No Republican debate is complete anymore without the crowd booing the downtrodden
By louisehartmann
Republicans fought it out last night in a CNN hosted debate in Las Vegas. Before the debate – about 100 Occupy Las Vegas demonstrators surrounded the Sands Expo Center where the debate was being held to protest corporate corruption in our politics. But their message didn’t make it inside the debate – where all the candidates on stage battled each other to see who supports the 1% the most. It was a lot of the same – a debate over who will cut taxes more for the wealthy and for corporations – who will cut more regulations that keep our air, water, and food safe – and who would repeal Obamacare first.
Some of the most heated exchanges of any debate so far took place between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry over illegal immigration and whether or not Romney hired illegal immigrants for yard work at his home. And of course – no Republican debate is complete anymore without the Conservative crowd stepping in to boo the downtrodden and discriminated. That happened when Herman Cain – referring to the Occupy Wall Street movement – again said unemployed people should blame themselves for not having a job – leading the audience to cheer wildly. I hope the million people who applied for a job at McDonalds earlier this year – when there were only 60,000 positions - were listening to Herman Cain tell them it was their own fault they're out of work. There are five unemployed people for every one job opening in America today.
So - no matter how much Republicans insist it is - it’s not the fault of the jobless that big corporations moved their jobs overseas – it’s the politicians who’ve pushed Reaganomics and so-called Free Trade over the last 30 years – and sabotaged economic stimulus over the last 3 years. And many of those politicians were on the stage in last night’s Republican debate.
Comments
#2
This article was at the very bottom of the last forum and I did not want it lost. Teneraansis has explained very well that which need be done. As always we must focus on the solution after having realised the problem at its root core..- Cygnus1
By Teneraansis
I feel the need to add to this post of mine one more thing: THE INTERNATIONAL MONEY ORDER IS GLOBAL PUBLIC PROPERTY! All people of this planet must use it to survive. All have need of it to even exist! Anyone having no money might as well be dead!! And those who indeed have none, have also lost their right to life, which by all international standards of rights and dignity of the human being is (on paper at least) guaranteed and allegedly protected. THE GLOBAL FUNCTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONEY ORDER OF TODAY DENIES ALL WHICH IS SACRED TO BEING A MEMBER OF EARTH'S HUMAN FAMILY!
The only possible conclusion from this reality is the fact that in light of it THE GLOBAL MONEY SYSTEM DOES NOT BELONG TO THE 1%'ers of this world to enrich themselves only, IT BELONGS INDEED TO ALL OF US!! Therefore no group which calls itself "privileged" or "distinct from the rest (the "rest" in this case meaning the majority 99%'ers) can rightfully claim ownership of all of this world's money - just because they have created it "by the stroke of a pen".
Well then, what are we, the 99%'ers, going to do about it? WE WILL REMOVE THE 1%'ers OUT OF THEIR POSITIONS OF POWER WHICH THEY HAVE ALWAYS ABUSED AGAINST THE NATURAL INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE! We will use our militaries and police forces to do this in conjuction with all intelligence information provided by the people as well as the people's national security offices. The term "National Security" from now on will mean: SECURITY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION!
The positions becoming vacant at that point must temporarily be filled with men and women of intelligence and purity, uncorruptable and honourable, patriots to peace and happiness of all people, men and women worthy of holding that kind of position of public trust, people who understand that money is public property and as such not to be controlled for destructive purposes!
After we, the people, have accomplished this simple feat, we then shall implement new ideas for even greater happiness of all people.
#3
Thought to unravel :
There is no power accessible to living and staying alive greater than living the ability to live and stay alive.
Personal opinion.
So long as I live, the Devil in me is my servant defending me from the Devil in Others.
Between Devils, I am surprised that I am still alive let alone the fact that your still around.
So far so good.
#4
Thom: You keep repeating the same errant information, and you did it again yesterday. The American taxpayer is NOT ahead in the takeover of General Motors (aka Government Motors). To come out EVEN the U.S. taxpayer needs to have his or her shares, that the government bought, sell for about $53.00/share. It is currently trading at $23.25/share. How are we, the taxpayer, anywhere near even? We are never goint to recover from this "bailout" and you know it.
#5
Stonesphear, the negative or wicked forces, which you call the devil, join together with each other like a giant magnet, wherever they find each other. That wickedness is never enjoined with the good in mankind in order to ward off the evil or wickedness in another. In other words: A man or woman who is "good" will never take on the presence of wickedness in order to fight those who are wicked. That is a contradiction of a sorts. The "devil," as you call it, will always make subservient, mankind, and never the opposite. That is precisely why this planet is in constant and total chaos, with the wicked 1% and their sincere followers keeping secrets of their powers away from the people, such as the positive creation of money for the benefit of all, which of course is called "quantitative easing", a word we need all remember and become well familiarized with.Instead the wicked utilize "quantitative easing" for their own benefit and power in creating wars for example and using your sons and daughters as their tools for their own self-centered purposes.
Wickedness never allows for soul progression therefore wherever you have a societal structure this type of immature soul adds nothing positive of any importance, but rather continues to wallow in a stream of self importance ignoring the needs and wants of all those around him or her.
