I am tired of Big Oil and Wall Street running Washington.

[Octafish]

US foreign policy advances the interests of big business and the wealthy at the expense of democracy abroad.

US domestic policy serves the wealthy and big business at the expense of democracy at home.

Fewer and fewer politicians stand up for We the People anymore. The politicians and their backers have gamed the system to serve the Military Industrial Complex and its owners.

If you need a link, please let me know. I’ll be happy to oblige.

Most importantly: Please let me know your thoughts and comments.

[Donnachaidh]

1. I watched Inside Job the day before yesterday

And found myself wondering if we should really be packing to move the family to Canada.

All this jubiliation about killing a Saudi terrorist seems to be yet another pair of shiny objects to draw attention away from the FACT that this government has NO INTENTIONS to go after the banksters, or others who are destroying our democracy and pillaging the bones of this country.

Obama's administration is packed with the same people who CAUSED the problems. Period. This totally negates all the *historic* crap he's supposedly done.

[Skittles]

2. CORRECT

they still have failed to even BEGIN to address what really ails America

[Donnachaidh]

8. I suspect, if anything, they are silently applauding the continued rape of America

When you give a heroin addict that MUCH access to a pharmacy supply store, what can you expect?

And those who could use the bully pulpit to even make the attempt to look like they are trying are probably hard at work at the *legacy* they plan to present as they join the official *American President's Club* which is a club most likely owning many offshore accounts with money paid into it for *looking the other way*...

I very MUCH include Bill Clinton in this club, too.

[ixion]

18. Exactly. 20 Trillion + in CDO's and other toxic assets floating around still

and yet what are we concerned about? Oh yeah! We killed some guy half way across the planet! Woohoo!!

[Enthusiast]

53. They won't even acknowledge

what ails America. It doesn't exist.

[Octafish]

6. It was the largest heist in history.

Politicians held the bank doors open for the robbers making their getaway.

And I agree with every word you wrote above, Donnachaidh.

[Hotler]

27. Why is justice afraid to go after the financial crimes?

Is it bacause the crimes goes very deep and wide into the PTB???? I have always wondered what shit do they have on Obama that keeps him so tame. He talked some go smack before Denver then after that it was now is not the time to point fingers. What's up with that??

[Octafish]

33. Core question, yours. Let's call for Dr. Black...

The people in office at Justice face a Herculean task of investigating and prosecuting interconnected boards, intermarried families and international banks.

Consider how all the un-doing of the post-Wall Street reforms goes to Reagan's first days, 30 years ago, which culminated with the Savings and Loan debacle, a predecessor to the recent Wall Street multi-trillion dollar giveaway, with the exact same class and many of the same individuals directly profiting.

Our elected and their appointed officials know that their government job is temporary and they'll have to put an app in at the same warmongering corporations and Wall Street financial houses they've been supposed to regulate.

My own belief is the corruption runs so deep and vast that it would require a super team of trained FBI specialists, led by Dr. William Black and backed by the full powers of Congress, the Courts and the Executive to clean out. The tentacles of the problem, as made obvious by the likes of Jack Abramoff and Randall "Duke" Cunningham, extend from Congress to the Pentagon and to the private sector -- ann all too many points in-between.

[Amonester]

66. The full powers of Congress, yes, but since (most of) Congress is....

bought and paid for by the multi-trillion felons, there is no way that will ever happen, absent a nation-wide general strike, and even then.

[Enthusiast]

55. Again, they hardly

acknowledge these financial crimes even exist.

[2banon]

62. excellent article

thanks for posting the link.. :thumbsup:

[readmoreoften]

40. Exactly. If you look at the insiders it becomes clear that his presidency is irrelevant at best.

A dangerous continuation of bankster/capitalist rule at worst.

[socialist_n_TN]

3. Well, my thoughts are that we won't be able to

change capitalists running the system, until we change the system. I'm sure a lot of the apologists will disagree, but their arguments are weak when we have 60+% of the population supporting Left or leftish positions on issues, YET THESE POSITIONS DON'T EVEN MAKE IT TO THE NEGOTIATIONS.

