“you cannot touch, feel, squeeze anything they make..”
Goldman is a financial services company.. they are ONLY parasitical to the “real economy”. and yet they are the primary recipient of US Govt bailout money thru the (privately owned) Fed and AIG...
I cannot make the Oligarchy case any more clear than this… the rich get paid first when they produce nothing. they are HARMFUL to the real economy because they feed off of it, to the point of collapse… i don’t think i need to do any proving in this regard, anyone can see it from either Oil Speculation pushing the price of gas up to $4 a gallon or the “Sub-prime Mortgage Crisis”. these are caused by Wall Street… “free market” is a code word tyranny of the rich.
there is only political economy. big gov’t has the job of raising the standard of our poor and putting a leash on the rich…
US government securities seized from Japanese nationals, not clear whether real or fake
Bonds worth US$ 134.5 billion are seized. This is the largest financial smuggling case in history. But are they real? Concern over ‘funny money’ or counterfeit securities is spreading in Asia. The international press is silent.
Milan (AsiaNews) – Italy’s financial police (Guardia italiana di Finanza) has seized US bonds worth US 134.5 billion from two Japanese nationals at Chiasso (40 km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland. They include 249 US Federal Reserve bonds worth US$ 500 million each, plus ten Kennedy bonds and other US government securities worth a billion dollar each. Italian authorities have not yet determined whether they are real or fake, but if they are real the attempt to take them into Switzerland would be the largest financial smuggling operation in history; if they are fake, the matter would be even more mind-boggling because the quality of the counterfeit work is such that the fake bonds are undistinguishable from the real ones.
What caught the policemen’s attention were the billion dollar securities. Such a large denomination is not available in regular financial and banking markets. Only states handle such amounts of money.
The question now is who could or would counterfeit or smuggle these non-negotiable bonds.
In order to stop money laundering Italian law sets a ceiling of 10,000 euros per person for importing or exporting money without declaring it. The penalty for violating the law is 40 per cent of the money seized.
If the certificates were real, for Italy it would be like hitting the jackpot. The fine alone would amount to US$ 38 billion, five times the estimated cost of rebuilding quake-devastated Abruzzi region. It would help Italy’s eliminate its public deficit.
If the certificates are fakes the two Japanese nationals could get a very lengthy jail sentence for fraud.
As soon as the seizure was made the US Embassy in Rome was informed. Italian and US secret services were called in to assist the Italian financial police.
Some important international financial newspapers had already reported on the existence of ‘funny money’ circulating on parallel, i.e. unofficial, financial markets.
For AsiaNews a few points need considering:
1. When it comes to Italy the world press has tended to focus on Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi’s personal problems rather than on stories like the bonds smuggling affair which has been front page on Italian newspapers.
2. The fear of counterfeit bonds and securities has spread across Asia with the result that real securities are also considered with suspicion.
3. During the Second World War several countries at war printed and put in circulation perfectly counterfeit enemy money. It is also historically established that some central banks, like the Bank of Italy 65 years ago, issued the same securities twice (identical registered number and code). This way they could print more money with legal tender than they officially declared. The main difference though is that 65 years ago the world was involved in a bloody war, which is not the case today.
I would say that we ARE involved in a bloody war, but that the new warfare is financial… the subprime mortgage collapse is another form of economic warfare.
On March 30, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state news agency of North Korea, reported that preparations were under way for indictments and a trial, saying, “The illegal entry of US reporters into the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements.” The two will face trial on June 4.
According to Kim Tae-woo of the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis, “The journalists considerably weakened their government’s leverage against the North,” in ongoing negotiations over the DPRK’s nuclear program.
On June 8, Reuters reported that the two reporters were found guilty of illegal entry and committing “hostile acts against the DPRK” and subsequently sentenced to twelve years of hard labor.
Not rocket science to figure this one out.
These two are clearly acting as provocateurs for Al Gore’s Current TV. (Yes, the same Al Gore who brought us the Global Warming austerity fraud and the PMRC).
The women will not be mistreated because they’re high profile female “political” prisoners. Mistreating them would be a global outrage and the US would milk it for all it’s worth. Their release will be negotiated at some point. Right now the two women are developing some “street cred” as political activists… so their continued careers as journalists are almost certainly guaranteed.
