Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Goldman Sachs The Fourth Branch of the U.S. Government / Politics / Market Manipulation
Quietly and almost unnoticed by most Americans, the US Federal Government introduced a fourth branch to its political structure in 2006. As you know we already had three branches, they are:
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Monday, June 29, 2009
Cap and Trade Bill HR 2454 Will Lead to Capital Flight / Politics / Market Regulation
In my last column, I joked that with public spending out of control and the piling on of the international bailout bill, economic collapse seems to be the goal of Congress. It is getting harder to joke about such a thing however, as the non-partisan General Accounting Office (GAO) has estimated that the administration's health care plan would actually cost over a trillion dollars. This reality check may have given us a temporary reprieve on this particular disastrous policy, however an equally disastrous energy policy reared its ugly head on Capitol Hill last week.
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Monday, June 29, 2009
Power Shortage at the U.S. Fed? / Politics / Central Banks
William Patalon III writes: Documents brought to light by key by congressional investigators hightlight real disagreement between top-level U.S. Federal Reserve officials about how it should address the Bank of America Corp.(NYSE: BAC) acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. are almost certain to fuel the ongoing congressional debate over the central bank’s push to expand its authority over the U.S. financial system.
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Monday, June 29, 2009
Bernanke is a Total Failure Unsuited for Role as Fed Chairman / Politics / Central Banks
Inquiring minds are reading Bernanke Flubs Tryout, Still Up for Leading Role by Caroline Baum.
Most often I agree with Caroline, but not this time.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Big Banks Have Won through Deception and Fraudulently Structured Assets / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
The trouble started 24 months ago, but the origins of the financial crisis are still disputed. The problems did not begin with subprime loans, lax lending standards or shoddy ratings agencies. The meltdown can be traced back to the activities of the big banks and their enablers at the Federal Reserve. The Fed's artificially low interest rates provided a subsidy for risky speculation while deregulation allowed financial institutions to increase leverage to perilous levels, creating trillions of dollars of credit backed by insufficient capital reserves. When two Bear Stearns hedge funds defaulted in July 2007, the process of turbo-charging profits through massive credit expansion flipped into reverse sending the financial system into a downward spiral.
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
Lessons from the Humbling of General Motors / Politics / US Auto's
Sam Gindin writes: Of all 20th century industries, it was the auto sector that best captured the sway of capitalism and the rise of American dominance. The assembly line showed off capitalism’s remarkable productive potential and the automobile flaunted capitalism’s consumerist possibilities. At mid-century, with Europe and Japan emerging from the devastation of war, 80% of the world’s cars travelled on North America roads. Pursuing the United States model became a common aspiration across the developed capitalist countries.
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
European Governments Bow to the Banks / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
Peter Schwarz writes: For over a year leading European politicians promised to regulate financial markets and rein in the activities of speculators in order to prevent a repetition of the international financial crisis. Now finally the mountain has moved and given birth to a mouse. The regulations agreed by the European heads of state and government at their conference a week ago in Brussels are even weaker than the noncommittal regulations adopted by the US.
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
Fed Market Manipulation, Surmounting The Main Threat To Profits And Protection / Politics / Market Manipulation
“Some people think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government Institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders.” - The Honorable Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee in the 1930s
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
How the Media Uses Buffett to Make Money / Politics / Mainstream Media
In the previous part of this article we saw how what Buffett invests in doesn’t matter to you.
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Obama Gets Billions for ‘Pandemic’ Swine Flu / Politics / Global Pandemic
Buried amid news stories about World Breastfeeding Week, World Suicide Prevention Day and World Rabies Day, the WHO has a small item giving the latest supposed count of ‘laboratory confirmed H1N1 cases. It is something on the order of 55,000 persons worldwide since this April at a factory pig farm in Veracruz Mexico a small child got ill and the world was told of a deadly new ‘Swine Flu’ that was allegedly spreading from pig to person. Yet the US Government is gearing up as if it ere preparing for the new outbreak of the dreaded 1918 ‘Spanish Flu’ pandemic. The reality does not support the government response. Is something else going on?
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Friday, June 26, 2009
The Source of the Current Economic Crisis: "A Chicago State of Mind" / Politics / Market Manipulation
Maidhc Ó'Cathail writes: Worried about the global economic crisis? It’s all in your head, says a leading financial expert.
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Bernie Madoff, Will Other Financial Criminals Be Investigated And Prosecuted? / Politics / Scams
Danny Schechter writes: “indeed “ adverb
1 used to emphasize a statement or response confirming something already suggested : it was not expected to last long, and indeed it took less than three weeks | “She should have no trouble hearing him.” “No indeed.”
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Is Obama Pushing Us Toward State Controlled Capitalism? / Politics / Market Regulation
Shah Gilani writes: With its regulatory overhaul of the U.S. financial system, the Obama administration has granted the federal government new powers to take over systemically important businesses, but has done so in a way that may well mask a potentially dangerous drift toward American state capitalism.
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Bernanke Suffers From Selective Memory Loss; Paulson Calls Bank of America "Turd in the Punchbowl" / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's memory seems to be failing at an amazingly convenient time, for Bernanke. Please consider Bernanke Blasted in House.
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Thursday, June 25, 2009
Terminal Absence of Leadership / Politics / US Politics
James West writes: I like Barack Obama. I like his sincerity, his thoughtfulness, his compassion, and his humanitarian priority. I like his calm resolve, and his humility. But I don’t think he’s going to succeed in staunching the hemorrhaging of the global economy that is now approaching all published definitions of “depression”.
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Thursday, June 25, 2009
Who’s Really to Blame for the Crooked Financial System / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
Martin Hutchinson writes: It’s been in the news the last couple of days. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) bankers are headed for record bonuses. The Financial Times reports that bankers’ pay in the London market is already right back to 2007 levels and going higher. Banks are poaching each others’ best staff, and are offering huge pay packages to staffers willing to make the leap.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Bankster's Plan “Holiday” for September? / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
Kurt Nimmo writes: Bob Chapman’s influential International Forecaster is reporting on the possibility of a so-called “bank holiday” planned for late August or early September. According to Chapman’s sources, U.S. embassies around the world are selling dollars and stockpiling money from respective countries where they operate.
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
BIS Global Big Brother, Trading Financial Stability for National Sovereignty? / Politics / Global Financial System
Ellen Brown writes: Buried on page 83 of the 89-page Report on Financial Regulatory Reform issued by the U.S. Administration on June 17 is a recommendation that the new Financial Stability Board strengthen and institutionalize its mandate to promote global financial stability. Financial stability is a worthy goal, but the devil is in the details. The new global Big Brother is based in the Bank for International Settlements, a controversial institution that raises red flags among the wary . . . .
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Obama Regulatory Reforms to Establish Banking Dictatorship / Politics / Market Regulation
Paul Joseph Watson writes: President Obama’s plan to give the privately-owned and unaccountable Federal Reserve complete regulatory oversight across the entire U.S. economy, which is likely to be enacted before the end of the year, will officially herald the beginning of a new form of government in the United States - an ultra-powerful banking dictatorship controlled by a small gaggle of shadowy and corrupt elitists.
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Obama's Financial Reforms A Stealth Scheme for Global Monetary Control / Politics / Market Regulation
When politicians plan reform, it's wise to be skeptical and hold on to your wallets. So fixing the economy by bailing out Wall Street is wrecking it, and Obama's proposed health care reform taxes more, provides less, places profits above human need, avoids the most vital solutions, and leaves a broken system in place.
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