Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Iran Holds Large Scale Naval Exercises / Politics / Iran
By: Stephen_Lendman
Iran is threatened by Israel and America’s regional military presence. In areas around the Persian Gulf, it has bases in every country except Iran - plus numerous others in North Africa and Central Asia.
Its actions destabilized much of the Middle East. It supports the region’s worst despots.
The late Chalmers Johnson said “the United States has been inexorably acquiring permanent military enclaves whose sole purpose appears to be the domination of one of the most strategically important areas of the world.”
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Sunday, February 26, 2017
Trump Relinquishes Control of Foreign Policy / Politics / US Politics
By: Mike_Whitney
The war party is back in power and the odds of normal relations with Russia have dropped to zero.
The appointment of Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster to the position of national security adviser indicates that Trump has done an about-face on his most critical foreign policy issue, normalizing relations with Russia. General Michael Flynn– who recently stepped down from the post following allegations of lying to Vice President Mike Pence –was the main proponent of easing tensions with Moscow which is a position that had been enthusiastically embraced by President Donald Trump. But McMaster does not support normalizing relations with Russia, in fact, McMaster sees Russia as a “hostile revisionist power” that “annex(es) territory, intimidates our allies, develops nuclear weapons, and uses proxies under the cover of modernized conventional militaries.” So, what’s going on? Why has Trump put a Moscow-hating hawk like McMaster in a position where he’ll be able to intensify the pressure on Russia, increase the provocations and, very likely, trigger a conflagration between the two nuclear-armed superpowers?
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Friday, February 24, 2017
When Was America’s Peak Wealth? / Politics / US Politics
By: Raul_I_Meijer
A few days ago, I wrote an essay entitled “Not Nearly Enough Growth To Keep Growing”, in which I posited, among many other things, that “..the Automatic Earth has said for many years that the peak of our wealth was sometime in the 1970’s or even late 1960’s” along with the question “..was America at its richest right before or right after Nixon took the country off the gold standard in 1971?”
That same day, I received an email from (very) long time Automatic Earth reader and afficionado Ken Latta, who implied he thought the peak of American wealth was even earlier. That turned into a nice conversation. I really like the way his head works to frame his words. And Ken knows what he’s talking about by grace of the fact that he was a witness to it all.
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Friday, February 24, 2017
California, Nestle and Decentralization - CalExit / Politics / US Politics
By: Antonius_Aquinas
Nestle USA has announced that it will move its headquarters from Glendale, California, to Rosslyn, Virginia, taking with it about 1200 jobs. The once Golden State has lost some 1600 businesses since 2008 and a net outflow of a million of mostly middle-class people from the state from 2004 to 2013 due to its onerous tax rates, the oppressive regulatory burden, and the genuine kookiness which pervades among its ruling elites.* A clueless Glendale official is apparently unconcerned about the financial repercussions of Nestle’s departure saying that it was “no big deal” and saw it as an “opportunity,” whatever that means!
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Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Why EU BrExit Single Market Access Hard line is European Union Committing Suicide / Politics / BrExit
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Some 8 months on from the British people voting against the interests of the establishment elite, most notable of which was for the emergence of an undemocratic european super state that further concentrated power into their own hands to the detriment of ordinary people. Britain is counting down to the triggering of Article 50, the formal request to LEAVE the European Union within a technical 2 year time limit for completion of but in practice may extend to several more years beyond. However, the EU elite even before the June 23rd 2016 vote, have been persistently warning the British people that they will be punished for voting for freedom from the EU super state, where the unsaid reason being so as to prevent a total collapse of the European Union as other states take Britians cue to rush for exit freedom.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Why the US Democratic Party Is Dead / Politics / US Politics
By: Jesse
One more time.
My fear is that well-meaning people will focus on 'getting rid of Trump,' without considering what sort of leadership will replace him.
Hillary Part Deux? Or some other corporatist stooge from the GOP who runs a smoother, more polished con on the working class?
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Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Trump Chooses Hawkish National Security Advisor / Politics / US Politics
By: Stephen_Lendman
On Monday, Trump named hawkish Army Lt. General HR McMaster to replace Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor (NSA).
Political pressure lead to his unfortunate sacking for harmlessly discussing sanctions with Russia’s US ambassador.
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Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Trump Plans Mass Deportations / Politics / Immigration
By: Stephen_Lendman
Obama was notoriously called America’s “deporter-in-chief” for conducting sweeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids nationwide - expelling record numbers, more than all his predecessors combined.
He largely targeted undocumented Mexicans and Central Americans, averaging over 1,000 deportations daily - people in the United States because destructive NAFTA and DR-CAFTA trade deals destroyed their jobs at home, or sought asylum from domestic violence and chaos.