The US, of course, will use this to increase public support for action against North Korea.
global warming pushed by center-left worldwide financier oligarchy
right wing seems somewhat immune to this line of thinking
feb 2007 UN IPCC (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change) signals worldwide campaign
GW/CC is political, not scientific
1600 page scientific paper on CC in may 2007… “changes in the scientific part could be made to insure consistency with the summary for policy makers” (paraphrased from political abstract of IPCC)
supporters: eurogarchs, eurocrats, eurpoean central bank crowd, London, Gore & Obama, etc
oligarchs hate science and technology, habit of mind, deep ideological preference because oligarchy cannot exist if science & technology are prevalent… oligarchy is authoritarian and not based on anything real… it’s divine right, not performance
400BC, Athenian writer “The Old Oligarch”, “the Athenian navy uses modern technology and provides an avenue of upward mobility for the hoi polloi and stinking masses. that threatens the class privileges of oligarchs like myself.”
1000BC, Hesiod, “The Trojan War was necessary because the world was overpopulated. Too many people are oppressing the breast of mother earth.”
Al Gore
spokesman for CC faction
Re-inventing Government, An Inconvenient Truth, Current TV
right-wing democrat, reactionary,
father Al Gore Sr voted against Civil Rights Act
voted in favor of 1st Gulf War
selected Joe Lieberman for VP in 2000 (warmonger, reactionary)
prime mover in campaign vs Serbia, 1999
Cripple Creek Coal Co., owned Love Canal, NJ during toxic waste scandal (1998?)
friend of Prince Charles (pro nazi royal family of england)
Sir Maurice Strong (UN 1990s), canada, british operative, Environmental and Development Conference, Rio de Jeniero, 1992.. origin of the Kyoto Protocol.. “we may get to the point where the only way of saving the world would be for industrial civilization to collapse”
Thomas Malthus
industrial civilization allows 6BN to live on planet now and its destruction would undoubtedly weaken the carrying capacity of the planet.. it’s genocide on a global scale
London is world center of finance, not NY
science in US massively corrupted
Clinton/Gore admin.. Gore was environmentalist fanatic
started with Ozone hole and moved to CC
non GW/CC scientists purged during Clinton (1990s)
Global Warming Claims
Global Warming exists and continues
GW is anthroprogenic and due to human activity
response to GW has to be carbon taxes or cap & trade… policies have a foothold in GB & EU.. laws have no effect by their own admission
refutations
planet has survived many glacial epics (ice ages) before
10 ice ages over last 200,000 years intersperced with 10,000 year warming periods
last ice age 10,000BC.. so we’re about 1000 years overdue for another ice age
1300AD medieval warming period
1500-1800 “little ice age”
both of these are larger temperature changes than GW/CC ppl claim is dangerous now.. so we survived before.
roman empire warming period around year 1
oligarchy started policy with (over)population bomb, then ozone hole, now global warming
population growth goes negative in highly industrialized societies — poor have more kids — high technology leads to greater population potential thru efficiency and greater energy sources but industrial development actually causes ppl to have less children.. less infant mortality.. so the general trend is scientific advancement leads to ppl having less children who live longer vs more who die sooner in poverty/austerity/3rd world
population growth negative in japan and would be in US without immigration… which is generally poor ppl.
scientists tend to be mercenaries bought up and controlled by oligarchical foundations — grant/research funding
teresa heinz kerry (portuguese fascist family from africa) pushes this policy thru Heinz Foundation, ally of Maurice Strong pushing Rio hysteria of 1992
north pole ice is shrinking but south pole ice is actually growing
no catastrophic rise in sea levels, as prophesied
causes
peculiarities of the earth’s orbit
solar activity, sunspots +/- 1% normal fluctuations
connections between cosmic rays and cloud formation could be a factor
it is far more likely that temperature fluctuations have astronomical origin, not human
is this a product of human activity?
