Who stands to gain the most by keeping the American people polarized and hating the Government? (Page 2): "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own...

Jersey guy Loc: New Joisey

"Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government".
Thomas Jefferson

Have you ever seen or listened to a Man on the Street questioning of average people about politics? Very discouraging! They don't know who's VP or Sec'y of State, etc., but they sure do know who won the latest American Idol contest, as some have observed on here. And they vote, unfortunately.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

micro wrote:

We're screwed!

probably - but there is always American Idol to keep us amused

UP-2-IT Loc: RED STICK, LA

Opus wrote:

Last night 60 minutes showed how members of congress are using inside information they get through their jobs to enrich themselves and how there own financial interests influence legislation. It cuts across both parties. Until people pay as much attention to politicians as the do American Idol things will not get any better.

Yep, 60 mintes last night was just another one of those disgusting "Realty" shows. The sooner people wake up and realize who is screwing us the better, always in the past when one got screwed expecting a kiss in return was normal but thinking of the likes of kissing Nancy Pelosi, forget it.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

frenchcoast wrote:

quote=Opus Last night 60 minutes showed how membe... (show quote)

hmmm missed 60 minutes.....am thinking Kiss from nancy or kiss from jim...........hmmm maybe sarah is available?

ggttc Loc: TN

The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

Lancer W/A Canon Loc: atlanta

Opus wrote:

Last night 60 minutes showed how members of congress are using inside information they get through their jobs to enrich themselves and how there own financial interests influence legislation. It cuts across both parties. Until people pay as much attention to politicians as the do American Idol things will not get any better.

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Leo W. Gerard
Leo W. Gerard

International President, United Steelworkers
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Corporate Primacy Causes People Poverty
Posted: 06/18/2012 8:16 am
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Barack Obama , George W Bush , Mitt Romney , Ronald Reagan , Financial Crisis , Barack Obama , /Federal Reserve Board , Franklin Roosevelt , Great Depression , Great Recession , Harry Truman , Wall Street Reform , Dodd-Frank , Obamacare , Robber Barons , Superpacs , Trickle Down , Voodoo Economics , Politics News

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The Romney v. Obama economic smack down in Ohio last Thursday failed to deliver half the punch of remarks the men made earlier in the week.

President Obama said the nation must focus on the public sector, which continues to lay off thousands of teachers, cops and firefighters, even while the private sector has recovered sufficiently to consistently add jobs. Romney said he would fire more teachers, cops and firemen.

This gets to the dispute between Democrats and Republicans. The GOP has contended for 30 years that the primary function of government is to serve corporations and the 1 percent, and that when they thrive, the 99 percent may receive hand-me-down benefits. Democrats believe the principal function of government is to serve the majority of people and that when they benefit, the economy thrives for everyone.

For all the fancy talk in Ohio on Thursday, it comes down to this: Do Americans want a government of the people by the people for the people, one conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal? Or do Americans want a government of the corporations by the corporations for the corporations, one dedicated to the proposition that the rich are better than everyone else?

For the rich, like Mitt Romney, the proposition that they are better than everyone else is a given. Romney believes that he, the son of a wealthy car company executive and governor, the youth who attended exclusive private schools and wallowed in every privilege, is a self-made man.

That is basic Republican philosophy: Every wealthy person and every successful corporation achieved that all by themselves. They didn't inherit; they didn't benefit from taxpayer-funded infrastructure like roads, schools and patent enforcement; there was no luck involved. They achieved it alone by virtue of their own grit, hard work and dedication.

Anyone can do it, the GOP believes, if they would just buckle down, work hard and follow all the rules. As a result, in Republican world, anyone who isn't rich has only himself to blame.

Therefore, in GOP-logic, the poor and middle class are inferior beings. Government should not serve them. The government, Republicans think, should bow to the successful, who earned service. The government must not, according to the GOP, reward shiftlessness by providing benefits to middle class scallywags who have failed to do what it takes to get rich.

This doctrine of primacy for corporations and the 1 percent has set back the middle class. And the nation's economy. Middle class income has stagnated. Meanwhile, the wealth of the top 1 percent and corporations has skyrocketed, so that now as much wealth is concentrated at the top as was during the robber-baron age immediately before the Great Depression.

A report issued by the Federal Reserve Board early last week showed that both the income and net worth of the average American family declined so drastically between 2007 and 2010 that nearly two decades of accumulated family wealth was wiped out. Seventy percent of those losses occurred in the years while Republican George W. Bush was still president.

By contrast, on the 1 percent end the scale, corporate executives raked it in last year. Forbes calculated that the CEOs of the nation's top 500 corporations got an average 16 percent pay increase. The 2011 paycheck for each: a cool $10.5 million.

Also, corporate balance sheets are back in the black, with profits now shooting above pre-recession levels. Rather than investing in America or creating jobs with that money, corporations are hoarding more than $2 trillion in reserves.

And they are stuffing $10 million checks into GOP super PAC funds to ensure that Romney keeps his promise to lay off teachers, cops and firefighters while cutting taxes even further for the rich and eliminating any and all regulations that annoy corporations.

