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Great Political Moments Caught For Your Pleasure

Saturday, August 8, 2009

President Obama's Jobless and Stagnant Wage Recovery Plan

President Obama gave a speech today in Elkhart, Indiana a community hit hard by the economic collapse. He gave his typical feel-good pep talk about how the economy will come back if we do our part. His part is to give the truck company, Navistar International Corporation, the site of his speech $39 million to build a hybrid heavy duty cross-country hauler.

I am sorry Mr. President, what is needed is not $39 million, but $39 billion to stimulate competition among the truck manufacturers to develop a variety of hybrid models. Not just one!

You allowed AIG to receive $13 billion in bailout funding. $26 million went to pay off counterparty debt to Goldman Sachs and other banks, yet all you are willing to do for an industry invested in the real economy, in Green jobs, in supporting a community, is to offer them a measly $39 million. You should be embarrassed to show your face in that town.

You, Mr. President, have sold out to the financial investment banking industry, or what might be called the ‘paper capitalists’ embedded in the Wall Street financial bank robbery and crime syndicate operations.

Outside of Elkhart, approximately 10 miles, is Wakarusa. In that town is Electric Motors Corporation. They are planning to use an empty plant building in a partnership project with the Nappanee, Indiana-based Gulf Stream Coach, to develop an electric vehicle. They are hoping to receive some stimulus funding from the government to move forward. They don’t have it yet.

Again, Goldman Sachs has already received $26 billion in bailout money, but the Electric Motors Company wanting to build a real object to sell in the world market has to hope for funding. What has Goldman Sachs done with their bailout money? They have given huge bonuses and engaged in Wall Street market timing stock investing with taxpayer dollars. This is what Mr. Obama has been doing for America.

Here is the transcript of President Obama’s Elkhart speech.

Nowhere in his speech given to a group of hardworking Americans as listened intently to his message did he call for justice by pursuing an investigation of the financial-banking industry responsible for the collapse of the Elkhart way of life and economy, which includes the very jobs lost in the heartland of America. Nowhere in his speech did he demand justice in the form of major investment banking reform legislation. Nowhere in his speech did he say that transparency and accountability must be the new business-as-usual for Wall Street. Nowhere in his speech did he demand that the Federal Reserve be audited and made to bring forth documents outlining where the money has gone, to whom it went, how much was given out, and what the currency exchanges, warrants, and liquidity swaps are all worth today. Nowhere in his speech did he say that the workers of America should not have to pay the heaviest price resulting from this collapse. Nowhere did he say that those who facilitated this collapse with their corrupt and irresponsible business practices, as well as their intent to commit criminal acts would pay the heaviest price.

It is clear that what President Obama did in Elkhart was to play it safe, take the middle road, the road most traveled by politicians.

The investment banking industry has been promised, pledged and given $12 trillion, which is equal to what the GDP of this nation is in one year’s time. Yet, he had said that in his stimulus package: $500 billion per year for two years is what the real economy will get in order to remake this nation. Who is he fooling? Navistar will get $39 million to design, fabricate and manufacture a heavy duty hybrid truck. Yet, the nation’s working class will likely see 50% of all homeowners by 2012 underwater with their mortgages.

A hybrid truck is what the real economy got this week.

But, what we did see has been Wall Street banks showing large profits and improved balance sheets because, more than likely, Ben Bernanke injected these banks with taxpayer dollars, to the tune of over $2.3 trillion so they could manipulate the market by using very high speed computer-timed and engineered casino-like trades for the sole purpose of jacking up stock prices in order to make lots of money for themselves.

What Tyler Durden, of zerohedge.com, has discovered is that less than $400 billion in money market funds were taken out, since March 2009, to invest in the stock market. He asked then, where did the $2.3T come from, since it did not come from money market accounts? It did not come from working class expendable wages? Nor did it come from savings accounts, since people depositing in savings accounts are looking for no-risk protection right now. Since the cash was really not coming from $2.3 trillion in withdrawals from money market accounts, it more than likely came from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke manipulating the stock market in order to boost the balance sheets of the biggest financial investment banks, those responsible for the collapse in the first place, so they, once again, can return to becoming cash cows; although, businesses on Main Street and Side Street continue to find it very hard to borrow in order to keep their businesses afloat. Credit continues to be locked up because the investment banks feel that it is too much of a risk to lend.