ice cores lose CO2 over time thru temp changes, osmosis, plate tectonics, entropy, etc
as ice cores get older/deeper there is less CO2
Ernst-Georg Beck found 19th century research data on CO2 levels proves no extraordinarily high level of CO2 now… current levels well within normal range
more CO2 in 1940 than there is now
CO2 sources: earth’s crust, respiration, fuel for plants
CO2 is not bad
CO2 level lower now than previous times in history
Callendar & Keeling 1950-80s
hockey stick CO2 curve is a fraud
proposed policy & solutions
claiming debate is over when it’s not
threatening ppl who dont support this nonsense
carbon tax, cap & trade.. emission of more carbon must be bought from speculative market (parasitical) in form of carbon offsets… potential for Enron market here
cap & trade seems to be aimed at destroying coal industry & industrial civilization… compare to Dark Ages, New Dark Age
big crisis to impose dictatorship (in order to save planet), Left-CIA
what should be done
use technology to solve problem, not austerity
viable public transport & urban mass transit, mag-lev commuter rail… remove 1/4-1/3 of cars from road for commuting
rebuild with mag-lev (or compressed air) commuter infrastructure (no pollution)
macro political struggle of oil (helps) vs coal (hurts) corrupting science
nuclear energy is obvious answer to global warming…
thermonuclear fusion the answer to fission waste concerns
HL Mencken
“The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule it.”
I usually catch some of MSNBC’s Morning Joe a few times a week and I’ll check out the opening and closing shows on CNBC from time to time so I’m used to seeing Dylan Ratigan around. I considered him to be one of the smarter talking heads on the business news programs. Lately, I noticed him missing so i did a little digging…
Ratigan left (CNBC) on March 27, 2009.The New York Times reported he was considering all options but quoted him as saying he was dedicated to covering the economy, “the story that is affecting every American in every setting.”
Apparently, he’s waking up to the oligarchical nature of the US. But wait, it gets better…
In Ratigan’s final CNBC broadcast from the floor of the NYSE he reported on what he called “an important story developing” that Goldman Sachs and “a variety of European banks”, in his assessment and that of his guests, essentially “perpetrated securities fraud” and an “insurance fraud scam” against AIG—and, by extension, the government and taxpayers funding that insurance company’s “bailout”—by insuring their questionable investment vehicles and, upon their devaluation, making claims on them to be paid by AIG “at 100 cents on the dollar” despite all of the markdowns “being forced upon every other” entity including the government, banks, shareholders, bond holders, taxpayers and homeowners.
“I think that it should be a bigger political issue than whether somebody bought an airplane… Forget the private jets, forget who got a million dollar bonus. Fifty billion dollars“, he emphasized, minimizing what he saw as populist side issues to “the real question” of how “government policy makers” are to deal with the “problems of contract law” inherent in the agreements of businesses receiving government assistance during the financial crisis.
“The banks are being asked to take ‘haircuts’ on their toxic assets, why are the Goldmans and the Deutsche Banks of the world not being asked to take haircuts on their toxic credit default swaps? It’s a real question. I will continue to pursue it for sure, I hope others will as well.” Ratigan praised New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s subpoena of AIG to determine the bank payouts as “legitimate inquiry” and looked forward to “a body of lawmakers in Washington D.C. who are going to ask, it appears, some of the same questions that I’m asking.”
very interesting indeed…
more interesting still are the stories from fox & the new york post about why ratigan left CNBC…
fox does give us this little gem from Ratigan,”The value system of capitalism has been corrupted by a small group of bankers, insurance executives and politicians.”
what exactly is “strategic programming” for CNBC? George Orwell would LOVE that term…
these are interesting because the don’t even mention the AIG money story at all…. in other words, they have something to hide… namely: the biggest robbery in history perpetuated by Wall Street… specifically: Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs, of course, the primary beneficiary of the Wall St orchestrated Crude Oil Speculation Bubble… remember Bart Stupak? and the AIG money… hmmm… gee, it’s starting to look like “Government Sachs” is living up to it’s nickname.
“United States Secretary of the Treasury, serving under President Barack Obama. He was previously the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Geithner’s position includes a large role in directing the nation’s economic response to the financial crisis which began after December 2007. Specific tasks include directing how $350 billion of Wall Street bailout money is allocated. He is currently dealing with multiple high visibility issues, including the survival of the automobile industry, the restructuring of banks, financial institutions and insurance companies, recovery of the mortgage market, demands for protectionism, Obama’s new tax proposals, and relations with foreign governments that are dealing with similar crises.”