No air or water pollution controls on factories. No food safety inspections. Repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Law that was enacted to prevent the reckless Wall Street gambling that crashed the economy. Repeal ObamaCare that was enacted to end abusive practices by health insurers.

Romney reiterated last week that he opposes the provision of ObamaCare requiring insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions. So if a child is born with asthma and his working-poor parents don't have employer-provided health insurance or the money to buy coverage, too bad for the kid. Let him die gasping for breath. The toddler should have had more grit, hard work and dedication and earned himself some insurance. Or he should have picked better parents. Like Romney did.

Democrats, like Obama, believe in the primacy of the majority, as did the founders of the United States. The revolutionists wrote in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. . ." The 1 percent, CEOs, the lucky, the super-smart and the well-born are not more equal. The government was created to serve the needs of everyone.

And when it does, the economy fairs better. After the Wall Street crash of 1929, the great Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt and his successor Harry Truman instituted changes that supported the majority, including establishing collective bargaining rights. World War II, paid for by high taxes on the 1 percent, created a massive employment program, after which veterans benefits provided higher education for a generation. The result was lower concentration of wealth at the top and the greatest economic boom in the history of the world.

Then came Republican Ronald Reagan who gave the doctrine of corporate primacy a cute name -- trickle down. America must end his spell of voodoo economics or Romney and the Republicans will continue to stick it to the middle class.

F

Jersey guy Loc: New Joisey

Opus,

Surely you jest? I can't even begin to take the time to refute of lot of your Socialist bunk, but one point is absurd...if 1% of the populace was able to underwrite the massive effort of WWII, then why are we worried about funding our Military? Just go back to the favorite "inexhaustable well" of the Liberals, that mean 1% and tap them again. Oh, and I am too old to learn to speak Greek so I hope you aren't really pushing us in that direction!!

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

Jersey guy wrote:

Opus,

Surely you jest? I can't even begin to take the time to refute of lot of your Socialist bunk, but one point is absurd...if 1% of the populace was able to underwrite the massive effort of WWII, then why are we worried about funding our Military? Just go back to the favorite "inexhaustable well" of the Liberals, that mean 1% and tap them again. Oh, and I am too old to learn to speak Greek so I hope you aren't really pushing us in that direction!!

too late we are already Greece and heading towards the cliffs - but not to worry when the Titanic sank the crew made sure the poor drowned first.

Opus Loc: South East Michigan

Jersey guy, please pull your head out of you ass and learn how to read. The stuff you are referring to was written by Lancer W/W Cannon, not me. He just quoted me in the beginning of his statement about people not paying attention to what is done to them by members of both parties.

Jersey guy wrote:

Opus,

Surely you jest? I can't even begin to take the time to refute of lot of your Socialist bunk, but one point is absurd...if 1% of the populace was able to underwrite the massive effort of WWII, then why are we worried about funding our Military? Just go back to the favorite "inexhaustable well" of the Liberals, that mean 1% and tap them again. Oh, and I am too old to learn to speak Greek so I hope you aren't really pushing us in that direction!!

micro Loc: Texas

Jersey guy wrote:

Opus,

Surely you jest? I can't even begin to take the time to refute of lot of your Socialist bunk, but one point is absurd...if 1% of the populace was able to underwrite the massive effort of WWII, then why are we worried about funding our Military? Just go back to the favorite "inexhaustable well" of the Liberals, that mean 1% and tap them again. Oh, and I am too old to learn to speak Greek so I hope you aren't really pushing us in that direction!!

You're right - Socialism, the rot of all evil. Social Security, the national highway system, police, fire departments, airports/air traffic control..........

MizSchmidlap Loc: Austin, TX

My first thought is that corporations should NOT be allowed to donate money to political campaigns. Our Constitution Preamble began.....We the People....... NOT We the corporation....

Jersey guy Loc: New Joisey

Oooops! Sorry, Opus. The way that post came across I totally missed the quoted part of the message (yours). This format is confusing at times and it didn't help that the part immediately under yours was a disconnected series of lines that made no sense...but, then, a lot of stuff on here diesn't make sense and i don't understand why a website i signed onto for more photographic info bothers to allow political debate. There are a lot of other dedicated political sites I could go to if this is what i wanted to do.

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

Opus wrote:

Last night 60 minutes showed how members of congress are using inside information they get through their jobs to enrich themselves and how there own financial interests influence legislation. It cuts across both parties. Until people pay as much attention to politicians as the do American Idol things will not get any better.

I agree. But where have you been? They have been doing that for as long as I can remember. And im 82. We need to get those guys moving out every two years. And I mean both sides. Their in there to look after this country not to line their own pockets.

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

docrob wrote:

When J.P. Morgan's CEO Jamie Dimon testified before the Senate Banking Committee last week, many articles reporting the hearing noted how kindly the super-banker was treated by the committee. Dimon flaunted his presidential cufflinks, presumably given to him by President Obama (who has also praised Dimon publicly). The senators heaped accolades upon Dimon while asking very little about how he blew up to $7 billion of his depositors' money. After watching what this nation has gone through with its top bankers over the last four years, the reception Mr. Dimon received could not have been made up by Kafka. It stands as a near perfect example of institutional failure of a democratically elected institution and the supremacy of financial corporations as their replacement.

