". . . a republic, if you can keep it."
I guess lying is their latest tactic.
“America’s recession ‘probably’ will end this year if the government succeeds in bolstering the banking system, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said” (from msnbc.com)
I’d say we should fire this son of a bitch, but the Federal Reserve doesn’t work for the U.S.A. The U.S.A. works for the Federal Reserve. Tarring and feathering might be a better option.
H.R. 1207, the bill introduced by Ron Paul to investigate the super-secretive private organization which controls our money, now has 28 co-sponsors. Write your representatives today!
Rep Abercrombie, Neil [D, HI-1]
Rep Alexander, Rodney [R, LA-5]
Rep Bachmann, Michele [R, MN-6]
Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [R, MD-6]
Rep Broun, Paul C. [R, GA-10]
Rep Burton, Dan [R, IN-5]
Rep Chaffetz, Jason [R, UT-3]
Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [D, OR-4]
Rep Duncan, John J., Jr. [R, TN-2]
Rep Foxx, Virginia [R, NC-5]
Rep Garrett, Scott [R, NJ-5]
Rep Grayson, Alan [D, FL-8]
Rep Heller, Dean [R, NV-2]
Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [R, NC-3]
Rep Kagen, Steve [D, WI-8]
Rep Kingston, Jack [R, GA-1]
Rep Marchant, Kenny [R, TX-24]
Rep McClintock, Tom [R, CA-4]
Rep Petri, Thomas E. [R, WI-6]
Rep Poe, Ted [R, TX-2]
Rep Posey, Bill [R, FL-15]
Rep Price, Tom [R, GA-6]
Rep Rehberg, Denny [R, MT]
Rep Rohrabacher, Dana [R, CA-46]
Rep Stearns, Cliff [R, FL-6]
Rep Taylor, Gene [D, MS-4]
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [D, CA-6]
Rep Young, Don [R, AK]
(Read more from DailyPaul.com)
Watch Sen. Bernie Sanders (I – VT) fail to get answers from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. The law, in fact, protects the Fed’s secrecy, which is why a bill is needed before we can know anything about this secretive organization.
This is a new compilation to an old Ron Paul speech.
“Boris Fyodorov, the late Russian Minister of Finance who struggled for many years against corruption and the abuse of authority, could be blunt. Confusion helps the powerful, he argued. When there are complicated government bailout schemes, multiple exchange rates, or high inflation, it is very hard to keep track of market prices and to protect the value of firms. The result, if taken to an extreme, is looting: the collapse of banks, industrial firms, and other entities because the insiders take the money (or other valuables) and run. This is the prospect now faced by the United States.” (Read more from tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com)
The last act of any government is to loot the treasury.
“Retired Amb. Chas Freeman, who said today that he no longer accepts an offer to chair the National Intelligence Council, has just sent this message:
You will by now have seen the statement by Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair reporting that I have withdrawn my previous acceptance of his invitation to chair the National Intelligence Council. . . . I do not believe the National Intelligence Council could function effectively while its chair was under constant attack by unscrupulous people with a passionate attachment to the views of a political faction in a foreign country. . . .
I am saddened by what the controversy and the manner in which the public vitriol of those who devoted themselves to sustaining it have revealed about the state of our civil society. It is apparent that we Americans cannot any longer conduct a serious public discussion or exercise independent judgment about matters of great importance to our country . . . The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired. . . .
The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those that it favors. . . . it is doing widening damage to the national security of the United States.
” (Read more from thecable.foreignpolicy.com)
“Charles (Chas) Freeman, who was slated to be picked as the new chairman of the National Intelligence Council, withdrew his candidacy for the post on Tuesday.
The move was announced in Washington by Dennis Blair, the director of National Intelligence. Since news of Freeman’s nomination, Jewish organizations have leveled criticism at the pick due to his history of opposition to Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories.” (Read more from haaretz.com)
This is dangerous. If the Israel Lobby can influence who joins the National Intelligence Council, they can further influence our perception of Iran. Here lies the road to (more) war.
I’ll believe it when the Palestinians get their land back. I’ll believe it when we stop giving them billions a year in taxpayer money. Nevertheless, here are two headlines which caught my eye. I suspect the first one is just lip service.