But Elkhart, Indiana gets cash for a hybrid heavy duty truck. That is only fair, right Barack? Throw a Green bone to the masses while the rich get fat and happy.

So, is only Matt Taibbi, Elliot Spitzer and a few others the only one’s calling this Federal Reserve, Treasury and the investment banks a triangle composed of the nation’s biggest economic crime syndicate in the history of the country?

Mr. President, shouldn’t YOU be calling this out as a crime syndicate, as well? But, YOU Mr. President have embraced the Wall Street financial crime syndicate foot soldiers by allowing them to assist you in the development of economic policy.

What is being hypothesized as the reason Bernanke has embedded himself in this swindle would be to fill up the investment banks with taxpayer cash so they can mop up the U.S. Treasuries that foreign central banks are likely to dump on the world market. Bada Bing Bernanke will be playing disaster clean-up man hoping he can catch these Treasuries before they get sold off at rock bottom prices ultimately driving down the value of the dollar.

The other reason for the engineered stock market rally is to give the illusion that the economy is in recovery and that working class Americans can now, once again, resume their consumer spending practices, and charge up their credit cards. Remember, credit is how the wealth of this country is measured.

But no one is talking about how close AIG is to falling off the precipice and into the bankruptcy pit in spite of their good news profits made the same way that Goldman Sachs does it, which is not the good old fashion way of doing business—earning it. It is all about high speed computer timed trades jacking up stock price values. They appear to be engaged in a shell game because they don’t have enough cash to cover their debt losses. Again, mum is the word regarding all the explosive credit default swaps sitting heavily on the balance sheets of the investment banks. In addition, Bank of America and the other credit card companies are writing down huge losses in credit card defaults.

To further point out the toxic tentacles of the investment financial banking crime syndicate, one has to read Pam Marten’s latest article titled “Millions of Americans Pushed Into No-Law System by Colluding Banks”, found on Counterpunch.org (8-3-09). She wrote about how Wall Street has fabricated their own private justice system through setting up a rigged kangaroo like court to handle the way employee disputes are dealt with. Employees with complaints have been allowed only one recourse option, and that is through “arbitration”. The process of arbitration is “where the financial elite make their own laws and run their own private justice system to carry out those laws.”

What has been unearthed through the courts is that one of the arbitration services that was supposed to be impartial and fair in dealing with issues brought up by employees working for Wall Street corporations was owned by a financial banking institution.

Here is another example solidifying that there is a financial crime syndicate at work. “Documents [show] that the private justice system used by the biggest banks in the country [had] been rigged in hundreds of thousands of cases. Next, evidence surfaces that conclusively shows that the general counsels of these very same banks have huddled together in one room to draft a uniform mandatory arbitration clause banning class action lawsuits in their credit card contracts and shared strategies on its implementation effectively locking the courthouse doors to every credit card holder in America.”

The article went on to say that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, on 4-25-08, charged collusion between Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, HSBC Finance Corporation, MBNA, Providian Financial Corporation, and American Express. Many of these corporations, which had been bailed out by the taxpayers, were, at the same time, tightening the screws on them.

This entire arbitration charade was rigged because the financial banking and lending institutions hired on judges and lawyers who had worked in the public court system and appeared to many to have favored them. They lured them away from the public sector and into their various arbitration associations and service entities paying them lucrative salaries to represent their interests. One such association, The American Arbitration Association (AAA) engaged in an “incestuous relationship with corporate America.”

Ms. Marten’s article is a real eye-opener! It clearly shows that the investment-financial-lending banking institutions were rigging the judicial system in their favor without much of a problem. Even Janet Reno, when attorney general under President Bill Clinton, appeared to have ignored the request for an investigation into AAA, which failed to disclose “a financial conflict of interest” with a corporation it had been financially aligned with even though they were providing arbitration services for them.

Eight months later, Janet Reno went off and “was elected to the board of directors of the American Arbitration Association.” Do you feel you need to take a bath yet?