He then attended Dartmouth College, graduating with a B.A. in government and Asian studies in 1983. He earned an M.A. in international economics and East Asian studies from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in 1985. He has studied Chinese and Japanese.
His father, Peter F. Geithner, is the director of the Asia program at the Ford Foundation in New York. During the early 1980s, Peter Geithner oversaw the Ford Foundation’s microfinance programs in Indonesia being developed by S. Ann Dunham-Soetoro, President Barack Obama’s mother, and they met in person at least once.
Geithner’s maternal grandfather, Charles F. Moore, was an adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and served as a vice president of Ford Motor Company.
He was Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs (1998–2001) under Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers. Summers was his mentor, but other sources call him a Rubin protégé.
In 2002 he left the Treasury to join the Council on Foreign Relations as a Senior Fellow in the International Economics department. He was director of the Policy Development and Review Department (2001-2003) at the International Monetary Fund.
In October 2003 at age 42, he was named president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His salary in 2007 was $398,200. Once at the New York Fed, he became Vice Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee component. In 2006, he also became a member of the Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty.
In March 2008, he arranged the rescue and sale of Bear Stearns; in the same year, he played a pivotal role in both the decision to bail out AIG as well as the government decision not to save Lehman Brothers from bankruptcy, though claims were made after Geithner’s nomination that distanced him from both AIG and Lehman Brothers. As a Treasury official, he helped manage multiple international crises of the 1990s in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand.
Geithner believes, along with Henry Paulson, that the United States Department of the Treasury needs new authority to experiment with responses to the financial crisis of 2008.
Paulson has described Geithner as “[a] very unusually talented young man…[who] understands government and understands markets.”
Hank Paulson? Jim Cramer? Ben Bernanke? Larry Summers?
Apparently, the oligarchs are trying to start a war between the middle and lower classes… CNBC is very proud of Santelli’s scripted little rant… he’s making the rounds of all the news programs, flashing that demonic smile.
But we can learn something here… The attitude of the oligarchy is that a contract trumps people’s lives. A contract is a contract is a contract is a contract. If you were tricked into buying too much house, that’s America… contracts are sacrosanct… if you happen to be out of a job, too bad. if you are thrown out into the street, too bad.
Scarborough gives us this interesting tidbit: Mika rides the Acela train from NY to Washington frequently if anybody wants to find her. STRANGE thing to say to Zbig, if you ask me.. especially considering Mika was just ‘robbed’ while standing outside alone smoking a cigarette a few months ago… a threat by Joe? This could be a reference to the Lori Klausutisscandal.
Zbig worries about class conflict.. anticipates millions of unemployed. Calls out financier executive bonuses..
1907 JP Morgan locks financiers in a room and demands they sacrifice before Federal Reserve System
National Solidarity Fund.
Barnacle – Nat’l Mortification Fund for Wall St bonuses.. Zbig suggests publishing lists..
Paulson & Rubin should volunteer bonus money to public.
finally, an article which makes the distinctions between sunni/shi’ite, persian/arab, and explains some of the historically feuding clans in the middle east. you’ll never see this stuff in the US media.
Zbigniew Brzezinski to Mika: “.. I loved your introduction and I love to be hosted by you so that I’m not in the clutches of the dangerous Joe (Scarborough).”
Brzezinski (on Secretary of Defense Robert Gates): “Gates is a terrific guy. I’ve known him for years. I worked with him. We jointly prepared a report on Iran several years ago. He was my Executive Assistant many years ago in the National Security Council. He’s top-notch.”
the CFR report on Iran is a hoot and worth checking out: “Page 63, Appendix A, Important Dates in US-Iranian History, 1985-86, Washington and Tehran engage in a complex scheme to fund assistance to Nicaraguan rebels through proceeds of US weapons sales to Iran.” – Translation: The Iran-Contra Affair
Brzezinski (on Joe Biden): “Of course, Senator Biden knows everything that needs to be known about Foreign Policy.”
“needs to be known” does not sound like Brzezinski is an outside observer. it sounds like Zbig is in a position of power much higher than Biden and tells him only what is necessary to further the group’s aims. Translation: Biden knows enough for our purposes.
