new programs, and I am on board. My point is we are broke, and the prescription drug plan is the poster child for what happens when the gates are opened. Uncontrolled spending is always and forever the answer from government only this time they are starting to declined our national credit card.

muralsigns said...

SPECTRE, I believe a simple way to pay for the public health care plan, which would amount to $130B per year would be to force American corporations to pay the taxes they have avoided by moving off-shore and onto tax avoidance locations, such as the Cayman Islands, not at a mere 5%, which was the tax forgiveness amount allowed last time, but at the 35% rate they should be taxed at, or slap tariffs on their imported goods. This would likely bring in around $1T.

jerry

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

The Hedge Funds and multi-nationals are already in a flight pattern to leave the states and UK. They will do what is in their own best interest for themselves and hopefully their shareholders. I don't see the revenue you project based on this fact.

Concerning tariffs, I believe we have a clear history on where this takes us and other nations. WAR! The Smoot-Hawley Tariff comes to mind as a prime example. Your plan could work if everything stayed static, but it never does, and we both know this fact. It leads to undesirable outcomes based once again in everyone doing what is in their nations best interest. My real question is where do we come up with the $63 Trillion in unfunded liabilities? How will you pay for these let alone a single payer system? We are broke Jerry, and it's the fact that get's away from most when they are discussing new programs. Kicking the can down the road on our debt is almost over. Our creditors are planning on a new reserve currency, which if implemented would crush the dollar, our economy and all our wonderful plans.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, one other thing on the President's Healthcare Plan. A revised estimate puts the Plan at $1.6 Trillion, so even if we agree on your thoughts regarding funding, you are already light by $300 Billion Dollars. I imagine that the estimate will continue to increase as the Plan moves forward. Whatever figure they finally come up with, use the Prescription Drug Plan Estimated Cost against the actual outlay as a guide to what this will actually cost the American Taxpayer. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. :>)

muralsigns said...

SPECTRE, again, you have yet come up with a fix. You outline the flaws regarding the public health care plan but fail to outline reforms.

Our economy is devastated, yes! We have unfunded liabilities. Yes. The social security system had surpluses until Bush and prior presidents, especially Reagan kept draining it to pay for their budget deficits. That is an easy fix.

We will not likely see Russia or China press for the dollar to be extracted from the basket of reserve currencies. As long as our current account deficits remain as deficits because of imports from China and Russia and elsewhere, these nations will not complain too much. We fund their budgets with their imports.

The US will eventually come out of this economic recession. The nation will look different in many ways. The consumer spending picture will be much downsized, while savings will rise. The world will have fewer funds to create growth because we are saving more and spending less.

Hedge funds always seek the quickest profits. They go where the flow happens to be. They won't leave the US but will expand outward. Yet, they will always seek investments here in the US.

Tariffs work! China tariffs our products imported into their country and we don't battle with it too much.

Regarding the US being broke, it is both yes and no. Our economy ebbs and flows. Our trade deficits is decreasing as people save more and spend less. It is all about accounting and not reality.

The public plan would cost much less than projected because if done right, the drug companies would not have such power. The public system would bargain for much lower prices since it would have the upper hand in price negotiation. So much change would likely follow.

You can be pessimistic. There are good reasons to be so, but you cannot have pessimism without optimism. One cannot exist without the other. It is impossible.

jerry

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing information with us...

___________________
Jessica
Get 28 movie channels for 3 months free