When will President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Congress and the American people become outraged over the fraud these financial investment banking institutions have been engaged in? The incestuous relationship between Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner and the very institutions that took down the U.S. economy is nothing more than a bunch of dirty, filthy financial crime syndicate operators. The RICO statute needs to be implemented. The Sherman Anti-Trust Law needs be dusted off. It is not enough to just have the newly appointed Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission look into this crime syndicate.

If President Obama is to regain the trust of his supporters, which he is quickly losing, and the nation as a whole, he must move forward with the intent to punish, as well as to shut down this massive and invasive financial parasite that is sucking the life out of the economy of which it is using to sustain only itself and its interests.

President Obama has been filling the toxic soil of the largest investment banks with lots of fertilizers giving them much green but without meaningful results, while without the soil replenishers they would have died because the soil is filled with poison. Instead, what is needed is to fertilize the already enriched soils of the real economy where a field of green and blooms would deliver an immediate solution throughout the country. A few million for a truck company is just not enough, Mr. President. You have been doing it wrong.

thanks for reading, jerry

P.S. Top cities losing home values: Case-Shiller Indices.

23 comments:

solbama said...

OK now Jerry, you are beginning to see the picture-yet it is more orchestrated and pre-planed than you seem to accept at this time. I think your understanding of the big picture is greater than you portray. I don't blame you for sugar coating a little. I will keep saying it-Hard times ahead. You"ve got guts and I admire you and others on "the list".

Anonymous said...

What is needed is to fertilize the already enriched soils of the real economy where a field of green and blooms would deliver an immediate solution throughout the country.

___________________
Jessica
No Credit Checks instant Payday Loans

Anonymous said...

Which is needed to be fertilize..
___________________
Britney
Online Marketing of your brand

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, that's a fine piece of writing on your part. Give em' Hell bro!! They are all stealing the last damn nickel from the American Treasury, but they will say they never saw it coming. Hell, even Ray Charles could of seen what these evil slugs are doing. This is a snip from Global Research which scares the living shite' out of me. Something wicked and evil this way comes:


At the end of March of 2009, Bloomberg reported that, “The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year.” This amount “works out to $42,105 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. and 14 times the $899.8 billion of currency in circulation. The nation’s gross domestic product was $14.2 trillion in 2008.”[10]



Gerald Celente, the head of the Trends Research Institute, the major trend-forecasting agency in the world, wrote in May of 2009 of the “bailout bubble.” Celente’s forecasts are not to be taken lightly, as he accurately predicted the 1987 stock market crash, the fall of the Soviet Union, the 1998 Russian economic collapse, the 1997 East Asian economic crisis, the 2000 Dot-Com bubble burst, the 2001 recession, the start of a recession in 2007 and the housing market collapse of 2008, among other things.



On May 13, 2009, Celente released a Trend Alert, reporting that, “The biggest financial bubble in history is being inflated in plain sight,” and that, “This is the Mother of All Bubbles, and when it explodes [...] it will signal the end to the boom/bust cycle that has characterized economic activity throughout the developed world.” Further, “This is much bigger than the Dot-com and Real Estate bubbles which hit speculators, investors and financiers the hardest. However destructive the effects of these busts on employment, savings and productivity, the Free Market Capitalist framework was left intact. But when the 'Bailout Bubble' explodes, the system goes with it.”



Celente further explained that, “Phantom dollars, printed out of thin air, backed by nothing ... and producing next to nothing ... defines the ‘Bailout Bubble.’ Just as with the other bubbles, so too will this one burst. But unlike Dot-com and Real Estate, when the "Bailout Bubble" pops, neither the President nor the Federal Reserve will have the fiscal fixes or monetary policies available to inflate another.” Celente elaborated, “Given the pattern of governments to parlay egregious failures into mega-failures, the classic trend they follow, when all else fails, is to take their nation to war,” and that, “While we cannot pinpoint precisely when the 'Bailout Bubble' will burst, we are certain it will. When it does, it should be understood that a major war could follow.”[11]







However, this “bailout bubble” that Celente was referring to at the time was the $12.8 trillion reported by Bloomberg. As of July, estimates put this bubble at nearly double the previous estimate.

(SNIP) and GULP!!!!!!!!