In your thought to unravel: Keeping alive is indeed the most important personal task of any individual who wishes to bring to the people, that which the 1% insists should not be brought, a task which in most cases takes great fortitude and determination.
You liberally speak of the "devil" in you. I highly doubt that you fall into the category of having as you say a devil within you.
#6
Some idealogys regard nature as a trickster which we all must deal with as such. Other Ideaologys attempt to sort nature out in terms of good and evil.
For me the notion of "GOD" is inseperable from an embeded "trickster" in nature.
Others regard the "trickster" as the Devil and the embodyment of "Evil"
When I speak of the "Devil" I speak to them on thier terms as one "Devil" to another.
#7
What happened to yesterday's blog...all the comments were from June or July...can't remember which...but they were not current. What was the snafu...were you hacked?
Anyway, glad to see we are back to normal (whatever "normal" is).
#8
Thanks for the lead-in on the Social Security. There is no money in the fund and you know it. It was borrowed years ago. Please stop pretending there is a pile of cash sitting somewhere waiting to pay us. Bonds must be sold to cover this fund.
Slightly outdated information because of current lower interest rates but compensated for by lower salary rates.
Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only $30K over your working life, that's close to $220,500.
If you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer's contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the govt. pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working (that was me) you'd have $892,919.98. If you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years (until you're 95 if you retire at age 65) and that's with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you'd have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month.
A little better than what we have now thank you very much.
#9
Cynus1: Thanks! I think I look good in bold. But you are saying some very powerful things yourself. Keep it up!
Thom: "So - no matter how much Republicans insist it is - it’s not the fault of the jobless that big corporations moved their jobs overseas – it’s the politicians who’ve pushed Reaganomics and so-called Free Trade over the last 30 years – and sabotaged economic stimulus over the last 3 years. And many of those politicians were on the stage in last night’s Republican debate."
Yes, this is very true...but, Obama and some of the Democrats are not much better...in fact..maybe worse...because they pretend to be speaking for the downtrodden...the victims...and trying to blame it all on the Republicans. Well, they are not going to get away with it this time. The Democrats preach false hope and tell us lies and will continue to stab us in the back after they are re-elected...and they will say "see there, the people must think we are the better choice and our (pro-ruling elite and anti-labor) policies are "supported by the people". The Democrats had their chance and blew it...their actions showed them up for what they really are...insincere, greedy blowhards who are playing the smoke and mirrors, bait and switch, good cop bad cop games who are selling us out to the 1%.
#10
"In the January 2011 issue of American Psychologist, the American Psychology Association (APA) dedicated 13 articles, detailing and celebrating a 117 million dollar collaboration with the US Army, called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF)."
"...the CSF program measures soldiers’ “resilience” in five core areas: emotional, physical, family, social, and spiritual. The spiritual component of the assessment contains questions written predominately for soldiers who believe in god or another deity. This means tens of thousands of nonbelievers will score poorly and be forced to use religious imagery exercises that are counter to their personal beliefs – not likely to foster resilience."
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/7-u-s-army-and-psych...
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Anyone ever see "The Men Who Stare At Goats" movie? Although..that movie had more to do with Remote Viewing...than forced proselytization and hypocrisy...thou shalt not kill..unless, of course, god wills it! smirk, smirk!
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"The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda."
"...will allow one US serviceman and woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world."
"The multiple persona contract is thought to have been awarded as part of a program called Operation Earnest Voice (OEV), which was first developed in Iraq as a psychological warfare weapon against the online presence of al-Qaida supporters and other extremists resisting the US military and political presence in Iraq."
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/2-us-military-manipu...
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"The Obama administration has quietly put into practice an ‘incomplete idea’ left over from the Bush II presidency: creating a de facto ‘presidential international assassination program.’ Court documents, evidence offered by Human Rights Watch and a special United Nations report allege that U.S citizens suspected of encouraging “terror” had been put on “death lists.”
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/3-obama-authorizes-i...
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I wonder how they define "terror"? If homeland security is being used for things like going after US citizens for things that involve beliefs, ideas, or actions that are not directly related to attacking and killing/or maiming other US citizens, or for other petty criminal things, then I guess they might not stop at some concerned citizen exercising his rights to freedom of speech.
#11
Is Anyone Dumb Enough to Believe that Obama Supports the 99%?Posted on October 17, 2011 by WashingtonsBlog
Obama Pretends He Supports the 99% … But He’s a Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing
Obama is pretending that he supports the 99%.
But Obama has raised more from Wall Street than anyone else. He is bought and paid for.
Mr. Obama has appointed the very Wall Street insiders who helped cause the financial crisis to top posts. See this, this, this and this.
He thinks that high unemployment is a good thing.
Obama – just like the other pimps in D.C. – has institutionalized fraud as an official (if unspoken) party platform.
Americans want our liberties restored, our troops brought home, and the Fed reined in. But Obama hasimplemented plans for war throughout the Middle East crafted by the Neoconservatives a decade (or more) ago, and gotten us into 7 (oops …8) wars, attacked our liberties even more than Bush and allowed the Fed to dramatically expand its powers.
