Socialism for the rich. We have arrived.

[seafan]

The Largest Welfare Check Ever Written

The Rise of the Wall Street Ruling Class

By THOMAS VOLSCHO
December 10-12, 2010

.....

The last thirty years of the class war waged by the Wall Street Ruling Class and the Federal Reserve Bank has been about reducing wages and goods inflation while sustaining financial asset inflation to increase the enrichment of the bond and stock holders. Net interest payments on Treasury securities are welfare payments to the Wall Street Ruling Class. One of the propaganda functions of the highly concentrated (by ownership) mass media is to keep the masses confused about this great source of power. From the perspective of the elite, it is better to inflame and encourage hatred for Mexican immigrants, welfare recipients, and Muslims. But Mexican immigrants and Muslims, generally speaking do not run the country. Instead, the simple answer is: follow the money. By following the money you will be led to a street with a river at one end and a graveyard at the other. In fact, it is for whom the firms located on this street received the largest welfare check ever written. As the chorus of Ron Paul supporters, Tea Party activists and white supremacists continues rising and violence escalates, the question arises: Is there socialism in the United States? The answer is a resounding Yes! Socialism for the rich.

And, this afternoon, Barack Obama will bless George W. Bush's obscene tax giveaways to the rich; drill into the sacrosanct, dedicated funding for Social Security for the first time since its creation; and pave the way to bankruptcy for the states and the annihilation of workers' pension funds.


And Mitch McConnell will be gleefully standing by his side.



Socialism for the rich.

Misery for the people.

A turncoat president.



We have arrived.

[iamtechus]

1. Feudalistic Socialism (nt)

[leftstreet]

2. Seize their assets. Nationalize their industries

Fuck 'em

K&R

[Starry Messenger]

3. recommend.

[Octafish]

4. KRHS

Kick, Rec and a healthy shove.

[seafan]

5. We are on a frightening trajectory now, my friend.

It's up to every single one of us to engage our fellow citizens about the identities of the real enemies of our nation.

And it isn't immigrants, gays, ethnic/racial groups, women, anti-war activists, peace movements or whistle blowers reporting the crimes of empire.



Keep on shining your light, Octafish.

[Foo Fighter]

16. I absolutely love that sign.

It truly spoke for all Americans.

Well, for 99.9% of us anyway.

The other .1% can FOAD as far as I'm concerned. Which I believe was the whole point of the sign...

[maryf]

47. Me too!

I recommend both the op and your post! (love that picture!)

[underpants]

6. Well writtten

Amazing to watch. Nothing before 2 years ago EVER happened.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProudDad]

8. K&R

[ProudDad]

9. The New Tax Deal: Reaganomics Redux

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[seafan]

10. Reagan redux indeed.

Robert Reich weighs in on today's travesty.

.....

Unless the vast majority of Americans has enough purchasing power to keep the economy going without going ever more deeply into debt, the economy will eventually go over a cliff.

That’s what happened in 1929 and 2008.

By the late 1990s the middle and working classes could keep spending — and thereby keep the economy moving — only by adding debt. This strategy ended when the housing bubble burst in 2007.

Without their spending, there can be no buoyant recovery.

Yes, the pending tax bill will give America’s middle and working classes slightly more cash next year. But only for one year. They won’t spend it. They’ll use it to help pay down their debts.

Will lower taxes on the rich spur them to create more jobs? Not a chance. Since 1980, Reagan’s supply-siders have said lower taxes on the rich will trickle down to everyone else. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Look at history.

During the almost three decade spanning 1951 to 1980, when the top rate was between 70 and 92 percent, the average annual growth in the American economy was 3.7 percent.

Between 1983 and the start of the Great Recession, when the top rate ranged between 35 percent and 39 percent, average growth was 3 percent.

Supply siders are also fond of claming that Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts caused the 1980s economic boom. There is no evidence to support this claim. In fact, that boom followed Reagan’s 1982 tax increase. The 1990s boom likewise was not the result of a tax cut; most of it followed Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax increase.