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Why are we getting requests for force increases in Afghanistan, and an increasing Defense Budget? Gerald mentions WAR, and I agree. It's simply the easiest way of bringing an inflation that can wipe out our debt in the future.In other words, Americans will be cannon fodder so that the evil bastards that run everything can come out smelling like a rose while Americans are financially crushed, and more importantly, their dead sons and daughters are left in foreign lands forever.

When can we que up, "Fortunate Son"? Better yet, for you youngsters out there, buy the entire CCR collection because it will make sense very shortly.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

You"ve got guts and I admire you and others on "the list".

Solbama, F**K a list although I know exactly what you are talking about. Battle cry, FREEDOM!! Although I deplore any violence and don't advocate or encourage it's use, it's better for a man to die on his feet than to grovel at anothers feet on bended knee. As Franklin said in Freedom Hall in PA when looking at a plaque above the proceedings, I cannot tell if the sun, which was on the plaque, is rising or setting because it's up to us. Will we allow this?

The NWO must fail if freedom is to succeed.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

President Obama's Jobless and Stagnant Wage Recovery Plan

President Obama gave a speech today in Elkhart, Indiana a community hit hard by the economic collapse. He gave his typical feel-good pep talk about how the economy will come back if we do our part. His part is to give the truck company, Navistar International Corporation, the site of his speech $39 million to build a hybrid heavy duty cross-country hauler.

I am sorry Mr. President, what is needed is not $39 million, but $39 billion to stimulate competition among the truck manufacturers to develop a variety of hybrid models. Not just one!


You allowed AIG to receive $13 billion in bailout funding. $26 million went to pay off counterparty debt to Goldman Sachs and other banks, yet all you are willing to do for an industry invested in the real economy, in Green jobs, in supporting a community, is to offer them a measly $39 million. You should be embarrassed to show your face in that town.

It's worse, way worse, than GS receiving hundreds of millions from AIG. GS alone received over $10 Billion from AIG for CDS that GS purchased as a hedge against the shit they were selling. GS was fully hedged and paid on before they got the additional $10 Billion. They were able to double dip with nary a word from anyone.
There are NO RULES for these evil slugs. They do as they please with impunity because they are fully protected by all the politicos save a few like Ron Paul and Brad Sherman who speak the real truth to those that will listen.

What I'm suggesting is akin to you and I being paid twice for damage to our car or house because we have insurance from two different counterparties. Once you are paid for your loss, you simply file another claim, and you act like you never received jack shit from anyone. You and I would go to jail for this type of fraud, but it's cheered by the politicos as a sign everything is peachy cream. We are scroomed large gang.

PS: Karl Denniger was all over this double dipping debacle as it was ongoing.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, here's Karl explaining the rape by banksters on those least able to absorb these fees. This is criminal, but don't expect anyone to question it, as it makes the banksters look healthier than they are, but perception is everything.

Bribed Regulators: Another Example

A nasty statistic:

Banks make $38 billion a year from overdraft fees.

Now let's look at the internals on that statistic:

3/4 of all accounts have not had an overdraft in the last 12 months. This means that one quarter of all accounts are responsible for basically all of this.

Of the remaining quarter, half of those account for nearly all (90th percentile plus) of the overdrafts. This means that roughly 12.5% of consumers are bearing the entire brunt of these fees.

70% of the overdrafts happen at a POS terminal or ATM, not by writing a check.

The last statistic is the clear one: There is no reason whatsoever for anyone to take such a hit. The bank knows before they approve the transaction that the money isn't there in the account.

This is not the same thing as a check, which the bank has no way to warn you about before you write it, as there is no "connection" between your checkbook and their computer.

IF we had honest regulators it would be strictly unlawful for a bank to intentionally approve a debit transaction which it knew you did not have the funds to settle unless you had an established overdraft line of credit (at a reasonable APR.)

In fact, it was not all that long ago, in the 1980s and early 1990s, when this was the case: If you went to the ATM and tried to withdraw $100, but didn't HAVE $100, the transaction would be declined.

Every time.

But then the banks came to realize that if they let the transaction go through they could make an unregulated loan for that $100 to you, charging you $30 or more for the privilege - an annualized interest rate of thousands of percent!

