Why is it that while America is supposedly in crisis - or jobless "recovery" - the rich continue to increase their wealth at a rate that is creating staggering wealth inequality? The net worth of the Forbes 400 richest Americans grew by 13% in the past year to $1.7 trillion, as the gap between rich and poor continues to widen at a staggering rate.
Meanwhile, average workers' wages haven't budged over the last 40-years, and the real minimum wage--adjusted for inflation--has declined over the same period. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), between 1979 and 2007, the top 1% of Americans income grew by 275%! And between 2002 and 2007, the income of the top 1% grew 10 times faster than the income of the bottom 90%. The CBO also found that between 1979 and 2005, after-tax income for middle-class Americans (adjusted for inflation) rose by 21% while the richest 0.1 per cent grew by 400%!.
How much longer can this obscene transfer of wealth to the privileged few from poor and hard-working Americans continue before most Americans become serfs if they're not already?
“We can have a democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (1846 – 1941)
“Men did not make the earth… It is the value of the improvement only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property… Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds.” — Thomas Paine
I think we are; however, I believe it will come without any warning...especially from anyone connected to the IMF.
Dr. Robert Shapiro who advised Presidents Clinton and Obama and who currently advises the IMF predicts a cascading meltdown of the World's banking system starting with Sovereign debt in the Eurozone, affecting the UK then finally bringing down the global banking system.
"If they can not address [the financial crisis] in a credible way I believe within perhaps 2 to 3 weeks we will have a meltdown in sovereign debt which will produce a meltdown across the European banking system. We are not just talking about a relatively small Belgian bank, we are talking about the largest banks in the world, the largest banks in Germany, the largest banks in France, that will spread to the United Kingdom, it will spread everywhere because the global financial system is so interconnected. All those banks are counterparties to every significant bank in the United States, and in Britain, and in Japan, and around the world..."
We have a confused understanding of the federal money system because we base it on what we know about our own personal bank account, and we were never taught that the federal system does not operate in the same way. If you look at a chart of historical national debt and compare it to a chart of national money supply, they're the same. They both go up at the same rate. Why? Because the federal debt IS our money supply. Our money is credit and debt.
The federal government can initiate the supply of money by writing checks (debits in fed acct) that directly jumpstarts our economy. When the government writes checks to its employees, for real goods and services, that shows up as credits in real people's accounts that they, in turn, spend into the economy. The federal government can also write checks for infrastructure, which shows up as credits in commercial accounts, and creates jobs, thus creating credits in real people's accounts that they can spend into the economy.
States can create their own credit, as well. North Dakotais the only state that escaped the credit crisis. They own their own bank, which partners with the local banks and keeps credit moving within the state. So, why aren't all 50 states taking control of their money supply in the same way? Well, this would greatly threaten the international banking cartel (ibc). And, when you threaten the ibc, you end up like Libya, who had the nerve to create their own central bank that issues the money and issues credit for the nation's infrastructure, interest free; therefore, they had the lowest debt to GDP ration in the world.
However, unlike the political leaders in North Dakota, Khadaffi was trying to mobilize all of the African countries to follow his lead, while setting up an African monetary fund that would compete with the International Monetary Fund.
So, yes, we have the money to do anything we want to do. That's what money is: the credit of the nation, and the nation can advance the credit for what it needs to do.
As "many workers are barely treading water as their wages fail to keep up with rising prices" the Obama administration and congressional Democrats have offered totriple the amount of cuts in social spending for 2011, from $10 billion to $30 billion, in order to appease congressional Republicans, who, after intense lobbying from the Tea Party, want to cut $61 billion, before the April 8 deadline. These cuts "would mark the largest-ever federal budget cuts in social spending in a single year."
Despite the criminal behavior of the ruling class, and, that throughout the bankster-created crisis, their pay grew at pre-downturn clip, the extreme polarization of wealth, as productivity gains continue, and corporate profits surge, continues. It is not estimated that one in four American households have zero or less than zero net worth.
The modest wage growth appears to reflect lower expectations among the unemployed.
"There's a capitulation on the part of workers," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities. "They're increasingly willing to accept a lower wage than they might have thought they had to when the recession started. The fact that average hourly earnings are now weak or falling is an indication to me that the market is starting to clear."
This gives businesses an additional cushion at a time of higher commodity costs.
"Companies are in the dominant bargaining position," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, a consultancy. "They don't have the added problem of paying more for their wages as well."
And, if that's not depressing enough, according to the National Inflation Association a tsunami of inflation will hit the U.S. due to the Japan crisis.