Until we change the system the tail WILL wag the dog.

[Octafish]

10. Bernie Sanders, socialist, is one of the few to stand up for economic justice.

Thank goodness he's in the Senate. Sen. Sanders has been able to lift the veil on The Fed and how it serves big capital -- even the spouses.

The Real Housewives of Wall Street: Why is the Federal Reserve forking over $220 million in bailout money to the wives of two Morgan Stanley bigwigs?

[socialist_n_TN]

12. Yeah thank God for Bernie........

Funny how there is ONE centrist I can make a united front with. :)

[Jackpine Radical]

64. yeah, proof that there ARE still a few centrists remaining.

[socialist_n_TN]

67. I'm glad we agree Jack......

:)

[SOS]

4. Powerful financial interests

own and operate the US for their own profit and benefit.
It's been a slow, steady, quiet takeover of the nation.

We the People, in order to form a more perfect Union, must reclaim the Congress to represent our interests.

Otherwise we'll soon be playing Rollerball

[Octafish]

19. ''Money trumps peace...uh, sometimes.'' -- George Walker Bush

Video of him saying it on Valentine's Day, 2007.

I remember Cindy Sheehan tried to bring it to our nation's attention.

[Shagbark Hickory]

5. Whatta u gonna do about it, tough guy? Go Libya on their asses?

Didn't think so.

[Octafish]

20. War seems to be their approach to all our problems. Mine is to use the Truth.

I agree with the Founders, who wrote that Congress shall make no law prohibiting freedom of speech, religion and the Press. It's what's needed to ensure democracy and a functioning republic.

Here's a piece from 1959 by Sen. Prescott Bush, published in Reader's Digest, that contains the "might makes right" perspective. It was called: "To Preserve Peace, Let’s Show the Russians How Strong We Are." It's not available online, but I transcribed it from a copy in the lie-bury:

To Preserve Peace Let’s Show the Russians How Strong We Are

By Prescott Bush
U.S. Senator from Connecticut;
member of the Senate Armed Services Committee
The Reader’s Digest July 1959

MAN’S GREATEST danger, it is said, is ignorance. In a very real sense, the Soviet Union’s ignorance of our military strength may be the source of her gravest peril—and ours. Kaiser Wilhelm started World War I because he miscalculated Allied power. Hitler, mistakenly thinking he could blitz the world, launched World War II. Kruschev today lacks firsthand knowledge of our country; he may be given what others think he would like to hear—rather than an objective report on our actual military strength. Although it seems impossible that any sane person could start a war, we would be wise to take no chances.

Why not invite the Soviet high command to the United States for a conducted tour of our military might? We are bringing Russians to see our farms and factories, our scientific laboratories and research centers; we exchange dancers and musicians. Why not have their military leaders over for the most beneficial look of all? Our expressed policy, the aim and purpose of our entire defense system, is to deter the Kremlin from starting a war. What better way to deter than to show?

What we could show is nothing more nor less than the greatest military might ever assembled in the history of the world. If the Soviet high command could see what we have, they should be of our mind—that for them to start war today would be an act of insanity.

We could start in a Pentagon briefing room. There, with maps, globes, films and sound-projection equipment to help illustrate our points, we could give them a good hard look at the distribution of American power. Then we could fly the group to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Montana, where bombers of the Strategic Air Command are on 24-hour alert, many ready to take off within 15 minutes. We could see an awe-inspiring line of B-47’s, any one of which can, in a single mission, deliver explosive power equivalent to that of all the bombs dropped by all sides in World War II. We could invite the commander of the Soviet air force to ride in one of these planes, and see it refueled in the air, thus quietly demonstrating that, while most Soviet bombers would have to fly one-way missions, ours can strike any target in the world and return nonstop.

SNIP...