This is clearly-predatory behavior. Nobody with half a brain would knowingly sign up for a "service" that would cover a POS or ATM withdrawal at 5,000% interest, yet that is exactly what nearly every bank in the land will currently do by default when you open a new account. They bury the "disclosure" in their terms and conditions, but nowhere do they state these "fees" in equivalent annual percentage rate terms.

It gets better: Banks will intentionally "sort" transactions from a given day to produce the maximum overdraft fee. They sort withdrawals to debit them largest-amount-first, because the fee is assessed per item. An example:

$1,000 in your account.

You write checks for $20, $50, $100, $1,000 and all are presented on the same business day.

How many checks will hit you with an overdraft fee?

THREE - every time. The bank will re-order the transactions so that the $1,000 check is processed first, guaranteeing that the $20, $50 and $100 checks overdraw, thereby generating three overdraft charges. If they processed the transactions "largest item LAST" you'd generate one overdraft fee - on the $1,000 check.

It gets better.

(SNIP)

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

In any case, the nation's governors aren't about to lay down like lap dogs to the DoD, CONgress or the Administration. They realize the power grab the FEDS are trying to ram through in the name of security. I believe they are telling the FEDS to go read the 10th Amendment.

Governors oppose DoD emergency powers
By Reid Wilson
Posted: 08/10/09 11:42 AM [ET]
A bipartisan pair of governors is opposing a new Defense Department proposal to handle natural and terrorism-related disasters, contending that a murky chain of command could lead to more problems than solutions.

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R), chairman of the National Governors Association, and Vice Chairman Gov. Joe Manchin (D) of West Virginia penned a letter opposing the Pentagon proposal, which they said would hinder a state's effort to respond to a disaster.

Current law gives governors control over National Guard forces in their own states as well as any Guard units and Defense Department personnel imported from other states.

The letter comes as the Pentagon proposes a legislative fix that would give the secretary of Defense the authority to assist in response to domestic disasters and, consequently, control over units stationed in an affected state.

"We are concerned that the legislative proposal you discuss in your letter would invite confusion on critical command and control issues, complicate interagency planning, establish stove-piped response efforts, and interfere with governors’ constitutional responsibilities to ensure the safety and security of their citizens," Douglas and Manchin wrote to Paul Stockton, assistant secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and America's Security Affairs.

"One of the key lessons learned from the response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 was the need for clear chains of command to avoid duplication of effort and to ensure the most effective use of response resources," the governors wrote.

Though the Pentagon has said the legislative fix would increase the number of Defense Department personnel available to respond to disasters, Douglas and Manchin expressed skepticism, arguing that current law already allows the Pentagon to order personnel to key areas inside the U.S.

A similar fix was removed from the Defense Department appropriation measure in conference committee for fiscal 2009.

A Pentagon spokesman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

On the other hand. LOL!

Interment / Resettlement Camp Job Posting Video - National Guard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB5xwKJCClA

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, I think you will find this interesting:

This is No Recession

It's a Planned Demolition

By Mike Whitney

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23231.htm

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

And here we have the defining, "let them eat cake moment". Remember, these foolish thieves gave the automakers pure Hell about planes, and this is the ultimate, "pot calling the kettle black". When will some adults show up at this out of control kid's party?

Congress Doubles Jet Order For Obama Administration
John Carney|Aug. 10, 2009, 1:43 PM|9
PrintTags: Economy, White House, Advice, Wall Street, New York, Terrorism, Legal, Politics
Remember all the outrage when the public learned that Citigroup was going to spend money on new corporate jets despite needing billions of taxpayer dollars to remain afloat?

Well, we’ve found another group that is wasting taxpayer dollars on unnecessary passenger jets. Despite the recession, higher than expected budgetary outlays and lower revenues, one group propped up by a virtually unlimited amount of taxpayer dollars and whose debt is supported by the explicit guarantee of the full faith and credit of the American people has decided to double the number of passenger jets it is buying.

They go by the name of The House of Representatives. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that before leaving town for August break, Congress doubled the government’s order for new passenger planes from four to eight, raising the price tag from $220 million to $550 million. (Weird government math apparently works backwards: the larger the order, the higher the price tag.) This despite the fact that the Obama administration only wanted 4 planes.

What on earth is going on? Here’s how the Journal describes the lawmakers’ logic:

Lawmakers who support funding for the planes say the move would save the government money down the road because the new planes are less expensive to operate than the older planes, some of which are now grounded.