Late last week, the court ordered the Federal Reserve to release (see download zip archive link) 29,000 pages of documents that contain the complete contents of the Federal Reserve Discount Window data on loans, from August 8, 2007 to March 1 2010. Many of these loans bail out foreign banks during the height of the financial crisis in 2008. Moreover, some of those banks are even controlled by "repressive dictators" such as Qaddafi (Arab Banking Corp, 59% owned by the Libyan central bank at the time, received 46 different loans). That's right, the 100% Libyan owned central bank that those "ragtag bunch of rebels" shut down so easily in order to immediately establish a brand new national central bank (not to mention, the brand new national oil company) received lots of bailout money!
Only one man, Sen. Bernie Sanders, dared to question why billions of American taxpayer dollars bailed out a Libyan-owned bank.
Here is the emergency order that was issued by the Federal Reserve on Feb. 25, 2011, exempting the Arab Bank Corporation from the previous freeze order.
All transactions involving banks that are owned or controlled by the Govemment of Libya and organized under the laws of a country other than Libya are authorized...
So, let me get this straight. In our nation, poverty is escalating, our infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating, the middle-class is withering away to nothing, we're involved in three wars, yet, the only concern in Washington is balancing the budget on the backs of working families. Federal programs that provide suffering people basic needs and/or try to level the playing field, such as: early education, job training, post-secondary education, nutrition assistance for women and children, home heating programs for low-income people, planned parenthood, community health centers, e-gov, transportation, etc, will be slashed to the bone.
In the meantime, taxpayer subsidized banksters and corporate giants who are earning record breaking profits, continue to live off the dole. The pentagon continues to waste billions, not to mention, outright loses trillions of dollars ($2.3 trillion that Rumsfeld announced, went missing, 9/10/11). Two-thirds of all US corporations pay no federal income tax, and almost all of the corporations continue to sit on trillions and trillions of dollars, refusing to hire, or invest any of that money back into the American economy. Despite this, slashing the corporate tax rate is top priority.
The biggest borrowers from the 97-year-old discount window as the program reached its crisis-era peak were foreign banks, accounting for at least 70 percent of the $110.7 billion borrowed during the week in October 2008 when use of the program surged to a record. The disclosures may stoke a reexamination of the risks posed to U.S. taxpayers by the central bank’s role in global financial markets.
The Federal Reserve released thousands of pages of secret loan documents under court order, almost three years after Bloomberg LP first requested details of the central bank’s unprecedented support to banks during the financial crisis.
The records reveal for the first time the names of financial institutions that borrowed directly from the central bank through the so-called discount window. The Fed provided the documents after the U.S. Supreme Court this month rejected a banking industry group’s attempt to shield them from public view.
Well, at least we escaped extreme risk this time; however, according to Advisor Analyst, "while Europe is being forced to do all that amid sovereign debt crisis in the middle of widespread protests over raised pension age and austerity measures, the U.S. and other “high fiscal risk” countries seem be set up as the wave 2 of this global fiscal chain of events."
Even after the "U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled March 19 that the central bank must release the documents. A three-judge panel of the appellate court rejected the Fed’s argument that disclosure would stigmatize borrowers and discourage banks from seeking emergency help."
Instead, all the biggest U.S. commercial banks and their lobbyists - uniting in an effort to oppose letting we, the public know which banks received how much of 2008's $2-trillion federal bailout for banks - are taking their case to the Supreme Court. That's right. The same court that always sides with Big Money against the interests of the American people. The same court that upheld "corporate personhood" in allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts to buy our elections.
And if that's not bad enough, Comcast partnered with teabaggers to bring new right-wing broadcast network online as they fight a battle to acquire NBC and related assets (including MSNBC) without being deemed a monopoly. Fox News on steroids, perhaps?
Here's a look at their joint venture: RightNetwork
How does this tie into the Supreme Court's decision favoring "corporate personhood" and the decision it will make in keeping us from seeing where "our" $2 trillion went?
Well, Congress already enabled five corporations to control 80% of U.S. media. Considering that the ruling elite depend on the corporate media to maintain its ability to control our minds, and considering the brain-washing that is already going on, do we really need another right-wing network like this?
ProPublica should be a must-read for every American. It is an independent, non-profit newsroom that really and truly produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Their work focuses exclusively on truly important stories, stories with “moral force.” They do this by producing journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them.