Americans didn’t want bailouts, but Obama helped to facilitate trillions in direct and hidden bailouts.
Obama doesn’t support the 99%. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
As Yves Smith notes:
A saying I learned in Caracas: “A politician is someone who gets in front of a mob and tries to call it a parade.”
Note: Forget what you’ve been taught … the mainstream Democrats and mainstream Republicans are virtually identical on all core matters. Don’t fall for the old divide-and-conquer trick.
Posted in Politics / World News | 7 Comments
#12
Drew Peacock: Whether there is, or not, a pile of cash sitting in treasuries, as I believe the Social Security Admin says there is, doesn't really matter. The fact is that if the government can create money on keyboards, like they did when they bailed out those criminal bansksters and Wall Street Ponzi schemers who recklessly gambled with other people's money....they can do it again for any other reason including paying their obligation to those who contributed to Social Security. If you stick your money in a savings account, you expect the bank to make good on any withdrawals you want to make later. The bank has an obligation to pay. And if the government can force the 99% to make good on that debt, through taxation, for the bankster bailouts then the government can force the 1% to make good on bailing out the 99%. We just have to get a government that is no longer corrupt and bought off by the 1%. And that is not going to happen through the ballot box...because the election system is corrupt.
#13
DRichards: Right on! Thank you very much! This is all what we should be thinking every time we see or hear Obama. He is a disgrace to his party and to his base (those of us who voted for him based on his campaign rhetoric). But, his real base is Wall Street...all the flim flam high rollers who gamble with other people's money. Who was it...Nomi Prins who wrote the book "Other People's Money--The Corporate Mugging of America"?
#14
The Bottom line is that the more poverty I create the more enemy's I'll have to deal with.
#15
Critical Mass.
#16
The idea that you think that what Herman Cain said last night about the unemployed is 'very very ugly" is crazy to me. Now, for sure there are some qualified people out there with out jobs, but for many many people they are unemployed because they have limited skills. And the reason they lack skills is because they choose to not get them, and that IS their fault, in most cases that is. Sure it's hard sometimes, and harder for some then others but this is STILL the land of opportunity, you just have to WORK for it. I know that "W" word is hard for a lot of you lefties to grasp, but you should try it out sometime, it's actually brings about good results. BTW, that was one of the only things that Cain said last night that made any sense.
It's so funny (and sad) to hear you rail against Wall Street and to hear you support the bought and paid for by wall street war monger Obama! You want the money/lobbyists out of washington, yet you support those who receive money from lobbyists and wall street insiders. All the while calling the one man who doesn't give the time of day to a lobbyist crazy because he believes in freedom, because he wants to bring the troops home, a man that believes that American empire is bringing this country to it's financial knees. So, this then must make you Thom, pro war, pro wall street, pro poverty, and anti freedom.
You all got suckered in the hope and change of 2008, and now that you see that the new boss is the same as the old boss you still support him!?! Was it Einstein that said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Yet the idea of electing Ron Paul, the only candidate that actually presents hope or (real) change, is abhorrent to you. So, ideology is more important than what's right????? Dispicable.
#17
Can't stand to listen to lies, so I avoided watching the "debate." Why do they call these events debates? In a debate we agree on the facts then discuss how to interpret what they mean. In this format it is a free for all. You can't learn anything except that every candidate is willing, eager, to tell a bigger lie than his opponent. That is if the lie can be easily fact checked. They don't even tell lies that are difficult to refute. They seem to prefer lies that can be easily fact checked. It is as if they are in a "truth free" zone.
What is amazing is that this group of seven, including the absent Huntsman, is the best that the Republican Party has to offer. Imagine that one of these candidates is likely to become the Republican Standard Bearer. I could not imagine any one of them actually serving in the White House as Chief of State and Commander in Chief. I don't think any of them have ever visited a library, a concert, or a place where ordinary people enjoy listening to each other discuss the events of the day. It is almost as if they were from another planet.
Who won the debate? Who cares? The Republican Party lost the debate because of the poor quality of contenders. I believe some of the smart leaders have decided not to run against a popular President. They are waiting until 2016 and allowing the clowns to enjoy their 15 minutes of celebrity. I know the unemployment is still high. However, President Obama is well liked by the majority of the public. He is smart. He will have a huge war chest. He knows how to campaign and he has not even begun to fight. He can wait and allow the Republicans to beat up on each other. Whomever comes out as the "winner" will have had all his weaknesses revealed to the public. Obama will hammer those weaknesses until he is re-elected in a landslide. There is still a mountain of work ahead, but the fight has not really begun.
I expect that a big part of the Democratic plan for re-election will be to ensure that Democrats will be able to get to the polls on time and to vote when they get there. The Republicans are trying to shut the doors on Democratic voters, but they will not win. The Republican canidates are pathetic creatures who only know how to lie. Obama will reveal their weaknesses to the electorate.
#18
When that crowd that was on stage last night, lay on their death bed, they will truely know what a loser is. There were no winners last night.