It’s fortunate for them that we want only peace with justice. Our entire record attests to that. We have no history of aggression, profess no desire for world domination, as do the Communists. Only by their continued menace have we been forced to take these measures for defense.

I ASK, “Why don’t we show the Russians many of these defense measures?” What I would not show them is any self-satisfaction on our part about the future, any slowing-up of plans to produce the new weapons which must inevitably take the place of the old ones. I believe we are in a continuing struggle to keep on top in this business of declaring war. I think that the Russians are never to be underrated. I also believe that the Communists are master bluffers that they seek to put us off by arrogant threats to Berlin and to the peace of the far Pacific, and, while our people are preoccupied with these threats, they may try to take over Iraq as the Chinese Reds have conquered Tibet.

CONTINUES…

The Reader’s Digest
July 1959 pp. 25-30

Small world. Too small for war.

Anyone who wants a copy of the full article, PM me.

[Autumn]

7. K/R I'm sick of them controlling our government and

screwing over the American people. Those politicians? We are parasites to them, until they want our vote just to keep up the facade of their jobs. They are there to feather their own nest. We Don't Matter To Them.

[Octafish]

23. One family's been mixing the public business with theirs for generations.

They've got a lot of friends in high places. Good thing some in academia won't sell out their integrity.

The Bush Family: A Continuing Criminal Enterprise?

Gary W. Potter, PhD.
Professor, Criminal Justice
Eastern Kentucky University

The S&Ls, the Mob and the Bushs

During the 1980's hundred of Savings and Loan Banks failed. Those bank failures cost U.S. taxpayers over $500 billion to cover federally insured losses, and much more to investigate the bank failures (Pizzo, Fricker, and Muolo, 1989; Brewton, 1992; Johnston, 1990). More than 75% of the Savings and Loan insolvencies where directly linked to serious and often criminal misconduct by senior financial insiders (Pizzo, Fricker and Muolo, 1989: 305). In fact, less than 10 percent of bank failures are related to economic conditions, the rest are caused by mismanagement or criminal conduct (Pizzo, Fricker and Muolo, 1989: 305).

A good example of the Savings and Loan failures can be found in the activities of Mario Renda, a Savings and Loan insider who often worked in close collaboration with organized crime (Pizzo, Fricker and Muolo, 1989: 123-126;302). Renda served as a middle man in arranging about $5 billion a year in deposits into 130 Savings and Loans, all of which failed (Kwitny, 1992: 27). Many of these deposits were made contingent on an agreement that the Savings and Loan involved would lend money to borrowers recommended by Renda, many of whom were organized crime figures or people entirely unknown to the banking institution involved (Kwitny, 1992: 27).

Equally good examples of financial misconduct in the Savings and Loan scandal is found in the activities of the Bush family. In some cases Bush family members helped skim Savings and Loan funds which were delivered to outsiders as a part of deals involving lucrative payoffs to bank directors. In other cases, members of the Bush family intervened to influence decisions involving highly speculative and unsound investments involving loans that would not be repaid if the venture was not profitable. And finally, the Bush family’s political connection served to protect those guilty of misconduct in the Savings and Loan scandal (Kwitny, 1992: 24).

Neil Bush: Taking Down Silverado

SNIP...

Jeb Bush: Influence Peddling for a “Bust-Out” Scam

But, Neil Bush was not the only Bush brother involved in the Savings and Loan collapses. Jeb Bush’s, the current Governor of Florida, curious relationship with Miguel Recarey is another illustration. Recarey was a long-time business associate of Tampa organized crime figure Santos Trafficante. Recarey also fled the U.S. facing three separate indictments for labor racketeering, illegal wiretapping and Medicare fraud (Freedburg, 1988: A1). Recarey’s business, International Medical Centers, was the largest health maintenance organization for the elderly in the U.S. and had been supported from $1 billion in payments from the Medicare program. International Medical Centers went bankrupt in 1988 (Freedburg, 1988: A1; Royce and Shaw, 1988: 4). When International Medical Centers went under it left $222 million in unpaid bills and was under investigation for $100 million in Medicare fraud (Freedbrug, 1988: A1; Frisby, 1992: G1). The U.S. Office of Labor Racketeering in Miami referred to Recarey and his company as “the classic case of embezzlement of government funds ... “a bust-out operation” (Freedburg, 1988: A1)