Investigative journalism is at risk. Many news organizations have increasingly come to see it as a luxury. Today’s investigative reporters lack resources: Time and budget constraints are curbing the ability of journalists not specifically designated “investigative” to do this kind of reporting in addition to their regular beats. This is therefore a moment when new models are necessary to carry forward some of the great work of journalism in the public interest that is such an integral part of self-government, and thus an important bulwark of our democracy.
The business crisis in publishing and — not unrelated — the revolution in publishing technology are having a number of wide-ranging effects. Among these are that the creation of original journalism in the public interest, and particularly the form that has come to be known as “investigative reporting,” is being squeezed down, and in some cases out.
Here is an investigation everyone should read:
In the Loop: Pay Day Lenders Extensive, Expensive Ties to Washington Power Players. Charging interest rates as high as 400% to mostly the working-class, Pay-day lenders' "connections in the capital make clear that the industry has quietly -- and in a remarkably short time -- enmeshed itself into a network of Washington influence-peddlers skilled at putting a favorable sheen on a host of corporate causes."
Links to monitor:
Bailout Watch - is a collaborative effort to research, investigate, and analyze the federal government's bailout activities and publish resources and data for policymakers, the media, and interested citizens. Bailout Watch draws upon the expertise and resources of the partner organizations to identify specific data that should be disclosed (and made available in an online, indexed, searchable format), research and investigate government decision-making processes related to the bailout, and provide analysis and commentary about the effectiveness of different bailout programs.
Change Tracker - ProPublica has set up a page, with a feed, that monitors any changes to whitehouse.gov, recovery.gov, and financialstability.gov. Whenever there’s a change to any page on these sites, it’s noted in the feed. You can then view the old and new versions of the page side by side, with the changes highlighted.
* A complete list of where the money's going, from AIG to the smallest community bank
* A map that charts all the bailed-out companies
* A timeline of major bailout events
* A running total of how much of the TARP bailout money has been committed
* Graphical breakdowns and plain language descriptions of the Treasury Department's bailout programs without confusing government acronyms
* A list of the banks that have returned the bailout money
* A snapshot of how mortgage servicers are performing in the foreclosure prevention program.
* The latest on the bailout from our blog and our links to the best bailout reporting
The Missing Memos ProPublica memo depository of the missing memos regarding legalities involving detainees, rendition, eavesdropping, using the military within the US, and free speech.
Open the Government is concerned that our government keeps from the American public information that we need to make our families safe, secure our country and strengthen democracy, a broad-based set of organizations formed OpenTheGovernment.org.
Side by Side Health Care Bills compare the Senate version of the health care reform bill with what it will look like with the House's changes.
Subsidyscope’s Financial Bailout Project. pulls together data on the financial institutions that are receiving benefits from the various federal programs so users can understand how and where taxpayer dollars are being spent.
It happened once:
“Army Surveillance of Civilians” (1972) - A Documentary Analysis” by the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate
“The following report by the Subcommittee staff analyzes certain computer print-outs and publications generated in the course of the Army’s domestic intelligence program.”
“The overwhelming majority of the reports pertain to the peaceful activites of nonviolent citizens lawfully exercising their constitutional rights of speech, press, religion, association, and petition.”
“These files confirm what we learned first from former intelligence agents – that Army intelligence, in the name of preparedness and security, had developed a massive system for monitoring virtually all political protest in the United States. In doing so, it was not content with observing at arms length; Army agents repeatedly infiltrated civilian groups. Moreover, the information they reported was not confined to acts or plans for violence, but included much private information about peoples’ finances, psychiatric records, and sex lives.”
“The size of these and other data banks confirms that the Army’s domestic intelligence operations did not begin with the Newark and Detroit riots of 1967. The events of that summer only expanded activities which had been going on, in varying degrees of intensity, since 1940, and which has its roots as far back as World War I.”
If you visit the zoo one day, and find that, the tigers and lions are wandering around... their cages removed; that's essentially, what Wall Street is like without the uptick rule in place. It's not safe for investors, because the uptick rule served as an important investor protection. Since its removal, short sellers have engaged in bear raids, where they sell a large quantity of shares of a company's stock rapidly to drive the price of that stock down, therefore creating panic selling, so they can buy it back later at a lower price and profit from it. So, why did/does the SEC grant so much power and control to greedy, self-interested short sellers? And why hasn't it been reinstated by now?
Schapiro's agenda has also been driven by political pressure, says James J. Angel, a finance professor at Georgetown University who has advised stock exchanges. Democrat Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee—one of the SEC's overseers—said at a Mar. 10 press conference that after speaking with the SEC boss, he was "hopeful" that "within a month" she would reinstate the uptick rule; it requires that investors wait for a stock to rise before betting against it, which prevents short-sellers from piling on. In April, Schapiro proposed the rule—only to postpone it.