Brzezinski (on strategic planning): “We have no mechanism for global political planning in the US government. We have one in the State Department. And, of course, the State Department thinks everything is diplomacy. We have one in Defense. They all think that all planning is, of course, military. We have to have high level systematic comprehensive long-range foreign policy planning in the White House, probably under General Jones”
Brzezinski (on Afghanistan): “I have been saying for some months now that we have to be very careful not to repeat the mistake the Soviets made. The Soviets went to Afghanistan on the illusion that a bunch of marxists, afghan marxists, sitting in Kabul could be helped by them to build a replica of the Soviet Republic in Afghanistan. And they went in with their military and they ended up with 150,000 – 180,000 military trying to fight the afghans who would simply not give up, who objected to a foreign presence, to an alien philosophy. We have to be very careful that we don’t push too hard the notion that we’re building a modern nation-state that is democratic and constitutional on the basis of support of pro western democrats, afghans in Kabul, that we have on our side while we’re doing it, essentially, with military power which the afghans resist. So, my view is that while some troops may be needed, more here or there to offset Taliban strength, we have to move more and more in the direction of trying to seek decentralized political accomodations in different parts of Afghanistan, with different segments of the Taliban in some places, in exchange for their pledge to have no relationship with, to expel, or even to extirpate any Al Qaeda presence in the area.”
Brzezinski (on National Security Adviser General James L. Jones): “I don’t have any real sort of inside knowledge but judging him from an occasional conference with him, especially from his past, he was a person whose world view was presumably shaped to a great extent by the fact that he was an extremely successful NATO commander in Europe. He’s experienced in dealing with the Europeans. You know, he speaks remarkably good french, which is impressive. And I’m sure it’s going to make the french swoon. He has an Atlanticist viewpoint. He doesn’t have, perhaps, some of the feel for the third world, for the changing world, to the world that I call ‘globally politically awakened world’ that Obama has. I think one of the very specific qualities of Obama is that he has this feel for the 21st century. But working for Obama, he will certainly be solid on the fundamental issues of power, the relationship of the military and the political of dealing with the Allies, and he is a strong person. So, I imagine he’ll be imposing discipline on the other members of the team.”
A couple things come to mind here. The “Globally Politically Awakened World” refers to us, the internet community.
General Jones, as an ex-NATO commander, is used to fighting Russia. according to wiki: “The first NATO Secretary General Lord Ismay famously stated the organization’s goal was ‘to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down’” – Translation: This just points to more of what we already know, Russia is the enemy once again.
Instead of giving the money to bankers to bailout toxic paper, China is following in the footsteps of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. It will be interesting to see which plan actually works, the US or China’s.
The 4 trillion yuan plan ($849 billion), equivalent to about 20% of China’s GDP, is the biggest injection of cash by a government in history.
The Chinese package is expected to focus overwhelmingly on construction. A statement by China’s State Council said the money would be spent on 10 projects including low-income housing, rural infrastructure, water, electricity, transportation, the environment, technological innovation and rebuilding from disasters.
It is also interesting that China expects its own population to pick up the slack in business lost to Chinese factories because Americans are spending less.
The measures are just shy of the $700bn (£442bn) bail-out promised by the United States, but are wider and more comprehensive than the American plan.
The Chinese government said it would “massively” crank up its spending on roads, railways, healthcare, education, power grids and low-cost housing. It also abolished the tight limits on lending that applied to banks, in a move that will open up credit to tens of millions of riskier borrowers.
The State Council said it would boost the economy partly through hiring millions of workers to build a slew of new projects and partly by encouraging Chinese, who are traditionally inclined to save their money, to spend more.
The government hopes that Chinese households will replace American families as the main customers for China’s slew of low-cost factories. Currently, almost 40pc of China’s economy is tied to exports.
Timothy Bond, chief Asian economist at Merrill Lynch, compared the package to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which shored up the American economy after the Wall Street crash of 1929. “The past two weeks have emphasised a simple point,” he said. “Policy works. In China’s case we expect this positive policy to prevent a sharp slowdown.”
He added: “Financing is not an issue. Public debt is only 21pc of gross domestic product.” In the UK, the official statistics show public debt is 43.4pc of GDP, while the ratio is nearly 61pc in the US.