Nor did George W. Bush’s tax cuts trickle down. Between 2002 and 2007 the median wage actually dropped. And Bush’s record of job creation was pathetic relative to Bill Clinton’s, when taxes were higher. Under Clinton, America added 22 million net new jobs. Under Bush, barely 8 million.

So why are Democrats voting for Reaganomics?

They say they have no choice — either vote for this or watch taxes rise on everyone starting January 1.

That Democrats have allowed themselves to get into this fix is a testament to either their timidity, obtuseness, or dependence on the campaign contributions of those at the top.

Thanks for posting about this, ProudDad.

This is the kind of hard, accurate information to spread to those who are confused and manipulated by Fox News.

[JDPriestly]

14. Yes. This tax bill pushes us over.

How in the world do our "leaders" expect us to survive now that the rich are just grabbing everything. The tax cuts for the poor and middle-classes are so small that they won't even pay most people's utility bills -- electricity heat and water.

The bill is a rotten deal for most of us, a rotten deal all the way around.

The baby-boomers paid extra into Social Security and will not be able to collect nearly the value of what they have put in. On top of that, we are heading toward a second dip in the economy and this time it will be worse. There for a while, people were starting to get jobs again. But I am not seeing an upturn any more. The tax cuts for the majority of people will not be large enough to encourage more hiring.

The rich hire and invest overseas.

[Enthusiast]

21. Yes it is.

It is a rotten deal for us. We know where Obama's heart is when he has NEVER once said that social security doesn't contribute to the deficit. This is clear. And the media assault on social security is full on. There is zero doubt in my mind that this bill will result in the eventual privatization of social security. President Obama is one of 'them'. Of this I no longer have the slightest doubt.

[Old Codger]

23. Have to remember

The "Great" depression actually didn't start when the stock market crashed, it was some time later (a year or maybe two) before we reached the brink and fell off the edge.

[midnight]

11. Yep....

[Mosaic]

12. Kicked and Recommended

People need to wake up.

[chill_wind]

13. Incredibly surreal. "Largest welfare check ever written" says it all, doesn't it ?

Socialism for the filthy rich and Ruthless Corporate Fascism for the rest of us.

[RC]

43. It's not Socialism when the rich do it

[Norrin Radd]

15. kr

[ck4829]

17. K&R

[FlyByNight]

18. "The simple answer is: follow the money."

I sure hope that "deal" President Obama "brokered" is worth potential re-election. Things are going to get a whole lot meaner the next 2 years (and on).

[xchrom]

19. Recommend

[PhillySane]

20. Socialism Benefits Society

This is not socialism. Not if you believe that society is the masses. All of us. This is micro-socialism. Oligarchy. A small group of people in the society who have a fear that they will not be able to maintain their wealth, power and grip over the rest of us. In fact, they fear and have nothing but disdain for the rest of us. So they must maintain control. At any cost. It is now quite clear that is what they are up to.

We cannot control the wealth. In fact, it doesn't really exist. It's an abstract wealth. Numbers on a computer screen. Computers they control.

We cannot control the government, because they ARE the government.

So we must take to the streets. We must refuse them our labor. We must push back against this perverse group of oligarchs. With our bodies, our minds and our love and respect for one another.

It won't be any easy fight, but together we will prevail.

[MindandSoul]

33. Excellent! Totally agree.

[Enthusiast]

22. K&R

And with full time media support the right will continue to strengthen their gains. The media is the greatest challenge. Without any semblance of media fairness we don't stand a chance. TPTB know this. This is why they made control of the media their goal clear back before the start of Reagan's first term.

[femrap]

31. And they learned to get

rid of The Draft as well. Just send the poor into battle.

[KansDem]

37. "The Draft"

You know, I've been wondering about the draft. As much as I hate to say it, having a draft gave the vast majority of people power to end war...as was the case for Vietnam.