Trump appears bent on exceeding Obama’s viciousness. Thousands of new ICE and border patrol agents are being hired. Stepped up sweeping raids will follow, more than already.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2017
The Nexus Between Politics and Economics / Politics / US Economy
By: Michael_Pento
President trump made the following crucial statement on February 9th: "We're going to be announcing something I would say over the next 2 or 3 weeks that will be phenomenal in terms of tax." To be sure, the nucleus of the President’s economic plan is the simplification of the tax code. To get this accomplished means everything for the stock market. Without a reduction in tax rates the air compressor that has been blowing up equity prices to near record and unsustainable valuations will explode.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
NSA and CIA is the Enemy of the People / Politics / Intelligence Agencies
By: BATR
Astute students of history understand that government agencies often further their own interests and not the administration they are designated to serve. Seldom is the genuine national security advanced when bureaucrats pledge their loyalty to their respective fiefdoms of projecting influence and power. Absent in this supremacy struggle equation is the abstract notion that state legitimacy is founded upon the will and consent of the people. Such a quaint concept does not reflect a chapter in the training manual that breeds the spooks who operate as above the law and unaccountable super spies.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Is Trump's ISIS Plan Another US Military Invasion? / Politics / War on Terror
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Just over a week into the Trump Administration, the President issued an Executive Order giving Defense Secretary James Mattis 30 days to come up with a plan to defeat ISIS. According to the Order, the plan should make recommendations on military actions, diplomatic actions, partners, strategies, and how to pay for the operation.
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Monday, February 20, 2017
Trump’s Tax System Could Spark The Wave Of Self-Employment / Politics / Taxes
By: John_Mauldin
Government is necessary.
That means we have to pay for the things government does. Hence, we have taxes.
The goal of tax policy should be simple: raise the required revenue to pay for whatever government actually—minimally—needs to do. And government should do those things as fairly and neutrally as possible.
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Monday, February 20, 2017
Here’s How to Stay Ahead of Machines and AI / Politics / AI
By: John_Mauldin
BY PATRICK WATSON : The Great American Jobs Apocalypse continues to tear our social fabric, and no one really knows what to do about it. If you’re not unemployed or underemployed now, then you know someone who is… and you could always be next.
I keep coming back to this theme in Connecting the Dots (subscribe here for free). That’s because it’s a monumental, paradigm-changing problem, and it affects all of us.
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Monday, February 20, 2017
Warning Signs Of Instability In Russia / Politics / Russia
By: John_Mauldin
BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN AND JACOB L. SHAPIRO : Geopolitical Futures forecasted that 2017 will be “an inflection point in the long-term destabilization of Russia.” After just six weeks, there are clear signs that this forecast is right on track. You can read more about GPF's outlook for Russia in This Week in Geopolitics (subscribe here for free).
Russia has four areas of instability: the distribution and prevalence of wage arrears, pressure on its banking system, low-level social and economic unrest, and government purges.
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Sunday, February 19, 2017
Deep State Power v. Trump / Politics / US Politics
By: Raul_I_Meijer
America’s deep state is divided on Trump. He couldn’t have been elected without enough support.
Post-inauguration, things changed. The balance of power shifted against him, leaving him vulnerable, already weakened this early in his tenure, unprecedented for a US president.
His record so far in office is another matter, though too soon to judge him definitively. Still, disturbing signs aren’t encouraging. More on this below.
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Saturday, February 18, 2017
The Flynn Fiascom, the Trump Revolution Ends in a Whimper / Politics / US Politics
By: Mike_Whitney
The Flynn fiasco is not about national security advisor Michael Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador. It’s much deeper than that. It’s about Russia. It’s about Putin. It’s about the explosive rise of China and the world’s biggest free trade zone that will eventually stretch from Lisbon to Vladivostok. It’s about the one country in the world that is obstructing Washington’s plan for global domination. (Russia) And, it’s about the future; which country will be the key player in the world’s most prosperous and populous region, Asia.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
NSA, CIA, FBI, Media Establishment 'Deep State' War Against Emerging 'Trump State' / Politics / US Politics
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The latest actions in the established military, intelligence corporate, media complexes systematic war on the Trump Presidency was to takedown the Presidents National Security advisor, Michael Flynn following leaks of conversations recorded between Michael Flynn and the Russian Ambassador by the intelligence agencies to the New York Times amongst other establishment media outlets. With the Democrats jumping on board the lynch mob bandwagon with cries of Treason!
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Maps That Show The US’ Strategy In Asia-Pacific / Politics / GeoPolitics
By: John_Mauldin
BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN AND JACOB L. SHAPIRO : Secretary of Defense James Mattis recently wrapped up his first international trip whose purpose was to “listen to the concerns of South Korean and Japanese leaders.”
The two countries are crucial US allies in Asia, and both face serious threats in their near abroad.
Discussing security threats, though, wasn’t the main goal of Mattis’s trip. He was there to assure both countries that the Trump administration will not abandon the US alliance structure in the Pacific.
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Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Iran’s Strengthening Economy Is A Threat To The US—Not Nukes / Politics / Iran
By: John_Mauldin
BY KAMRAN BOKHARI : There is a great deal of noise over the fate of the Iran nuclear deal which we wrote about last year. It is going to be very hard to roll back the agreement announced a year ago. Thus, it’s unclear what Trump can do to limit Iran’s benefits from the respite in sanctions.
The issue is not a nuclear Iran or one with ballistic missile capability, but rather an economy that is improving because of the nuclear deal.
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Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Bankrupt US and Venezuelan Regimes Barring Travel to Citizenry Attempting to Flee / Politics / Social Issues
By: Jeff_Berwick
Over the past few years we have watched the situation in Venezuela continually deteriorate as the country’s socialist regime led by Nicolas Maduro has helped to hyperinflate the nation into oblivion.
For Venezuelans, this runaway inflation has come with a number of awful consequences.
The situation is especially dire in Caracas where people often have to kill and eat stray animals to survive since the bread lines which stretch blocks, oftentimes run out of food.