"The key here is not whether or not planes will be bought, it's when planes will be bought," said Ellis Brachman, a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, the panel that approved the spending.

Ah, now we see. It’s cash-for-clunkers applied to planes.

(Note: it took all our restraint not to write that the Terror Plane administration can't be trusted with any more planes.)

muralsigns said...

SPECTRE, I believe that the public put so much negative pressure on the legislators that they dropped the plan to force the Pentagon to buy the 4 jet planes.

jerry

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, you are exactly right on the public anger concerning the CONgresses shiny new planes. The fact that CONgress would double the number requested is shocking and unbelievable at least in my own mind. The arrogance can be cut with a knife, and the committee that passed the purchase still says the money will be spent which remains to be seen.

We have a Democratic President, A Democratic Majority in the House, and a Democratic Super Majority in the Senate. How in the Hell are we increasing Defense, increasing domestic spying, increasing force strength in Afghanistan, allowing the US Military to operate in these United States which is clearly a violation of Constitutional Law? Buying planes, increasing overseas trips, and on and on. Now I imagine many liberals are scratching their collective heads regarding exactly who is controlling their Party. Don't feel too bad, as Conservatives within the Republican Party learned that they don't give a rat's arse what you think. They work for the Corporations who pay them tribute while J6P sinks into the blackhole they helped create. God Bless Amerika!

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and it’s issuance.”

James Madison

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

The corruption is complete by all involved. Let them eat cake!!

The Countrywide Senators

How do you define 'substantial credible evidence'?




As the old Irish toast goes, may your sins be judged by the Senate ethics committee. Actually that's not an Irish toast but it must be the fervent hope of every politician who received a "Friend of Angelo" loan from former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo. Late last week the six Senators on the ethics panel dismissed complaints against Senators Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd with a mere admonishment about the appearance of impropriety.

The three Republican and three Democratic Senators say they conducted an exhaustive probe and inspected 18,000 pages of documents. They say they found "no substantial credible evidence as required by Committee rules" that the Senators received mortgage rates or services that weren't commonly available to the public, and thus did not violate the Senate gift ban.

We'll have to take their word that the evidence wasn't "substantial," because they didn't release those documents, nor did they encourage Mr. Dodd to release any of his records. Readers will recall that in February Mr. Dodd staged a peek-a-boo release with selected reporters but did not allow anyone to have copies of the documents. If the evidence was so clear-cut, why the months of stonewalling?

The Associated Press may have the answer. AP recently noted that among the peek-a-boo papers were two documents titled, "Loan Policy Analysis." Reports AP, "The documents had separate columns: one showing points 'actl chrgd' Dodd — zero; and a second column showing 'policy' was to charge .250 points on one loan and .375 points on the other. Another heading on the documents said 'reasons for override.' A notation under that heading identified a Countrywide section that approved the policy change for Dodd."



Associated Press

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd


How does Mr. Dodd explain that one? He may not have had to. The Senate ethicists don't seem to have required either Mr. Dodd or Mr. Conrad to provide sworn testimony. In its letters to Messrs. Conrad and Dodd, the committee referred to the "depositions" it collected from Countrywide employees, but it described only "responses" and "explanations" from the Senators. Mr. Dodd never spoke to committee members or staff, and never communicated directly with them.

When committee Senators wrote to Mr. Dodd to get answers to their questions about his VIP loans, they received a response signed by his attorney Marc Elias of Perkins Coie. We remember former Senator Robert Torricelli providing a sworn deposition before he was admonished by the committee in 2002. Perhaps he should have tried the Dodd strategy.

As for Mr. Conrad, his staff won't say if the Senator answered questions directly or let his lawyers handle it. Either way, he has to be thrilled that his colleagues found no violation of Senate rules, even after he acknowledged last summer that he had received a benefit and promptly donated $10,500 to charity.

We'd also like to know what committee members thought of Robert Feinberg, the former Countrywide loan officer who told us last year that Mr. Dodd received, and knew he was receiving, preferential treatment. The Washington Post reported last month that Mr. Feinberg told the same thing, under oath, to Senate investigators and said that Mr. Conrad also knew he was receiving special treatment. Mr. Feinberg said the same to the minority staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Does the committee think he's lying, or that his testimony simply wasn't "substantial" enough? Again, we don't know because the letters released by the ethics committee don't mention Mr. Feinberg.