#19
IF GENERAL MOTORS was not given the loan, a million plus auto and related jobs would have been lost, how much money would that cost the U.S. taxpayer in unemployment benefits? AT least with a loan , there is the possibility of being repaid, how much is repaid when over a million people are on unemployment benefits? THE big 3 auto companies share suppliers, if GM and CHRYSLER did not get the loan, suppliers wouldn't be able to make it supplying FORD alone, and very likely FORD would also have had to gone outta business, putting even more people in unemployment lines and making the economy even worse than it is now. THE WALL STREET bailout was a parting gift from the BUSH administration when it became clear that McCAIN would not win the election. THE banksters took the money and used it to enrich themselves. HOW much did that cost the taxpayers?
#20
Hey! Thom said on his show that he reads all the comments, so....
I just wanted to say that as Progressives we need to be careful not to alienate the Republicans who might be receptive to our message. There are a LOT of Republicans in the 99%. Thom talks a lot about how the party has lost its way. If we can reach the people who are receptive to the Progressive message, maybe they can be a voice for change within the Republican party and bring some sanity to the table!
I know when I have tried to listen to Fox "News" I have been immediately turned off because the term "Liberal" is used so negatively... "Liberals" believe this, "Liberals" think that, etc. Even if they had something of value to say, I wouldn't be listening anymore because they've insulted me already! I know my Republican boyfriend--who is wildly against political corruption and wants the rich to be taxed--has the same reaction when he hears Republicans or Conservatives being referred to in a generalized, negative light... and I'm quite sure he isn't the only one who feels that way.
So I think when we talk about what certain Republicans are doing, we need to be very specific. Instead of saying, "The Republicans want to keep giving tax breaks to billionaires," we should name names! "Eric Cantor and John Boehner won't even bring the jobs bill to the floor of the House!" This makes the really crazy fringe of the party stand out, allowing the moderate many to distance themselves.
There is lots of room in our Progressive Tent for Republicans, many of whom are suffering in this economy; we need to make them feel welcome.
Hopefully you'll say something about this on your show Thom because if not I'm going to have to call you! :-)
Thanks for all you do!!!
Jane
#21
No one wins when that bunch of heartless greedy nutballs gets together. There sure weren't any of those things called ideas or solutions batted around--I guess you gotta' be rich like them (or the lapdogs of the rich)--har-har.
#22
The point is, the companies, whatever they produce, cannot let them get themselves into a situation where the top executives salaries OR the company paid union benefits can break them in the event of a duwnturn in the economy. At this point in time we cannot afford to give bailouts to anyone that thinks they need them. I have a close that owns twenty three car delerships. Mostly GM. His comments all through 2008 was "Let them go under" they will rise again new and stronger than ever. I believe him.
#23
"Wall Street Ponzi schemers who recklessly gambled with other people's money...".
It takes a greedy investor as well as a greedy broker to make the deal. Those who were sucked into outlandish returns kept the ball turning. GREED cost them there investments. Had they kept making their 40%/year ROI they would never have said a word.
"And if the government can force the 99% to make good on that debt, through taxation, for the bankster bailouts then the government can force the 1% to make good on bailing out the 99%. "
So you are saying the 1%, what ever that is, should be forced to bail out the 99%? What the hell are you thinking? That is an idioitic statement.
"Whether there is, or not, a pile of cash sitting in treasuries, as I believe the Social Security Admin says there is, doesn't really matter."
The Social Security System does not say there is a pile of cash sitting there. It is Thom Hartmann that pushes that B.S. on his audience.
If the Government is forced to print more money to cover the fact they wasted it on studying underwater basket weaving the value of it is lost due to inflation. You get nothing in return.
"If you stick your money in a savings account, you expect the bank to make good on any withdrawals you want to make later."
You just made the case for private retirement savings accounts. Thank you. (very much)
BTW it is 53% that pay the income taxes for all the rest. Not 1% I am proud to be one of the 53% How about you?
#24
Palindromedary, thank you. You are most kind. Let's consider this:
The way the government writes into existence, money, with a keystroke, is in actuality done when the government sells to the Federal Reserve Bank, bonds, promising to pay the monies back with interest. The bond is actually an IOU with interest. Banks write money into existance whereas governments approve deficits. The only way this debt to the Federal Reserve will be paid back is through taxes paid by the taxpayers who never are asked to give their consent to running government deficits in the first place. The funds are created by the Federal Reserve out of thin air, creating debts for the people, which the government promises will be paid. So if the government wants, say, a trillion dollars then the government gives the Federal Reserve, for instance, ten bonds worth one hundred billion each, and at no cost to the Federal Reserve, the Federal Reserve simply writes it into existence, or as you say, with the keystrokes in the computer.
Your post on this is excellent. It is so good to read some of the other posts whereby people have seen through the banditry of all those who hold significant offices or positions, yet offer nothing to their country nor to the people due to the fact that they do not work for the people.