Jeb Bush’s role in this saga being in 1985 when Recarey’s attempt to create his “bust-out scam” corporation ran into a federal regulation that said no HMO could get more that 50% of its revenue from Medicare (Freedburg, 1988: A1; Royce and Shaw, 1988: 4). Jeb Bush intervened on Recarey’s behalf with Helath Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler and one of her top aides. Convincing them to waive the regulation in the case of Recarey’s company (Freedburg, 1988: A1; Royce and Shaw, 1988: 4). In addition to Jeb Bush’s intervention, Recarey had paid $1 million to senior Republican lobbyists in Washington, who were also working the staff of Health and Human Services in pursuance of a waiver (Freedburg, 1988: A1; Royce and Shaw, 1988: 4). In addition, Jeb Bush had contacted Secretary Heckler earlier about complaints from doctors over the quality of International Medical Centers’ care and allegations that Recarey had embezzled funds form another hospital (Royce and Shaw, 1988: 4). Jeb Bush told an aide to Secretary Heckler that “contrary to any rumors that were floating around concerning Mr. Recarey, that he was a solid citizen from Mr. Bush’s perspective down there , that he was a good community citizen and a good supporter of the Republican Party” (Royce and Shaw, 1988: 4).

CONTINUED...

http://critcrim.org/critpapers/potter.htm

To them, We the People are mpes to exploit, mere problems to overcome. Thank you for caring about our situation, Autumn.

[Autumn]

26. Thank you Octafish, for keeping a light on these

bloodsucking vampires.

[Enthusiast]

56. PLUS ONE...............nt

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. It has gone from Of the People, By the People and For the People to...

Of the Corporation, By the Corporation and For the Corporation or Of the Rich, By the Rich and For the Rich. It's perverse. Too many peopled died Tin wars in history for this to be allowed to happen. I doubt when George Washington was fighting in the Revolutionary War he was thinking, "you know, some day, this country will be run by corporations, by profit, ruining the environment for short term profits, long term sustainability be damned! Someday, people like the king we're fighting against will take over and make this country into a fascist theocracy. I can't wait!" Yeah, no.
Duckie

[socialist_n_TN]

13. Ah, don't wimp out........

:) Call it what it IS. Of the capitalists, by the capitalists, and (more importantly) FOR the capitalists.

We've got to be able to call a spade a spade, if we're going to try and fix it.

[Octafish]

25. Friendly Fascism

Thank you for putting in words, YellowRubberDuckie.
That is exactly how I feel about the situation.
My family arrived here before the Revolution.
Members of each generation have fought to gain our freedom and keep it.
I cannot stand these gangsters traitors who've fixed the system for their benefit.



A friend of mine's professor wrote on how things got this way -- before Pruenface Reagan: "Friendly Fascism" by Bertram Gross

[L0oniX]

11. There's nothing anyone can do about it anymore.

[socialist_n_TN]

14. Maybe, maybe not.........

But I'm not one for giving up. If it's die on my feet or live on my knees, I know which one I choose. And I'll go down fighting.

[Octafish]

32. Well, they're still prosecuting NAZIs all these years later.

It'd only be fair to go after their kindred spirits operating at full effect in the present day.

[autorank]

15. k*r You want my thoughts?;)

The Money Party is a small group of enterprises and individuals who have most of the money in this country. They use that money to make more money. Controlling who gets elected to public office is the key to more money for them and less for us. As 2008 approaches, The Money Party is working hard to maintain its perfect record.