Mr. Dodd is running for his sixth term next year and will no doubt claim this as vindication. Voters will have to decide if a Banking Committee Chairman who allowed himself even to be considered a VIP by the nation's foremost subprime lender deserves it.

muralsigns said...

SPECTRE, I just got back from camping in Erie, PA. Will plug the Hills Family Campground around 10 miles from Presque Isle State Park, where the lake water was so beautifully comfortable. The bike trail around the park is a great 16 mile ride. Tom Ridge Environmental Center was really well done. It was a great several days!!! I am a tent camper, although most there are in their trailers or motor homes, yet the place was very quiet. It is two hours from my house to Erie, so it was an easy trip.

I have to agree with your outrage over the needless spending the government is engaged in with the military, Congressional trips, etc. Congress has this spending spree mentality that they have had over the last 50 years. They seem to have NOT realized that the nation can no longer afford all its worldly good will spending and its luxury spending.

Chris Dodd has been in office too long. Most of them have been their sucking of the trough too long. We need term limits.

jerry

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, the Park sounds awesome. The bike trail sounds alot like Acadia National Park in Maine. I'm not sure of the miles of carriage paths, but it was something to behold. The Rockefellers owned most of the island before handing it over to the govt. to become the national park. In any case, glad you were able to get away from the constant BS we are shoveled by the thieves.

This morning they are draining the swamp (stock market) at the same time as they are dumping said monies into the Bond Market. To say this is a rigged game is the understatement of the year. Every auction is the same deal. Bid down price going into the auction and then allow the market to bid up price post auction so that they can collect the spread. A license to steal for the protected elitists while J6P drowns in debt.

The anger by average citizens is palpable. Summer recess has been an eye opener for much of CONgress. People are bringing all their grievances to the crooks who don't like having to mingle with with the common folk. I never thought I would see what is happening right here and now. We live in interesting times for sure Jerry. Fly low and stay under the radar although with the G20 coming to your city that may be impossible.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, here's Karl D laying into Barney Frank, although you could take your pick of almost any member of CONgress:

Oh, listen to Barney Frank lie:

“I’ve always said the American dream should be a home - not homeownership,’’ said Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and one of the earliest critics of the Bush administration’s push to put mortgages in the hands of low- and moderate-income people.

In 2005:



You are a lying sack of dog-squeeze Barney.

Not only did you fully support the idea of "home ownership for everyone" you also kept prattling on about how there was no housing bubble, there was no problem to come, and you in fact promoted this mess just two short years before it blew up in everyone's face!

"You're not going to see the collapse that you see when people talk about a bubble and so those of us on our committee in particular will continue to push for home ownership."

Busted, you jackass - in your own words.

Youtube and CSpan archive your speeches on the floor forever, you fool.

SPECTRE of Deflation said...

Jerry, out of 52,000 filthy rich tax evaders only 4,500 to 5,000 will be named in the sweetheart deal involving UBS. 47,000 will continue to be protected from prosecution for tax evasion. Nice. Keep pushing the little man thieves.



GENEVA (Reuters) - The deal initialed last week between the United States and Switzerland over UBS (UBSN.VX) will involve the disclosure of around 5,000 holders of secret Swiss accounts, weekly newspaper NZZ am Sonntag said on Sunday.

Another Swiss weekly, Sonntag, said around 4,500 names would be handed over.

(SNIP)

muralsigns said...

SPECTRE, the thieves are abundant and given big passes, not unlike those suffering people on Main Street. Obama appears to be walking away from his fight for those of us on Main Street, but instead handing out passes to those on Wall Street.

Karl D. has been right-on with the Democrats who want to straddle the fence dividing Wall Street from Main Street.

Also, I have been to Acadia, but that was 30 years ago. I will never forget camping on the beach in the summer with cold ocean winds forcing us to wear warm jackets and jeans. The close to shore fishing boat whistles breaking the early morning darkness was calming as we lay inside the tent huddled in our sleeping bags.

jerry

muralsigns said...

