THE AUDACITY OF SELLING OUT

And it is bullshit.  Wall Street still owns Washington.  Both parties.

Just ask Robert Reich : 

The American people will continue to have to foot the bill for the mistakes of Wall Street’s biggest banks because the legislation does nothing to diminish the economic and political power of these giants. It does not cap their size. It does not resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act that once separated commercial (normal) banking from investment (casino)banking. It does not even link the pay of their traders and top executives to long-term performance. In other words, it does nothing to change their basic structure.

Or Newsweek's Robert J. Samuelson :

Ironically, the legislation may weaken the government's ability toquell future panics by restricting—in highly technical ways—the Fed'sauthority to lend to panic-stricken institutions in the midst of crisis.

The legislation has other gaps. It doesn't settle the future ofFannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federally created housing agencies whoselax practices contributed to the crisis. Nor is there much to reviveprivate-market securitization—the bundling of individual loans (homemortgages, auto loans) into bonds. This major source of credit hascollapsed, down more than 90 percent since 2006. One weakness was thatrating agencies (Moody's, Standard & Poor's) never verified thereliability of individual loans. The result: "liar loans" withinaccurate information. But the legislation doesn't require ratingagencies—or anyone—to do selective audits of individual loans. Withoutthat, investors may shun most "securitizations."

Or Arthur Leavitt: 

As a lifelong Democrat and public servant to four presidents, I had hoped the financial reform bill would be the best example of my party's long-standing reputation for standing on the side of individual investors.  It's not. The bill, already weakened by deal-making as it emerged from the Senate, has been bled dry of nearly every meaningful protection of investors.

Or Senator Russ Feingold :

“At the outset of the debate over the financial regulatory reform bill, I made clear that my test for this bill would be whether it prevents another economic crisis. Unfortunately, this bill falls short. The reckless practices of Wall Street sent our economy reeling, triggered the worst recession since the Great Depression, and left millions of Americans to foot the bill.  Despite these cataclysmic events, Washington once again caved to Wall Street on key issues and produced a bill that fails to protect the American people from the pain of another economic disaster.  I will not support a bill that fails to adequately protect the people of Wisconsin from the recklessness of Wall Street.”

Or Mark Calabria at Cato : 

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank, the bill's primary authors, would fail to end the numerous government distortions of our financial and mortgage markets that led to the crisis. Both have been either architects or supporters of those distortions. One might as well ask the fox to build the hen house.

Or John Taylor at NCRC : 

This is what happens when you allow the very industry that caused the problem to buy all the front row seats at the bargaining table. If you  at any time during this financial calamity thought - as I did - that it presented the best opportunity we've had in decades to align the interests of Wall Street with the interests of working Americans, then you can't help but feel like we fell short of that goal.

Or Dick Bove : 

“I think this is a horrible bill. I think it’s going to have a significant number of negative impacts,” Bove told Gasparino. “I think maybe 10 million people will lose their bank accounts because of it.”

“If you think about the credit card bill, what basically occurred once that bill was passed…every person in the country that has a credit card got a letter saying their interest rate was going to be raised.This is what will happen with your bank account,” Bove continued. “You will get a letter from the bank saying at this point forward, you will have to pay $12-15 a month to have a bank account. A lot of people will not be able to make that payment and they will simply leave the banking system.”

Professor Bill Black 

        

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The Dangers of a Failed Presidency

By Michael Krieger, of KAM LP

If moderation is a fault then indifference is a crime.

-Jack Kerouac

Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.

-Buddha

Having fallen from the eternal, the Evil One's desires are endless, insatiable. Having fallen from pure Being, he is driven by the desire to possess, to fill his emptiness. But the problem is insoluble, always. He is compelled to have and to hold, to possess and consume, and nothing else. All he takes, he destroys. Certainly he rules the material, as he is called the Prince of this World in the gospels - but only of the things of this world.