Thank you for the post on the U.S. military psychology. It is indeed very revealing. I trust you have heard of HAARP. This is not only a weather altering machine but is a disrupter of "human mental processes, it jams all global communications systems, interferes with wildlife migration patterns, negatively affects your health and unnaturally impacts the Earths' upper atmosphere,
But we do not want to stray to far from our focus which the Revolution will bring, therefore, it is important for the Revolutionists to decide what they are going to do as the cold weather settles in. We are sure this is what the 1% and their government based inside of the United States in Washington, D.C. are waiting for, for the weather to drive them off the streets.
When the cold weather sets in, the people should be busy networking, passing information back and forth and developing a plan of action strategy, which they may then begin to implement in the spring.
#25
IF your close owns 23 car dealerships, he could afford to "let them go under". THE auto workers, related workers, and their families couldn't. TOP executives salaries are given to them by the mutual admiration society of narcissistic corporate CEOs who are on one another's boards of directors. UNION wages are negotiated between 2 teams of opposing economists. AND unions are just like any one else - they get what they can get when they can get it. AND when it came time to take a haircut - they took a haircut. A person who works for a small company can represent him/herself directly to the owner or manager. WITHOUT a union contract, a blue collar assembly worker, working for a large corporation is working under a dictatorship. HOW are 50,000 or more employees suppose to represent him/herself singly to the ceo or board of directors for a raise or benefit? AND if that were possible favoritism and racism would be rampant, which is bad enough even with a union. LIKE the good looking lady with the tight jeans and low cut top in my factory, who didn't even need to show up for work and had her boyfriend foreman deliver her check to her home every THURSDAY night. AT least until the union caught them.
#26
Who won the debate last night?
OBAMA, of course.
The rest are just noise.
Thanks, Thom, for all you do.
Vicki
#27
IF your close owns 23 car dealerships, he could afford to "let them go under". THE auto workers, related workers, and their families couldn't. TOP executives salaries are given to them by the mutual admiration society of narcissistic corporate CEOs who are on one another's boards of directors. UNION wages are negotiated between 2 teams of opposing economists. AND unions are just like any one else - they get what they can get when they can get it. AND when it came time to take a haircut - they took a haircut. A person who works for a small company can represent him/herself directly to the owner or manager. WITHOUT a union contract, a blue collar assembly worker, working for a large corporation is working under a dictatorship. HOW are 50,000 or more employees suppose to represent him/herself singly to the ceo or board of directors for a raise or benefit? AND if that were possible favoritism and racism would be rampant, which is bad enough even with a union. LIKE the good looking lady with the tight jeans and low cut top in my factory, who didn't even need to show up for work and had her boyfriend foreman deliver her check to her home every THURSDAY night. AT least until the union caught them.
#28
Who won the republican debate? Well, let me put it this way: the various parts of a person debated about who should be in charge. The head said, "I should be in charge, I do all the thinking," the heart said, "I should be in charge because I pump the blood that keeps all of you working," the intestines said, "We should be in charge because we do all the digesting." Then the rectum said, "I should be in charge because I handle getting the wastes out of the body. The other parts laughed so hard for so long at the idea of the rectum being in charge, that the rectum closed up and refused to allow any wastes to leave the body. The first day it was kind of unpleasant, the second day was worse, and by the seventh day the brain couldn't function at all, the heart was sluggishly flushing bad blood through the body, and the intestines were full of rotting undigested food from days ago. So they all gave in and let the rectum be in charge.
Which proves that a republican doesn't need any brains, heart, or guts to be a republican. They just need to be a bunch of anal retentives. And that perfectly describes how the republicans have functioned in our government and what they have done to America over the last thirty years.
#29
Mr. Peacock, from your response to the fine statement of fact palindromedary posted under #13, it appears to me you stand in need of having a few feathers pulled out of your colourful tail.
You remind me of someone who just can't stop eating from the dish that keeps making nearly everyone ill (99%). Let me explain: In your mind you have blindly accepted the debauched financial system as legitimate and authoritative truth, as well as a fact of life, and forget the concerns of millions of downtrodden people parading through the streets of the world after having been forced by the banker to feed from the trough of his defunct finance system.
Can you not see that by pure mathematics the system is designed to let people fall between the cracks as a natural consequence of functioning within its parameters, who then by pure default, yet to no fault of their own, end up unemployed or homeless? Perhaps you don't care. Well, then you must at one time or another find yourself where the protesters are in order to understand their outrage of what has been done to them by the 1% of leeches. While the people are sick of being trampled upon, lied to by political crooks and greedy bankers, and tired of being thrown to the dogs, you continue to support the established order without regard to its fairness. Maybe it has worked well for you, however that does not mean that you should condone all aspects of the financial system which through ignorance of the masses is permitted to use mathematical formulae designed to bankrupt the masses for the benefit of the few.
And here is the lesson from what was said: When we function under an economic system whereby a massive transfer of wealth occurs from the labouring hands of the many into the few hands of lazy opportunists, then we owe it to our own souls to protest and do whatever we can to disapprove of it. You need to learn to become your brother's keeper, as well as his guardian.
#30
teneraansis, palidromedary, and cygnus 1: can you guys tell people what they can be doing right now to change any part of this system? What kinds of financial acts? What social acts? What about buying strategies? How can people begin to empower themselves and their local communities right this minute, as we wait for the revolution of unfold. How can we be a part of it?