Not much is known about the recent terror attacks in Mumbai, India but one thing is certain, it was perfectly timed for an American audience and the four day Thanksgiving weekend. It is even being called the “Indian 9/11″ by MSNBC.
There is also a rather odd numerology connection to the 08/08/08 Georgian aggression in South Ossetia, the Mumbai attacks have eight targets with started on Nov 26 (2+6=8). Strange coincidence or is this some kind of calling card? I don’t take this numerology stuff seriously, but some people do. For now, I’ll just file it away as “weird”.
The US is already attacking Pakistan on a daily basis with UAV drones. The Mumbai attacks are clearly a provocation to escalate the war in Pakistan. It’s another False-flag operation. Keep reading →
former Marine Corps Commandant James L. Jones likely to be national security adviser
President’s ‘Enforcer’
Jones will play the role as Obama’s “enforcer” to impose discipline and keep everyone working in tandem, said Zbigniew Brzezinski, who filled the national security adviser’s post under President Jimmy Carter. Vice President Joe Biden will also help prevent internal conflicts, Brzezinski said in an interview.
“I’m optimistic because of the strength concentrated at the White House,” Brzezinski said. “Otherwise there was a risk of a dispersal of strategy. But I think with Biden and Jones working together and dealing with the president on a daily basis, the chances of asserting control from the national security adviser’s office, which is the key office, are pretty good.”
Dr. Brzezinski said some VERY interesting things this morning. He was outlining a strategy for Obama, explain the role of National Security Adviser (and his controlling influence on the President), threatening Russia, and there were many rather bizarre comments made by the talking heads in regard to him.
Great stuff, confirming the new target is Russia, not Iraq or Iran, not even Pakistan… tho they will use Pakistan to destabilize both China and Russia.
Brzezinski: Jim Jones, Obama need a ‘cohesive relationship’
Nov. 25: Former national security adviser and Mika’s father Zbigniew Brzezinski discusses the rapport President-elect Barack Obama should be expected to have with members of Cabinet.
I’m surprised more people haven’t seen this Dennis Kucinich clip yet. It deserves more attention. He basically is calling or all the things we want, as people of good will. The original source is Russia Today. It goes without saying that this interview was ignored by the US media.
highlights:
War in Afghanistan, Iraq, & threats against Iran totally unnecessary
We need to go back to Franklin Roosevelt, the New Deal, and build infrastructure to fix the economy
We need a new energy infrastructure – wind, solar, etc
We need to cooperate with Russia to disarm & develop the world
The Polish & Czech missiles are wrong & should be removed immediately
Georgia was clearly the aggressor in the South Ossetia/Abkhazia conflict
We have to stop Brzezinski and the policy of empire
Paulson’s bailout is a failure
I’ve included a transcript of Kucinich’s answers with some commentary and links to background info. Keep reading →
David Frum, Neocon speechwriter for George W. Bush, wrote a book (An End to Evil) with Richard Perle (another infamous Neocon). He has some choice words on Obama’s choice of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.
David Frum: Well, it means that Hillary Clinton has just moved from having an independent power base in the Senate to being in effect an employee of Barack Obama. And not just any employee, but one who has had to open her files to Barack Obama.
Just imagine the scene of the Obama people going through the Clinton files and saying, “Wow, this could be embarrassing if anybody ever found out about it. Don’t worry, it’s safe with us.”
He has just cemented his enormous power over her, and the sentimental idea out there that he’s reaching for a rival and padding the dust off her and bringing her into a Cabinet to be his rival — no, he’s putting her into his Cabinet in order to control her. It’s a pretty impressive display of tough politics.
This is very interesting..
But the norm since 1960 has been for the national security adviser to be very powerful and often more powerful than the secretary of state.
Hmmm, like Kissinger or Brzezinski?
Speaking of Brzezinski, it’s interesting that Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s new “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” show was complaining that Hillary Clinton used her seat as a New York Senator to run her campaign for the White House and implied that her replacement in the Senate would be a real Senator for NY. Of course, this criticism was NOT extended to Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden… but this is what we expect from the Brzezinski Network.
“1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” is clearly the tv vehicle for Obama’s press releases.
Of course, Gloria Barger is a mouthpiece for Wall Street. We have no illusion about her loyalties to the lampreys, leeches, and asset strippers. But she makes some interesting statements nonetheless.