But now we have "Blackwater." Correct me if I'm wrong, but was there such an organization during Vietnam? I don't recall...

But having private mercenaries involved in Iraq and Afghanistan eliminates the need for a draft...and our power to stop the wars.

[Enthusiast]

41. There were next to no

Blackwater-Halliburton-like private activities during the Vietnam War. Early in the Iraq War the U.S. government was leasing ordinary SUVs in Kuwait for $5,000/month. 'Cost Plus', baby! These assholes were getting rich on the backs of the tax payers. ALL the assholes had Bush Administration/right wing connections.

[femrap]

46. I don't know if we had

Private Operations in Vietnam either. At least with the Draft, rich kids were sent...and they protested....big time!

The mercenaries certainly do cost the taxpayers a bunch of money. What is Afghanistan....$325 million/day is what I heard on 'The Ed Show' this past week.

I guess No Draft + Corporate Mercenaries kills 2 birds w/ one stone. No protests and big Corporate profits.

[lonestarnot]

24. K & R

[NeonDog]

25. Don't forget to thank your favorite "SILENT" Senator.

Harry Reid (and Nancy Pelosi) could have "locked" in REAL tax reform during the last two years. Yet they chose to save tax reform until the last minute of a lame duck session when the RepubliCONs were absolutely in their strongest position.

Reid, the Senate "majority leader", is so weak that he could barely beat back a challenge from Sharron Angle. What in the hell does that say about our Democratic Senators that elected him to lead.

[CrispyQ]

26. Barack Obama is a better republican president than even Bill Clinton was.

I'll never vote for him again. I don't vote for republicans - even when they have a D behind their name.

[femrap]

32. Who is a good

primary candidate??? It's a leadership vacuum, imho.

[CrispyQ]

34. A leadership vacuum by design.

Any candidate who would actually challenge the status quo, will never be elected. Between electronic voting, Citizens United & the non-voters, the system is so corrupt & compromised, I don't see how we can possibly fix the system within the system.

[femrap]

45. Guess I'll go watch

'V is for Vendetta'....that always makes me feel better.

[alturn]

27. We have to rise up

Class division is not the future of the world. The wealthy are living on borrowed time as they plunder the world's and people's resources to maintain power and maintain the illusion that separation between humans is natural. It is up to us to stand up, say otherwise, and demand the only real way forward - sharing the world's resources, sharing among all our brothers and sisters.

"It is not only large financial institutions which are tumbling into bankruptcy, the whole world is becoming bankrupt — mentally and spiritually, said Maitreya’s associate. The world is going through a huge crisis and all the medicines have been tried and failed. Maitreya says that the tumour has got to burst open before the healing can begin, he said."

"Freedom means movement from one stage to another. You do not want to remain static. If you do, you will find the energies bursting, moving you into different directions. In order to guide yourself through obstacles, you have to believe in something and to fight for it."
- World Teacher Maitreya through an associate as reported in Share International magazine

[Poboy]

28. recommend.

[femrap]

29. K and R

The budget deficits will be balanced on the backs of the poor, working poor, the elderly who survive on Social Security, the ill, the struggling single mothers, poor children, etc.

Much worse than I expected....and I didn't expect much. He was bought and paid for from the start...so I don't know if Turncoat applies, but I'll accept it.

[WillyT]

30. K & R !!!

[texshelters]

35. The rich have risen again, and it's 1920...

Take on the season:

http://texshelters.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/twas-the-ni... /

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[killbotfactory]

36. It's called Capitalism

That's how it's always worked.

[KansDem]

38. "A turncoat president"

But Obama said he'll fight against them next time!

[valerief]

39. Everything old is new again. nt

[JJW]

40. $ 600 Billion vanished!

The $ 600 billion that the treasury called quantitative lending has already left the country and is invested in 3rd world economies.

[dionysus]

42. egads.

[bertman]

44. Rec and kick. Thanks, seafan. nt

[fascisthunter]

48. THIS is a Reality that will never allow me to forgive those involved in this