Hi SPECTRE,

I am always glad you have something to say. You are welcome here so let it hang out, man! “The truth is that a liberal from the 1960’s would not have a clue concerning what passes for a liberal today.” I guess that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. We have to remember that many of 1960-70s liberals were just naïve, kids in their 20s trying to find their way and not believing in the war in Vietnam. The eventual direction the many found was to turn into individuals who morphed into money dragons wanting fancy suits, and cars, trips, and drugs, and big jobs with fat bonuses. They inherited the roles from their fathers and grandfathers who were calling the shots in those companies and felt that there was no room for such a “liberal”. So the kids sold out and became what they were told to become. Of course, there were some who said “that is just not me. I am my own person. I am a liberal. I am a progressive. I believe in people and have a place in my heart to share it.”

What we have today is an oligarchy full of kleptocrats. We becoming Russia. We are hearing the drumming from those warn out neo-liberals who continue to pound the beat that there really IS a free market; there really is such a thing as laissez-faire market capitalism, when we all know that that does not exist. What exists is an oligarchy. Those who are the extremely rich and powerful corporatists pay their main political insider Brown Shirts--Republicans, and sell out Democrats, through padded campaign contributions funneled through lobbyists, to make sure that the system guarantees that their big paydays continue. These Corporate Royalists, as called by FDR, want to make sure that the working people stay exactly where they want them. They want them to continue to be a source of income for them as debtors. This is the game plan.

Instead of offering a cash-for-elderly-clunkers, the cash goes to buy old corporate-made gas hogs so Americans can now have somewhere around 46,000 new or used (mostly) foreign-made replacement vehicles. Now, if the CONgress decided to make sure that the Social Security cap was removed, then the COLA would be restored and S.S. would likely return to solvency. The cash for clunkers went into the wrong bailout. There has been no bailout for those that need it.

On the bond market auctions--This subject get very little press. Thanks for keeping it alive here on the blogspot. By the way, I read your list of bad economic news that you posted last week on our VBLOG USTREAM show. Thanks so much!! It appears that China is only buying short term bonds and forgetting about anything longer than a 5 year duration. Also, what is occurring is that our current account deficit is decreasing because China has slowed down their Treasury bond purchases and WE are soaking up what is getting bought up from those investment broker dealers getting zero percent FED interest rates who then, turn around and buy up Treasuries for the FED, as well as through other domestic avenues. The FED appears to be buying up their own stuff through backdoor arrangements.

SPECTRE, I really do believe you hit-on the most important and most basic of factors that have allowed the Corporate Royalists, the Neo-fascist media bobbleheads, and the bribed legislators to keep hold of us and that is what you wrote: “I lay out the facts, as I see them, of what is happening, and everyone is upset with the system, but they always go back to what brung em' if ya know what I mean. Like water, it's always easiest to go with the path of least resistance. If the world were full self thinkers, maybe it would be different, but we aren't wired, nor are we taught, to think for ourselves in this brave new world.”

jerry

muralsigns said...

SPECTRE--part 2...

I watched a film about the work Jane Goodall did in Africa with chimpanzees. There is only one dominant leader of a chimp clan and the rest follow. Humans aren’t that much different in spite of their education. For many, they have been beaten down with lies, manipulations, disappointment, and more. They have been sheep led by the herder to stay where they are told to stay. For many they place their hopes in a supreme being to make it right for them, but it just does not happen. They feel more peaceful, but not very empowered to change the system. And then, SPECTRE, there are those like us who just won’t sit still and ignore what is going on. We have to shout it out! Keep it going, my man!

And, thanks for the headlines! And, of course, the stock market rallies on bad news. Bad news, is the new good news! The market will fall, and it will fall fast before the year is up, is my prediction.

We are broke, but as Dr. Ellen Brown has outlined, state budgets could get fixed if all revenues went into a state bank and then, the deposits loaned out, fractionally, to entities that could create jobs and start building new revenues. As I have said, North Dakota has their own state bank, and can brag about their $62 million surplus. So where is the shared sacrifice President Obama first talked about? Only the common man/woman/child will endure the shared sacrifice.

By the way I heard a great interview about T.R. Reed’s new book on how all the industrialized democracies take care of health care for all. It is called Healing of America. Check out the link to the audio interview.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13