The incoming administration is also sending clear signals that it could delay its promise to repeal President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy. All of which are good signs.
What we’re seeing — even before Obama is sworn in — is a changing of the guard, so the new folks are ready to take charge on Day One.
A tax cut for the wealthy is precisely what we DON’T need right now. Obviously this is bad news.
It’s very clear, from Monday’s moves, that Obama intends to act quickly. There’s no need to dethrone George W. Bush; he’s essentially already irrelevant in this process.
Obama’s plan is pretty clear: Push a stimulus package through Congress ASAP, and have it ready for the new president to sign on January 20. Obama has made its components pretty clear; a large jobs and public works program, money for green technology and, of course, those middle-class tax cuts.
Citigroup, went – the price went – down to a very unreasonable price lately. It still was on very solid grounds..
On very solid grounds?? Is he insane?! Of course, this is why they got a $300 billion bailout today. It’s clearly a reward for their long history of stability.. this is a farce of epic proportions.
Citigroup is a credit card company which got into trouble with derivatives speculation and is now feeling the wrath of negative leverage. This is a corporation who could borrow and the Fed’s prime lending rate and charge working people 19-36% on credit cards. This is a can’t lose business as long as you don’t get greedy and get wrapped up in too much leverage… They got greedy. They lost. Plain and simple. We should not be bailing out bad gamblers.
But wait, there’s more. Al-Waleed also talks about Oil speculation:
..no doubt the the price of oil will go up. But I hope this time it will go up in a very steady manner without the speculative element that makes it go to the triple digits in a manner of months. So we in Saudi Arabia we’re against having these big jumps because our interest, as a producer in Saudi Arabia, very much coincides with the interests of the OECD countries and the west and especially the United States.
don’t call it a comeback, i’ve been here for years..
from the WSJ:
Many of the Republicans emerging as potential members of the Obama administration have professional and ideological ties to Brent Scowcroft, a former national-security adviser turned public critic of the Bush White House.
[...]
The relationship between the president-elect and the Republican heavyweight suggests that Mr. Scowcroft’s views, which place a premium on an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, might hold sway in the Obama White House.
So, expect an Israeli-Palestinian Peace relatively soon.. they’ve had 90% of an agreement settled for years anyhow so this isn’t as big a stretch as it might seem.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was deputy national-security adviser under Mr. Scowcroft in the George H.W. Bush administration, is almost certain to be retained by Mr. Obama, according to aides to the president-elect. Richard Haass, a Scowcroft protégé and former State Department official, could be tapped for a senior National Security Council, State Department or intelligence position. Mr. Haass currently runs the Council on Foreign Relations.
Other prominent Republicans with close ties to Mr. Obama — including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who endorsed the Democrat in the final days of the campaign, and Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — share Mr. Scowcroft’s philosophy.
“I think most of my close associates have a generally similar view,” Mr. Scowcroft said in an interview. “What’s the old story about birds of a feather?”
Mr. Scowcroft said his biggest piece of advice for the new administration was that it should make a renewed push to help broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. He also endorsed Mr. Obama’s call for diplomatic engagement with Iran.
Also, NO war with Iran. Biden already let the cat out of the bag when he told Israel to get used to the idea of a nuclear Iran.
“Compared to the other alternatives we face with Iran, we ought to give it a really good, sincere try,” Mr. Scowcroft said. “I have a hunch that we’ll be more successful than a lot of detractors think.”
Obama aides declined to comment on the substance of the conversations. A transition aide said the president-elect has “deep respect for Brent Scowcroft.”
Mr. Scowcroft’s re-emergence caps a tumultuous few years for the 83-year-old former Air Force general. In the run-up to the Iraq war, Mr. Scowcroft wrote an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal arguing against an invasion and warning that it would “seriously jeopardize, if not destroy” the Bush administration’s war on terrorism. In speeches and interviews, he regularly criticized both the decision to invade Iraq and the Bush team’s handling of the war effort.
Now this is where it gets controversial. Bush/Cheney got away from the 9/11 plan when they invaded Iraq. There’s a huge war in heaven over this which came to a head in Sep 2007. Now the Neocons are OUT.
Essentially, 9/11 was a grand strategy to carve up Russia, not the Middle East.