It is not about Republicans versus Democrats. Right now, the Republicans do a better job taking money than the Democrats. But The Money Party is an equal opportunity employer. They have no permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interests. Democrats are as welcome as Republicans to this party. It’s all good when you’re on the take and the take is legal.

This is not a conspiracy theory. There are no secret societies or sinister operators. This party is up front and in your face. Just follow the money. One percent of Americans hold 33% of the nation’s wealth. The top 10% hold 72% of the total wealth. The bottom 40% of Americans control only 0.3% (three tenths of one percent). And that was before pay day loans. Sept 2007 http://tinyurl.com/3ozg5lf

[socialist_n_TN]

17. And THAT'S why it's a dictatorship.........

Marx called it a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. It's a SYSTEM that needs to be overturned.

Democrat or Republican doesn't matter much in ECONOMIC terms. Dems are better in the social issue areas, because the social issues DISTRACT the working class/poor from their ECONOMIC slavery.

[Octafish]

34. I'd pay for yours, Mr. C.

As we've seen and learned: We are nothing to them.



Jah sent you hear to catch vampire.

Wish there more like you.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blindpig]

21. We'll need to take over govenment and expropriate the capitalist

Only way the job will get done.

Capitalism cannot be compromised with, the destruction of the New Deal programs as we watch illustrates this, nothing short of a stake thru the heart will keep this vampire from coming back.

[SDuderstadt]

22. LOL! n/t

[socialist_n_TN]

29. Word!......

A stake through the heart is the only way the capitalist class will give up power.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

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

[mmonk]

24. Me too. But there is no way to get rid of it currently.

It will be up to another generation if they are able.

[Ikonoklast]

28. The MIC needs oil. Big Oil needs the MIC.

The single biggest user of refined petroleum products on this planet is the U.S. DoD.

Big Oil needs the DoD to pacify governments that they can't buy off.

The MIC needs Big Oil or the expensive war machines can't go.


Until the backs of one or the other is broken, our foreign policy and government is beholden to both.

[Octafish]

35. Excactly, Ikonoklast. Petro biz is bigger than all national budgets combined. You gave me an idea...

I've been visualizing the monster as a three-headed thing:
Big Oil. Big Money. Big Power.

Perhaps they are three distinct monster bodies with one head between them.
Either way, kill the head and the monster dies. And, "So long, MIC!"

It becomes clearer each day we should nationalize the Big Banks, Big Oil.
We need to do both in order to recapture Big Power, what once belonged to everybody in a democracy.

[SDuderstadt]

36. "We should nationalize the Big Banks, Big Oil"

Let us know how that goes, dude.

[Octafish]

37. Currently, they don't pay taxes and enjoy multibillion and multitrillion subsidies, sduderstadt.

"We should nationalize the Big Banks, Big Oil" -- Octafish

"Let us know how that goes, dude." -- sduderstadt

Most of the taxes Wall Street, the MIC and the oil companies avoid paying comes from working folks.

I really don't know why you'd think it would be a bad idea to shift the load onto the freeloaders in the most profitable industries that benefit the fewest of shareholders. Dude.

[SDuderstadt]

38. NONE of the banks or oil companies pay taxes...

dude?

Care to back that up?

And, I wasn't addressing the issue of paying taxes. I was chuckling at your "nationalization" notion. I'd also love to hear proof of the "multi-trillion dollar" subsidies.

Too funny!

[Octafish]

39. Laugh all you want, sduderstadt. The big fish avoid taxes and benefit from US taxpayer subsidies.

Don't you watch TV?

[SDuderstadt]

41. A loan isn't a "subsidy"...

dude.

From your own source:

All the loans were backed by collateral and all were paid back with a very low interest rate to the Fed -- an annual rate of between 0.5% to 3.5%.

How anyone can confuse a loan that gets
Beyond that, your claim was that big banks and big oil pay NO taxes. Can you back that up or not, dude?

[Octafish]

43. It is when you make money off it, sduderstadt.

Even a couple of spouses made millions off the bailouts:

The Real Housewives of Wall Street

Question: Why do always seem to take management's side, sduderstadt?

