My good friend JT, is in head over heels on this issue. These guys, whether you agree or not with them, deserve our support. Because NO ONE should be arrested and prosecuted for peaceful demonstration in this country. Ever.
Tag Archive for corporate fraud
The Hypocrisy is deafening…
Category: Politics /
Tags: corporate fraud, Daily Show, economics, fight plutocracy, Greed, jon stewart, Mitt Romney, politics, tax inequality, the daily show
Well, please allow me to retort…
I came across this op-ed piece by a supposed economics professor named Bradley Schiller this morning. It has been sticking in my craw all day ever since. His piece comically misses the mark on so many points, I honestly didn't know where to start.
After some stewing, I decided to reply to it directly. As if I were debating somebody on a Facebook, Huffpost, or web forum thread. It just seems to be the most appropriate way to respond. So here it goes. His statements are quoted and italicized, followed by my responses, item by item.
By Bradley Schiller
Sun Dec 4 2011 12:00 AM
"The class war is on. It's the 99% of "us" versus the 1% of "them."
In the rhetoric of this war, we are fighting the 1% because they possess most of the nation's wealth, bankroll their handpicked political candidates, control the banks and get million-dollar paychecks and billion-dollar bailouts; yet they don't pay enough taxes or invest their wealth in creating American jobs. They're the "millionaires and billionaires" President Obama has called out as needing to pony up more for progressive reforms of our healthcare, banking, tax and political systems. They are the enemy of "us" — the 99% who toil at low-wage jobs, hold underwater mortgages, face foreclosures, suffer recurrent and protracted job layoffs and plant closings, and yet pay our fair share of taxes."
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Need a clear explanation about that $7.7 trillion thing?
Fine, here you go. Given by none other than Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Yes, an avowed liberal. But someone who always seems to be going for the truth, no matter where it may lie ideology-wise.
I've been reading up a bit on the double-talk being given on both sides of the aisle regarding this whole shitstorm that's been raised since this story broke last week. Needless to say, there's not a lot that pols on either side are willing to say about it. The GOP is particularly mum. To me, that's no suprise. It's clear all involved in this particular scam were simply not counting on this secret ever being exposed. Congress didn't even know about it until last week. What's more, it was almost an accident the way they found out about it. Turns out that the big six banks couldn't really account for the source of the almost $14 billion that they actually PROFITED from the whole scheme.
Considering that these "secret loans", raises the stakes of the terms of the bailout by no less than ONE THOUSAND TIMES, there should be no less that multiple in corresponding outrage. I've got more to post, so while I'm doing that, just check out the video...
Ok, this is bad…
Naomi Wolf, a prominent author/journalist, who herself was arrested during the OWS protests, releases a BEYOND SCATHING piece covering the now obviously-orechestrated crackdowns on the various "Occupy" demonstrations and protests in respective cities. It's not at all surprising why she chose to have it published in the UK paper "The Guardian". Her findings sheds incredible new light and a fairly sickening explanation for the actions of the various police agencies involved. It is very odd to see that the distinctions being made in their behaviors, versus their relative inaction during the various TP demonstrations that have happened nationwide, as I have stated in my previous commentary.
With the findings she cracks open, the upper echelons of the US government have some serious explaining to do. All the way up to and including Obama's desk:
The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy
The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class's venality
Naomi Wolf
guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 November 2011 12.25 EST
US citizens of all political persuasions are still reeling from images of unparallelled police brutality in a coordinated crackdown against peaceful OWS protesters in cities across the nation this past week. An elderly woman was pepper-sprayed in the face; the scene of unresisting, supine students at UC Davis being pepper-sprayed by phalanxes of riot police went viral online; images proliferated of young women – targeted seemingly for their gender – screaming, dragged by the hair by police in riot gear; and the pictures of a young man, stunned and bleeding profusely from the head, emerged in the record of the middle-of-the-night clearing of Zuccotti Park.
A good read, and some thoughts…
Came across this great post by David Suzuki via a FB friend. It's definitely an enlightening read. He discusses the need to take into account the current state of affairs regarding the plundering of the US economy. And how it will weigh on future generations.
His post raises several valid points. It is incumbent on us to take the cost of the current economic state of affairs VERY seriously. Not just now, but in the future. And yes, the younger generations have every right to be pissed off at how bad things are in the US. He is also right about corporations doing whatever it takes to maximize profit, including exploiting poorer countries' labor pools, mismanaging public resources, and dodging their responsibilities.
Read moreAn excellent Rolling Stone piece…
A very sobering piece by Tim Dickinson, concerning how even the old-school republicans (including Reagan) understand that the rich have to pay more taxes in order for the economy and government to work. He highlights the brazen stupidity that pervades the party today, even to the chagrin of its members who can still think logically. And worse, how corporate America finds it gets more bang for its buck by investing in Washington rather in what should be doing, like R&D and new and better products.
By Tim Dickinson
November 9, 2011 7:00 AM ET
The nation is still recovering from a crushing recession that sent unemployment hovering above nine percent for two straight years. The president, mindful of soaring deficits, is pushing bold action to shore up the nation's balance sheet. Cloaking himself in the language of class warfare, he calls on a hostile Congress to end wasteful tax breaks for the rich. "We're going to close the unproductive tax loopholes that allow some of the truly wealthy to avoid paying their fair share," he thunders to a crowd in Georgia. Such tax loopholes, he adds, "sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing, while a bus driver was paying 10 percent of his salary – and that's crazy."
Please… let this be only the beginning….
So since first posting about the subject of changing the game, in sync with countless other groups and movements all over the inter-verse, some big and hopefully IRREVERSIBLE changes are happening. In just October alone, according the ABC report linked below, 1 million bank customers have closed their accounts and moved their money to local community banks and credit unions. An estimated $4.5 BILLION in deposits! This is absolutely unprecedented. It's not just individuals either. Small and medium-sized businesses are moving their money out of the "Big Six" commercial banks as well.
ABC News piece on Youtube (new window will open)
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If you’re still a Wells Fargo customer after reading this, you’re an idiot.
Wells Fargo Has Blood on Its Hands: Desperate Man Commits Suicide After Shocking Foreclosure Mistreatment
By Dave Johnson, AlterNet
Posted on May 15, 2012
Norman and Oriane Rousseau were one more couple pushed by a huge, greedy bank to the brink of homelessness. On Sunday, desperate and with nowhere to go, Norman Rousseau shot himself.
This is the story of what happens when an average couple is up against a giant, wealthy, powerful bank. Unfortunately the result is what the result always is when people are on their own against the wealthy and powerful: the bank ends up with all of their money, takes their house to sell and throws them out onto the street. In this case the bank is Wells Fargo.
The quick version of this terrible story is that Norman and Oriane Rousseau of Newbury Park, California were scammed into a predatory mortgage. But they made their payments anyway, always paying with a cashier’s check in person at the same branch. Then one day the bank misapplied their payment and said they still owed the money. This started a long, nasty process that led to the bank evicting the Rousseaus from their home. Read on…