But it wasn't always like this.

Prior to FDR and his reforms (during the 50 years of which there was not a single American financial panic), panics were quite common. Every few years, a massive loss of confidence in financial institutions would take place, destroying massive amounts of wealth and ruining the economy. In 1907, there was a massive financial panic much like in 2008. Prior to the crash, speculators began to make risky side bets with the assets of insurance companies (like speculators do with pension funds these days). One such company, one could say the equivalent of Lehman Brothers, was the Knickerbocker Trust Company. Knickerbocker was a high flyer, with plenty of its traders and executives enjoying lavish lifestyles much like our investment bankers today. Knickerbocker, backed up by a syndicate of the nation's top banks, engaged in an elaborate bet to corner the market on copper. A massive amount of debt was run up against bank deposits and insurance company reserves in an attempt at monopoly. This didn't work out, naturally, so the trust collapsed and took the entire banking system down with it. There were bank runs. Industrial companies that depended on credit lines were ruined. Insurance companies failed to pay claims. Nationwide panic ensued.
J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan (Wikimedia Commons)
Into the breach stepped one John Pierpont Morgan. Morgan had some experience with panics over his long career in finance, notably the Great Panic of 1893, a financial crisis brought about by railroad stock speculators. A massive depression followed. In the 1907 disaster, Morgan organized the response to contain the financial damage to prevent a depression. He secured a huge deposit from the United States Treasury Secretary, as well as additional funds from John D. Rockefeller and Lord Rothschild of the famed European banking house. Morgan even pledged half his own personal fortune to guarantee the United States's credit to prevent loss of confidence in the Treasury's bonds. While Morgan contained the panic and even managed to make a slight profit for his trouble, he was not pleased with having to deal with things in such a risky way:

Even if Morgan made money after the fact in 1907, the expectation of higher default risk made the possibility of lending in future panics unattractive. Perhaps this is what was realized by the New York bankers, causing them to abandon their role as de facto lenders of last resort and setting the groundwork for the establishment of the Federal Reserve System.

After many years of study initiated by Morgan, the Federal Reserve was established to mitigate the risks of financial panic. The New York branch of the bank welcomed its first president, a Mr. Benjamin Strong, longtime assistant to Morgan. While President Roosevelt was pleased with Morgan's intervention, he was no fan of any one person having that much power. Nor was he any friend of Morgan's after having beaten him in the Supreme Court during TR's successful breakup of Morgan's western railroad trust. Still, despite all this, Roosevelt and his hand picked successor Taft went on to give a great deal of latitude to Morgan and his allies in setting up the basic structure for the Federal Reserve.
Rep. Arsene Pujo of Louisiana circa 1913 (Wikimedia Commons)
Rep. Arsene Pujo (D-LA), c. 1919
All of this seems so familiar to us, doesn't it? We too have had a financial crisis brought about by the speculation of bankers. Our Treasury officials are cozy with the big banks just like in 1907. But last week's hearing before the Senate Banking Committee stands in stark contrast to what happened in Congress to a J.P. Morgan leader over 100 years ago. The Pujo Committee was formed as a subcommittee of the House Banking Committee and was headed by Louisiana Democratic lawyer and congressman Arsene Pujo.

The Pujo Committee was the father of the more famous Pecora Commission, which looked into the causes of the Great Depression. Needless to say, J.P. Morgan himself was not welcomed into the hearing room and heaped with praise as Dimon was. In fact, he endured a torrent of tough questioning at the hands of the Committee, and derision and scorn on the House and Senate floor. Pujo's report is absolutely scathing in its takedown of Morgan and the big banks. The committee's lawyer lit into Morgan over and over again during several brutal days of testimony. In the end, some of Morgan's friends speculated that the stress of the hearings may have killed him.

Today, we have a situation where the majority whip of the Senate famously noted, speaking of Congress, that the bankers "own the place." Which is interesting considering the largest financial contributor to that Senate committee is...whaddayaknow...JP Morgan. Perhaps there needs to be a committee to investigate how that came about. You'd think a sitting Senator who is bold enough to admit that a private group of bankers owns a democratic institution would call at least one day of public hearings into the matter. Maybe then we could get to the root cause of why we have had three financial panics since the government began dismantling FDR's reforms. Maybe some sort of congressional committee concerned with banking could investigate the matter.

Perhaps one day someone on the Senate Banking Committee Banker's Senate Committee will figure out that it is their job to supervise banks and not the other way around.

When J.P. Morgan's CEO Jamie Dimon testified befor... (show quote)

Dimon= The hungry, fat fox is appointed to watch over the hen house. That's really clever. Let's put Charlie Manson in charge of Corcoran Prison.

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

Opus wrote:

Last night 60 minutes showed how members of congress are using inside information they get through their jobs to enrich themselves and how there own financial interests influence legislation. It cuts across both parties. Until people pay as much attention to politicians as the do American Idol things will not get any better.

I've been afraid of oligarchy and plutocracy, then I woke up, we're mired in both already!