In no other legal and ethical commercial endeavor in this country can you sell something you do not own. Such a design is usually punishable in criminal court as fraud, but for some reason Wall Street acts like this a God given right, and today, despite the massive plundering that took/takes place, it's just business as usual. Until the uptick rule is reinstated, short sellers still have a free license to steal from investors.
Read more...
California attorney, Ben Pavone is fed up. He says he's not going to pay his credit card bill until Bank of America lowers his interest rate and hikes his credit limit. He claims Bank of America raised his interest rate and lowered his spending limit to just above his balance without explanation. I can certainly relate as the same exact thing happened to me, and I'm sure to millions of other people as well. No, Mr. Pavone is not the only one who is fed up and he's not the only one taking action.
The campaign to move money from giant banks to local community banks and credit unions is spreading quickly. But not all community banks are risk free. Some of them got involved in the same risky behavior that took down some of the biggest banks. MoveYourMoney.info provides a zip-code tool (IRABankRatings.com) which sifts through every active bank and thrift running calculations to identify the very top of the industry performers so you can visit these banks.
The big banks on Wall Street, propped up by taxpayer money and government guarantees, have had a record year, making record profits while returning to the highly leveraged activities that brought our economy to the brink of disaster. In a slap in the face to taxpayers, they have also cut back on the money they are lending, even though the need to get credit flowing again was one of the main points used in selling the public the bank bailout. But since April, the Big Four banks -- JP Morgan/Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo -- all of which took billions in taxpayer money, have cut lending to businesses by $100 billion.
"Community" credit unions are another great alternative. Most are open to anyone who lives in the community, and they offer free checking, great service and will reduce that ever-growing anxiety about gratuitous fees. Here's the link to check on credit unions: National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
The elimination of usury laws in America initiated an era of deregulation that allowed financial markets to run wild, leading to today's economic crisis. The Industrial Areas Foundation started the “10% Is Enough" campaign, listing four reasons why interest rates should be capped at 10%.
1) Moral and civic prohibitions against usury stretch back deep into our religious and national history. Our prophets and founding fathers made the clear case long before us that usury is patently wrong, against God, and against our national interest. From the time of Hammurabi to the Carter administration, usury was illegal. Modern practices of usury are an aberrant blip in history.
2) Our people are hurting because of crushing debt loads exacerbated by exorbitant interest rates – in the form of high credit card premiums, payday loans, banking and check-cashing fees, sub-prime mortgages, rapid-refund tax return schemes, car-title scams, and other practices that seek to generate income off of financial misfortune.
3) The elimination of usury laws in America from 1978-1980 ushered in an era of deregulation that allowed financial markets to run wild, accelerating the present economic crisis.
4) The elimination of usury laws helped shift the investment of American capital and talent away from manufacturing and material innovation and into an unproductive financial sector based on trading paper rather than producing long-term wealth. That shift has damaged other sectors of the economy, decimated America’s labor force and weakened America’s position in the world.
What we need now more than thousands of pages of new regulations, or the sour faces of executives forced to reduce their eight-figure salaries to a mere seven, is a 10% cap on interest rates. Why 10%? Because 10% is enough. Ten percent puts proportion and equity into the relationship between the lender and the borrower. Ten percent restores our capacity to form right relationships.
Did you know that Bank of America's executive bonuses alone could have paid the entire foreclosure crisis? Did you know that Bank of America, after receiving bailout money courtesy of we, the people, adjusted only 100 mortgages in total? Did you know that the banks are not living up to their end of the bargain by refusing to lend to worthy small businesses and individuals? What choice do we have?
Read more...
The two women were part of a group of 98 employees Hyatt mercilessly fired from housekeeping - some of whom gave over 20 years of service, and who were tricked into training their replacements unknowingly - in a cost cutting measure in August, with absolutely no warning whatsoever. Many of the fired housekeepers made $16 an hour while the replacements make $8 an hour. Hyatt will now have the burden of maintaining the same quality of service, considering the replacements, paid only half the wages, will be responsible for double the work load (from 16 rooms to 32 rooms per day).
As Barbara Ehrenreich pointed out, Hyatt's problem was not the housekeeper's hourly wages, rather it's the executive salaries, bonuses and stock options that cost the corporation. In other words, corporate greed trumped common sense, and hopefully Hyatt's despicable cost-cutting measures will come back to bite them in the same place their brains obviously reside.