#31
Reply to post #21 Janesrygley
There are all kinds of parties created by a need to fight the corrupt and choking system, yet being fully controlled by the system and its 1%.
Why do you, the people, continue in ceaselessly flogging a dead horse which will bring you no closer to the home goal tomorrow than it has today?
If you, the people, cannot get past this fork in the road and open up the gates of your minds to the possibility of building a true paradise for yourselves upon this earth, then you, the people, both as a group, and individually (for those who refuse to open their minds and try), are doomed once again, to repeat over in another lifestream the sorrows in bondage to the 1%.
#32
Just brilliant, let's wildly cheer for guys like Cain and Romney. These cold hearted rich guys make their money by screwing around with the jobs of average working class citizens via financial schemes involving everything from downsizing corn syrup pizza franchises to leveraged buyouts and the outsourcing of jobs. Self enrichment by job killing is great for the 1% but not exactly the type of leadership the 99% is looking for. IT'S THIS KIND OF ARBITRARY POWER THAT HAS CRUSHED THE HOPES AND DREAMS OF MILLIONS OF HONEST HARD WORKING CITIZENS.
The unemployed are going through enough HELL without OLE NUMBNUTS adding to it with,"it's their own fault", comments. Nobody won, they all disgust me!.... I for one want to be on the side that becomes the SCOURGE AND TERROR of this ARBITRARY POWER!
#33
Drew Peacock: Well, I'd say you were partly right about all those people who took part in the gambling and expecting an ROI of 40% which was the exclusive realm of the absolute top 1%. I'd have to include maybe a few more percentage points right up there just below the top 1%. Everyone else were slaving away trying to put a roof over their family's heads and feed, cloth, educate, and provide decent health care with a little set aside for retirement. It was certainly getting very hard to do even this as the employers were constantly squeezing the wages and salaries and benefits and expecting even more work out of their employees. All that time these hard working people were participating in paying their FICA (Social Security wage deductions) and saving through their 401k plans or other retirement plans the reckless and greedy administrators were cheating on their fiduciary responsibilities, hoping to make a killing before the bubble popped again...this time a really big bubble that these greedsters were all making to happen with their CDO tranches, liars loans, CDSs, derivatives, and other schemes. And lets put the blame on those who deserve it...the same people who did these deeds were the ones who propagandized the masses with delusions of "you can make it to the top too if you only work hard enough and save...yeah like "invest" for the long term while the rats reap the short term profits right out from under the masses. The whole capitalist structure is geared to psychologically warp people's better sense...to deceive them into buying things they really don't need...to get their money any way they can. And when these cockroaches succeed in squeezing out the life's blood out of the masses they try to belittle them by saying they did not work hard enough, or they didn't choose to better themselves, or they wasted their money on buying the things they were psyched into buying. It's like in some countries, the women are actually shunned, whipped, or stoned for being raped while the man gets off without even a reprimand. It's the victim's fault. The fact is that the cockroaches who managed to amass great wealth, and much of that wealth was gotten through inheritance, devious deeds, and buying power and not always necessarily through hard work. Some cockroaches were just plain lucky.
Am I saying that the government should force the 1% to bail out the 99%? I am saying that the 1% amassed their fortunes by stealing from the 99% and, yes, they should be not only forced to pay back what they stole but many should be put into prison as well. Bernie Maddoff was just the tip of the cockroach heap and they recently got another cockroach billionaire swindler insider trading guy who happened to be Indian (not American Indian). And others will fall...but I'm sure that most of these cockroaches will get away with their crimes against the people.
#34
David Abbot. Priceless!
#35
Drew Peacock:
"...the Social Security Administration does not need to periodically request money from the Congress to pay benefits.
Funds not withdrawn for current expenses.......are invested in interest-bearing Federal securities, as required by law; the interest earned is also deposited in the trust fund."
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/describeoasi.html
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The Social Security trust funds are United States Treasury bonds. These bonds are issued by the U.S. Treasury to raise money to pay for budget deficits. The total value of all outstanding Treasury bonds is the national debt. The Social Security trust funds own part of the national debt.
"The trust funds have been accumulating Treasury bonds since the mid-1980s because Congress, at the recommendation of Alan Greenspan and Ronald Reagan, decided to collect more in taxes than were needed to pay current benefits. That decision was made in order to build up reserves against the retirement of the baby boomers. As workers, baby boomers have been accumulating Treasury bonds to help pay for their retirement."
"The fact that a default on any part of the national debt is almost unthinkable is underlined by the reaction of financial markets when former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and President Bush announced in speeches that the Social Security trust funds are nothing but paper. If markets really believed that the U.S. government would fail to redeem its bonds, there would have been an immediate rise in the risk premium on Treasury bonds, with interest rates spiking upward. But nothing happened. Everybody knows: it is only political talk."
"The ability of the government to service its obligations to the Social Security trust funds (that is, to future retirees) is inseparable from its ability to service the entire national debt. The question is not whether the Treasury will be able to repay the 22 percent of the national debt that is owed to the Social Security trust funds. The real question is whether the entire national debt, the sum of all the borrowing from all lenders, is getting out of control. Will the federal government be able to tax and borrow and scrimp in the future to meet its commitments?"