Clinton: U.S. firm on commitment to two-state solution
(Read more from Haaretz.com)
Israel lobby fails to block key Obama intelligence appointment
“On Friday, Muckety reported: ‘Despite intense, behind-the-scenes lobbying by some Jewish groups, the Obama administration yesterday tapped veteran diplomat Chas W Freeman Jr to head the National Intelligence Council in what may be its most controversial appointment yet. As chairman of the National Intelligence Council, Freeman will be responsible for producing the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) – the classified document given to the president and senior intelligence officials that analyses threats to US security.’
In The National, Tony Karon observed: ‘If Israel and its backers are to persuade the Obama administration to accept their views on Iran, it is a less than helpful for the NIE be the province of a sceptical, independent thinker who believes that Israel’s interests are not necessarily those of the US. Renowned as a brilliant diplomat and analyst, even-handed in his assessments of the Middle East and not bound by the Israel-first consensus that the Israel lobby has fought so hard to establish in US Middle East policy, Mr Freeman was denounced by Steve Rosen, a former top American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) official, as ‘a profoundly disturbing appointment’.” (Read more from thenational.ae)
A couple graphics at newgeography.com caught my eye:
National employment peaked in Dec 2007 at 138.2 million. As of Jan 2009, it’s 134.6 million.
The number of people employed by the government is 22.6 million.
Here’s a little trick I call math: 134.6 ÷ 22.6 = 5.96
More than one out of six employed Americans working for the government. The economic activity of five Americans pays the salary (and benefits) of the sixth. We cannot afford so much government.
Why? Because it is within their power to force you. That’s why. They will take your hard-earned wealth and you cannot stop them.
Lets not be surprised our wealth has disappeared. Our empire does not pay for itself. The hundreds of billions of dollars we are giving to bankers must come from somewhere too, as do the salaries of our 22.5 million government employees.
“Stocks Could Skyrocket After March 12th. On CNBC’s “Closing Bell” FM contributor Jon Najarian told Dylan Ratigan he sees a catalyst out there that could lift banks as much as 100% – and as soon as next week.” (from tradingstockindicies.com)
CNBC has been wrong about everything for YEARS. Why should anyone listen to them now?
“The survey, known as the Beige Book, rated the prospects for economic improvement anytime soon as ‘poor, with a significant pickup not expected before late 2009 or early 2010.'” (from news.yahoo.com)
Recovery???? The Fed is either lying or stupid. I’m guessing both.
See also: Food stamp enrollment jumps to record 31.8 million
Sounds like he’s a real conservative. Refreshing.
“The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that about $50 billion of more than $173 billion that the U.S. government has poured into American International Group Inc since last fall has been paid to at least two dozen U.S. and foreign financial institutions.
The newspaper reported that some of the banks paid by AIG since the insurer started getting taxpayer funds were: Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, Merrill Lynch, Societe Generale, Calyon, Barclays Plc, Rabobank, Danske, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, Bank of America, and Lloyds Banking Group.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Bank of America, Calyon, and Wells Fargo, which has absorbed Wachovia, could not be reached for comment.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has refused to publicize a list of AIG’s derivative counterparties and what they have been paid since the bailout, riling the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.” (Read more from reuters.com)
If we had just let these criminals go bankrupt, everything would have been so much simpler.
Hmmm. A lot like there predecessors. Why is this so hard for every to see? Obama = more of the same.
“So on Friday, in a move that Al-Haramain’s lawyer called ‘mind-boggling’, the Obama administration told the federal court, once again, that it did not have the authority to order the government to make the critical document in the case available to the organization’s lawyers. The decision to reveal the document, wrote the government, ‘is committed to the discretion of the Executive Branch, and is not subject to judicial review.’ . . . In other words, the government lawyers threatened to physically remove the document from the court files if the Judge insists that he has the right — as he already ruled he has — to allow Al-Haramain’s lawyers to see it.” (Read more from washingtonindependent.com)
“Gates’ comments followed a televised interview with Adm. Mike Mullen, head of the U.S. military Joint Chiefs of Staff, who told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he believed Iran has enough fissile material to make a nuclear bomb.” (Read more from reuters.com)
Good! At least one of our leaders reads the National Intelligence Estimate: Iran ‘Halted’ Nuclear Weapons Program In 2003, Unlikely To Develop A Weapon In This Decade.
I expect a producer to be fired by ABCNNBBCBS.