Today, after experiencing negative publicity, a threat to boycott from the Governor and taxi drivers, and public outcry against the hotel company, Hyatt said "it’s arranged full-time jobs through an outsourcing firm for the 98 housekeepers it recently fired from its three hotels in Boston and Cambridge and replaced with cheaper outsourced workers".
"Hyatt has faced withering criticism and even a boycott threat from Gov. Deval Patrick over the firings, which sparked protests yesterday in Chicago, where the company is headquartered".
However, these women, who were ruthlessly replaced, want to return to their jobs.
“Hyatt’s latest proposal is simply a smokescreen designed to trick people into thinking Hyatt is doing the right thing. It does not provide the women with the one thing they really deserve.
These women have made it clear that they want to be returned to the jobs they have held for years, and Hyatt’s PR scheme does not diminish their determination.” -- Janice Loux, president of United Here Local 26
Currently, Gov. Deval Patrick spoke with local Hyatt management and worker representatives, and is reviewing the proposal.
Unfortunately, Hyatt is only one of many hotel chains who treat their employees so unfairly.
Read more...
There is nothing like hearing or reading reports of top executives - the very same ones who contributed to the current financial crisis - planning to pay themselves the biggest bonuses ever in their 140 year history, to wake Americans up from the cultural trance we've allowed ourselves to succumb, to smell the corruption and hubris that underpins our current financial and political system. Goldman Sachs, according to The Guardian, is having its most profitable year ever, citing lack of competition as the chief reason.
Why is this a problem?
Well, a few months ago, Goldman Sachs, frustrated by federally mandated pay caps imposed on TARP recipients, started plotting and planning to get out from under those restraints. The Obama administration was against Goldman Sachs paying the $10 billion in TARP money back early because they were afraid it would send the wrong signal by encouraging the very thing - "too big to fail" -that contributed to the collapse of our economy in the first place. They feared Goldman Sachs would receive an unfair advantage over all the rest of the banks, because it will appear stronger in the market, while at the same time, continuing to receive government subsidies, including guarantees on debt they already issued, and discounted credit lines from the Federal Reserve, therefore, eliminating the healthy competition our financial system needs to thrive in what is supposed to be a "free market" economy.
Here's the thing. The government (American taxpayers) saved their day, and now that Goldman Sachs and the rest of the banks are back on their feet, at tremendous cost to us, they are deliberately undermining the TARP program, despite the fact that it saved their derriere, and despite the fact that they still rely on government assistance, and despite the fact that they will not have to pay back a good portion of bailout assistance ($13 billion from AIG as a counter party thru AIG bailout and the ability to change their legal forms to access more credit) they received that enabled them to become profitable once again.
We the people must become aware that many of the underlying assumptions we once believed in are no longer valid. For example, the belief that what is good for Wall Street is good for Washington, therefore good for our country must be abolished. The financial sector that started to become more powerful under Reagan, that produces nothing of real value, yet accounts for well over 40% of corporate profits, if allowed to continue, or even worse, grow, will make
The only way to achieve real reform is to break the power and hubris of the financial oligarchy that is currently sucking real wealth from our system and reconstitute the structure of the financial system going forward.
As funding falters, shelters and soup kitchens across the nation are reporting as much as a 50% increase in applications for their services since 2007. Demand is sharply up at soup kitchens, and people are seeking emergency shelter and sadly, more are being turned away.
In a report published in December, 330 school districts identified the same number or more homeless students in the first few months of the school year than they identified in the entire previous year.
Joel Berg, calculated, in his book, All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America what would happen if we doubled the charitable food donations in America - 200% . The number of hungry Americans would decrease from 36 million to 32 million. In addition, Berg says a 10% increase is much more realistic and even that is considered too high.
In other words, relying on the private sector, charitable funds, foundations, or institutions to fight off America's growing "hunger" is like...well, it's like fighting off a hungry tiger with two sticks.
Metro Unemployment forecast January 2009 The decline in the labor market is severe. Employment fell nearly 500,000 per month in the last 4 months of 2008, and we expect similar losses through the first quarter of 2009.
December marked the 12th consecutive month of job cuts, and the cumulative payroll decline now stands at more than 2.5 million. We believe that is just halfway to the total job loss anticipated during this cycle. On top of the bad employment news, the unemployment rate has jumped to 7.2%, reaching a 15-year high. We see the unemployment rate rising above 9% by early 2010, the highest
level since the early 80s.