"...every Democratic president (Kennedy-Johnson, Carter, and Clinton)* left office with the ratio of national debt to income below where it was at the beginning of his administration, while the last three Republican administrations (Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush) have presided over explosive growth of the national debt relative to national income. Since 1960, Republican administrations have added 38 percentage points to the national debt/GDP ratio, while Democratic administrations have subtracted 23 percentage points from that ratio. This record stands on its head all the clichés about who is fiscally responsible."
"For the next few years, with the administration repeatedly asking for supplementary appropriations to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while striving to make the tax cuts permanent, it seems unlikely. Any decline in the national debt/GDP ratio would represent the first such decline under a Republican president since 1974."
"There is no special problem of meeting the Treasury's obligations to the Social Security trust funds. The fundamental problem is the larger one of servicing the national debt. And the solution lies in controlling federal deficits."
http://tcf.org/publications/2005/7/pb540/
*I guess we might make an exception for Obama...but then he really isn't a real Democrat anyway...and he did inherit most of the problems from Baby Bush.
War...what is it good for? Nuttin' except for some rich cockroaches at the top to have an excuse to squeeze the tax-payers out of their hard earned money. The problem is War and wasteful insider deals facilitated by bought off crooked politicians....the problem is not Social Security or any other social program...where the recipients will spend most of their money on necessities vs rich people taking huge gambles with other people's money.
#36
Plutocracy: Government by the wealthy.
The Wealthy "Govern" by using their wealth, and money from Corporations they control to ensure that legislation favors them.
They hire Lobbiests to influence Elected Office Holders. They donate to Candidates and PACs that support the (re)election of Legislators who pass laws that benefit them. They donate to super PACS that OPPOSE the (re)election of Legislators who either don't pass laws that benefit the Wealthy or pass legislation to regulate Corporate activities.
The Elected have become the Minions of the Wealthy.
I love the wealthy. I want to be one some day. I love corporations. I would like to see TRUE Capitalism tried.
I hate Plutocracy!
I want my country back! I want my Government back! End Plutocracy!
#37
David Abbot: Yeah, but the Occupy Wall Street movement is like a suppository..do you suppose? I am counting on it loosening up a lot of A$$-holes...then maybe they won't be so smug and retentive in the future.
#38
Mr. Prachter, I am pleased to be of service. In answer to your questions let me give you and your brave friends out in the streets this advice right from my own fingertips:
I advise all protesters to direct their energies not exclusively to occupy Wall Street but to also include demonstrations in front of administrative buildings of the U.S. military, the Federal Reserve, central bank buildings, the FBI, CIA, NSA and sundry police stations. Demonstrations in front of government buildings (the White House in your case) I believe are pointless, for the officials housed in them are puppets who will never cave in to public pressure for fear of offending their masters, the hidden hand of the elite. Appeals to elected representatives I find also a waste of time. Do not vandalise banks and government administrative buildings, nor overturn and burn vehicles, nor smash store front windows, nor fight the police, if you can help it.
Demonstrations in front of the Federal Reserve Bank should include a demand for monetizing (quantitative easing) to be applied for the benefit of the people without interest costs to the taxpayers. A call for erasing the entire national debt of 14,5 trillion dollars would also be appropriate for it is just as easy to erase a standing debt as it is to create credit.
The leaders among you should now retreat and begin networking among each other as the winter approaches, and exchange with each other all vital information pertaining to strategy for the time when spring arrives. Collect as many names of politicians and elite 1%'ers dictating iniquity from the top down, including the places of their residence, their friends, connections to organizations they control, clubs (secret or open) they belong to, as well as the names of all "eyes" who spy on their behalf and are known to be devout supporters of elite iniquity. Your listings will grow into the thousands, I believe. On this one you must all put your heads together and work through social networking interlinking. All such information must be shared by all and yet kept as tightly secured as technology permits.
In addition to the above you must collect all names and addresses from people in authoritative control of the following governmental departments. These names will hopefully become the names of all your friends:
a) all military generals and their high-ranking officers,
b) all FBI police chiefs and their administrative staff members,
c) all CIA officers and their administrative staff members,
d) all NSA officers and their administrative staff members,
e) all sherrifs throughout the country, and all police chiefs.
You must befriend all patriotic defence organizations dedicated to the carrying of arms, Gun clubs, etc. Your arsenal of information must be tight and flawless in its accuracy.
When spring arrives and the weather has cleared from winter's frost, select the following targets for demonstrations with banners and placards:
a) all military administrative buildings, including the Pentagon
b) all CIA administrative buildings
c) all FBI administrative buildings
d) all NSA administrative buildings
e) all police administrative buildings
Demonstrate peacefully and without provocation. Should your people become brutalized or shot at by authories under elite control, then retreat for your safety's sake, and for the next demonstration surround yourself with massive number of armed patriots and gun club members for your protection the second time around. These fine people are enraged with the corrupt order, and will fire to kill anyone posing an actual threat to the safety of any demonstrator.