[SDuderstadt]

44. Overnight loans aren't....

bailouts, dude. Maybe you should research the term "overnight loans". Beyond that, you claimed "multi-trillion dollar subsidies". Can you back that up or not?

As far as taking "management's side", post some facts and I'll take your side, dude. However, when you post falsehoods, I'm not going to defend you no matter who the target is.

[Octafish]

47. Whatever you say, sduderstadt. The truth is, crony capitalism runs the show.

What the experts say: "The defining characteristic of crony capitalism is the ability of favored elites to loot with impunity and the failure of regulators to do their jobs." -- William K. Black

Why CEOs Avoided Getting Busted in Meltdown

[SDuderstadt]

51. I say accuracy is good...

dude.

You ought to try it sometime.

[blindpig]

59. Sometimes capitalists are cronies, sometimes not...

but they remain capitalists. I don't see any difference. The former are a bit more unseemly but otherwise just as exploitative.

[Enthusiast]

57. Good point.

Thanks for reminding us.

[Ichingcarpenter]

31. I agree

I just posted this picture for

[Octafish]

42. Dude! That poor kid.

Speaking of poor, here's who got us that way...



Speaking of Al, remember his chum, Bernie?

If the former chairman of NASDAQ is a crook, who's to say what part of Wall Street isn't crooked?. I wonder whatever happened to that guy?

[2banon]

63. good response for Dude

poor kid is right.. defenders for these vampire thieves and thugs employing juevenile memes need to sit in the corner and have alook at what's actually going on in the real world.

[Initech]

45. Washington DC: a wholly owned subsidiary of Exxon-Mobil

I like how my phone's autocorrect feature changed Exxon to Excon. :rofl:

[Octafish]

46. Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

After all their oil washed up on the shores of Valdez Harbor -- wrecking the health and livelihoods, environment, animal and plant life, and just about everything else -- the United States courts saw fit to provide, in most every way possible, justice to the company. And to top it off, they get out of paying federal income taxes. What a country!

[HCE SuiGeneris]

48. K & R

[maryf]

49. K&R

We need to stop the capitalists before they go any further, the people, heck all life, can't afford them anymore...

[Hubert Flottz]

50. Well then get out there and vote!

Maybe it will really be counted some day.

[socialist_n_TN]

60. Not that I discurage voting..............

But we are going to need extra electoral action to change this.

And IMO, we're going to need a SYSTEM change.

[Time for change]

52. I think the bottom line is that bribery of public officials is legal in our country

And the bribe money is then translated into votes through use of communications media.

As long as that situation persists, we will have a plutocracy, not a democracy.

How can a country that allows almost unlimited bribery of its public officials be considered a democracy? Until enough Americans recognize the system for what it is, it will remain entrenched.

[woo me with science]

54. I am tired of a government that gropes people at the airport

and a health care system that drives people into bankruptcy....

...and nobody in power who seems to actually care about these things.

[nxylas]

58. Well, vote them out then

Just kidding. If only that were possible.

[90-percent]

61. What do we do about it?

Do it Zappa's way

1. Don't stop
2. Keep Going

Those of us in the bottom 98% that are aware and capable of critical thinking have a citizenship type obligation to engage as many people in our lives as possible and tell them what's really going on. Like 21st century Paul Revere's using social networking sites instead of riding around on those scary horses.

My bumper stickers are obsolete and removed, but I'm going to get more and the occasional thumbs up were worth it. I rarely if ever got any negative reaction on the road.

I'm in between jobs and I need to tread carefully before I do it again. I don't want to get fired over bumper stickers. I'm on to my third job in three years and at 57 it's very frightening to be w/o a job.

-90% Jimmy

[Patchuli]

65. I believe the tide is turning

I think Americans are waking up (by the footage from the march on Wall Street) and we must remember, these bankers are the few and we are the many. We can kick their asses collectively. It's time, people.