-Denis de Rougemont

 

I have been calling Barrack Obama’s Presidency a failure for at least six months now and it seems that I now have considerable company in this assessment as it becomes obvious to most.  It is not a failure because of the Republicans.  It is not a failure because of events beyond his control.  It is a failure because this was a man that filled a depressed and downtrodden nation with the audacity of hope.  When I voted for the man I knew it was against my personal financial interests.  It was clear what he would do with taxes.  Nevertheless, I got to the polls and voted for this fifth avenue creation thinking maybe, just maybe he might do some of the things he said.  Most important to me were two issues related to the military-industrial complex (see Eisenhower’s warning on this during his Farewell Address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY) and civil liberties.  George W Bush was turning America into a depressed police state with perpetual war and consolidation of power between a corporate oligarchy and entrenched political class.  A nation where the masses voluntarily gave up many of the liberties the founding fathers fought for merely to ease the fear that consumed them and which was propagated by the administration and the media.  I and many others that voted for him even though they disagreed strongly with his economic policies thought he would at least reverse this trend.  Why did we think this?  Cause he said so.  How foolish we were. 

That being said, the real answer was certainly not John McCain as I think we would be in just as bad shape with him.  I think that what this experience has taught us is that the President of the United States answers to others behind the scene.  There are many theories on who these others are but I will keep it very simple.  There is clearly a power elite that consists of a union between big corporate and financial oligarchs and career bureaucrats in Washington D.C.  These are the folks that pull the strings of all administrations.  All you have to do is look at the trends that have been in place since George W Bush and continue under Obama to see what these players want.  Bigger government and thus more Federal power, more wealth for the oligarchs (thank you Federal Reserve) and an erosion of the middle class, and reduction of civil liberties in the name of the 1984-like never-ending “war on terror.”  I believe in a war on terror of my own.  A war against the terror that Washington D.C. is constantly trying to inject into your head so that you sheepishly give away all you rights and power to them.  That’s my war on terror. 

Ok, so what do I mean by “The Dangers of a Failed Presidency.”  I mean that it is July of an election year and Obama’s magic spell that held sway over the American people and the world for about three months has completely washed away.  I mean that the printed money mirage recovery that we have had to tragically watch is ending and we have no job growth to speak of other than a few hundred thousand census workers.  The public has no appetite for more spending and Bernanke has no cover to print more money (yet).  As such, if people think things are in freefall now for this administration just wait and see how the next several months pan out.  This then brings me to the following quote:

The bottom line here is that Americans don’t believe in President Obama’s leadership,” says Rob Shapiro, another former Clinton official and a supporter of Mr Obama. “He has to find some way between now and November of demonstrating that he is a leader who can command confidence and, short of a 9/11 event or an Oklahoma City bombing, I can’t think of how he could do that.”

I found this quote in an FT article earlier in the week and it sent chills all over my body.  This is how the strategists in Washington D.C. think.  They are sick, twisted people.  This guy doesn’t even realize how sick and twisted what he said is which is why he said it.  Imagine what they say off the record!  You can take this quote in many different ways but none of them are good.  I am not going to say anything beyond the fact that I would be VERY suspicious if some sort of event occurred before the elections.  Google the term “false flag.”  Also remember Rahm Emmanuel’s famous quote of  “you don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.”  Think about this deeply.  This doesn’t mean do what the public wants, or follow the constitution.  It means that that those pulling the strings of power have the opportunity to do what THEY want, what fits THEIR ideology.  Hitler is the most famous modern example of a leader that used a crisis to form his fascist state.  Again, I am not talking about Obama in isolation.  I am referring to the power structure that has been firmly in place since the 9/11 attacks.  Many call it a silent coup.  I agree with this assessment. 

This email is not meant to create fear.  It is actually meant to get people ready if things get crazy for whatever reason.  It is a challenge to people.  I challenge everyone to think about how they would react should another terrorist attack or something along those lines occur.  I was there for 9/11 and I saw the buildings go down in person.  I know what it was like to be manipulated by my own government and media in the wake of such an emotional trauma.  I also see that what we have done since, with things such as the Patriot Act and two wars that are still ongoing, and I have reflected on how they have changed America for the worse and provided a fertile ground for the elite to take away more of our rights and our wealth.  So my rallying cry is that we must be strong and fearless in the face of fearful events.  In the wake of anything that may occur in the years ahead we must not react on emotion and NEVER give away our inalienable rights in the name of protection from big brother.  Be fearless, strong and resolute.  Spend more time with your neighbors and build things up at the local level.  If we have those supports then we will be less inclined to cry to the magicians in D.C. and the Federal Reserve for “help.”

Mike

        

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