Chances are that by spring you may already have garnered military support, for the time between now and next year will give military leaders enough time the decide what to do before the masses begin surrounding their buildings and offices. They may by that time already have decided to give you potection rather than await the demonstrators with a confrontational attitude. Should that support from the military leadership be forthcoming, then the FBI, CIA, NSA, and sundry other police forces all follow suit. However, positive military support remains an unknown factor for now.
And finally, should you by then have succeeded in gaining official protection from all authorities, then hand over your lists of all personages having betrayed their offices of public trust for arrest and possible prosecution for crimes they may have commited against you, the public.
#39
RT@PeggyWireman Gingrich promises jobs instead of food stamps. Millions using stamps HAVE jobs, just low pay #occupywallstreet#foodstamps
#40
I Think we are a nation of dry drunks and all the psychologica; problems and distorted feeling that go along with it. Other characteristic are dishonesty,gullibility,loss of morality ectra. this is generational and goes back to the trauma of the civil war, slavery, and the resulting alcoholism that resulted from that and lead to the passing of Prohibition. Prohibition lead to a transference of the alcohol adiction to religous addiction only with out going through the recovery process. This lead to the corruption of the christian faith into fundamentalism. This has lead to generations of family disfuntions. Moral Politics by Lakoff and Four your own Good by Miller talks about this in the formation of Nazi Germany. This process as it manifest here is not unlike what went in the 20/30 in germany.
#41
Thom Hartmann, 10/20/2011
I can only tell you who lost - the people.
Thanking you for this opportunity to comment -
James M. de Laurier
#42
Who won?
The "Tea Party" (Right Wing Fringe of the Republican Party)! The "Tea Party" has been one of the Koch Brothers' best investments.
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The 1% and their top worker eyes do not care one whit about you, the people, only about their own future. They cannot recognize the despair in many of you, nor can they sympathize, empathize nor even relate to you. Stop looking for a kernel of good in a poisoned soup for before long that kernel will become poisoned too. Throw out the soup and begin a brand new batch. Below is an article by Palindromedary. It is well worth the read again for Palindromedary understands exactly the state of affairs in relation to that which has gone on amongst the Republicans themselves.
By Palindromedary (in answer to a former post)
"The meek shall inherit the earth?"
Yeah, maybe, but all they will get is leftovers...if that. It might end up being a burned out cinder and cesspool...who will want that?
I think the problem is, and always has been, that the meek are their own biggest problem...they're meek. They let the Romans...or anyone else run roughshod over them. The Romans still control a large part of the population, after all these years, because they were able to control propaganda...feed people with "don't worry about your miserable and bleak existence of exploitation here on earth because you will get your rewards in heaven"...and "give unto Caeser...what is Caesars"....and "don't rebel against your masters". If you pride yourself for being meek...Jesus-like, if you will, then the few who excel at being greedy and rapacious along with devious and cunning will love it that you are so easily psyched into inferior positions that makes it easy for them to take advantage of you. But then, those aspiring saints are often conflicted with the want of material things, tempted by the devil perhaps, and resort to a kind of hypocritical existence. Some have even "risien?" to such saintly heights as heads of banks and big-time gamblers of OPM (other people's money) at Wall Street. They may see themselves as "doing God's work" and despise all of the little people who are nothing but a bunch of lazy losers who deserve their plight....greedy little maggots who think they deserve to have a decent shelter, food, and medical care.
The modern-day Roman Empire continues to psyche us into a kind of voluntary slavery...tempting us with the tantalizing dreams of having the good life...with all of the material things we are induced to want. Constant psychological pressure to want this or that by marketing hype...a constant barrage of advertizing..honed by legions of psychologists on the payroll of these companies...keep us all addicted to collecting so many things that they mostly end up as cluttering junk...we need bigger houses to hold it all. The psychological marketing of real estate and banks to get you hooked into believing you have to sell your soul, rather your future, into buying a house...or maybe even "moving up" keep you hypnotized, zombie-like, into signing on the dotted line.
And then, when we are all indebted to the gills, indebted to a life of slavery, of debts we owe, and a continued history of squeezing the wages and salaries to our inability to feed our families, the gamblers wreck the markets, valuations of our "investments" fall but our liabilities continue. We are caught between a rock and a hard place...and the rich have the gall to claim that it is all "our fault". What? For going along and believing in the capitalist religion and marketing ploys that the rich entrapped us with in the first place? When advertising deviates from just informing people of the availability of their products to psychologically hooking you into believing you can't live without it, or you will smell bad, or you will look silly because you are the only one on the block without it, or it will save your life, your sex life, or your economic well-being then the rich, who strove to benefit from deceiving you, should not be able to turn around and blame the people for being impoverished because of their marketing hype. Real Estate and bankers were especially bad at convincing us that we had better buy now or never be able to buy a house because the prices would continually go out of sight. Many of these real estate people and banksters knew that their house of cards would, or "the bubble", would eventually disintegrate leaving millions in the condition they are in now. They knew it! They planned it! And now they need to suffer our wrath! The many against the few who screwed us for their selfish greed!
(The bolding is mine for easier viewing - Cygnus1)