Some Things . . .

. . . never change . . .


(from James Madison; A Biography by Ralph Ketcham) as Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of Treasury promotes his plan for a national debt. . .

". . . Hamilton's candid admission that he intended the concentration in order to bring to the federal government a self-interested support he thought is desperately needed to become an effective means of government only increased Madison's apprehensions. Though the secretary expressed regret at the misfortunes of those whose interests suffered under his plans, he saw them as a small price to pay for the vital strengthening of the Union he thought made them necessary. As Madison observed the Hamiltonian "phalanx" in Congress, the eager support given the program in New York financial circles, the often arrogant comments by men of wealth about their superior capacity to lead and govern the country, and the tendency of backers of the secretary's report to exalt the executive over the legislative department, his concern for the survival of republican principles grew rapidly. Jefferson's famous charges, made in old age, that "Hamilton's financial system . . . had two objects; 1st, as a puzzle, to exclude popular understanding and inquiry; 2nd, as a machine for the corruption of the legislature," and that "men thus enriched by the dexterity of a leader [Hamilton], would follow of course the chief who was leading them to fortune. . . "

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Update . . .

(from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steven-mnuchin-treasury-secretary_us_582caddbe4b058ce7aa8b9c0)
". . . Donald Trump said the system is rigged. . . hedge fund managers are “getting away with murder.” . . . he’d “tax Wall Street.” . . .called Washington D.C. corrupt and promised to “drain the swamp.” . . . said his opponent Hillary Clinton was too cozy with the banks, as epitomized by her closed-door paid speeches. . . said Clinton’s vice presidential nominee, Tim Kaine, was “owned by the banks” and that he, Trump, would break them up. Trump closed his campaign with an ad bashing Goldman Sachs and George Soros, using classically anti-Semitic phrases. . . And now, according to The New York Times, ABC and CBS, the president-elect has chosen a second-generation Goldman Sachs partner who worked for George Soros before starting a hedge fund and buying IndyMac, a failing California bank that made billions while foreclosing on homeowners after the financial crisis. . . Steven Mnuchin. . . "


(from http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-proposes-two-illegal-responses-flag-burning-n689726)
". . . (Trump, the)president-elect advocates two blatantly illegal punishments for Americans engaged in free speech. . . "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag," Trump wrote on Twitter, "if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!". . . There are no criminal consequences for flag burning, however, because the Supreme Court has twice ruled that flag burning is a type of political expression. That means it is protected from government punishment by the First Amendment, regardless of what Congress or the president thinks. . . "

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Banks . . .

(from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-big-banks_us_570ea9d6e4b03d8b7b9f52aa)
". . . But Warren directed her sharpest words at an unnamed set of people who have recently downplayed the role of big banks in the financial crisis and questioned the value of breaking up big banks — an apparent reference to the Nobel Prize-winning Krugman. . .“There’s been a lot of revisionist history floating around lately that the Too Big to Fail banks weren’t really responsible for the financial crisis,” Warren said. That talk isn’t new. Wall Street lobbyists have tried to deflect blame for years. But the claim is absolutely untrue.”. . ."

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Hopeful . . .

. . . feeings

. . . we are better than this . . .


(from 935 Lies; The Future of Truth and the Decline of America's Moral Integrity by Charles Lewis-quoring James Martin from The meaning of the Twenty-first Century)
". . . Today there are major roadblocks preventing that actions that are needed. There are huge vested interests with massive financial reasons for not changing course. . . There is widespread ignorance . . . For the powerful people who control events, the desire for short-term benefits overwhelms the desire to solve long-term problems. If these roadblocks are not removed, we will steadily head down paths that lead to catastrophe: famines, violence, wars over water, pollution, global pandemics, runaway climate change, terrorism with new types of mass-destruction weapons. . . "

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One Bush . . .

 . . . too many.  Do we really want another one in the White House?


(source http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar)
. . . The late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. The Guardian confirmed that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism. His business dealings continued until the firm's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act. More than 60 years later, civil action for damages was brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave laborers at Auschwitz. The evidence has also prompted one former US Nazi war crimes prosecutor to argue that the late senator's action should have been grounds for prosecution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. After America had entered the war and when there was already significant information about the Nazis' plans and policies, Prescott Bush worked for and profited from companies closely involved with the very German businesses that financed Hitler's rise to power. It has also been suggested that the money he made from these dealings helped to establish the Bush family fortune and set up its political dynasty.

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Two. . .

. . . things I hate. . .

. . . about a politician and that is HIS FACE!!

(By binaryloop,  at http://libertycrier.com/forum/congress-quietly-repeals-insider-trading-ban/)
While Congress might be stuck in a deadlock on just about every issue imaginable, there’s one piece of legislation that both Democrats and Republicans hate unanimously: the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a law passed last year designed to prevent insider trading among lawmakers and government officials by requiring them to post disclosures of their financial transactions online.

Both parties and both houses of Congress hated the disclosure portion of the law so much that it was repealed last Friday (4/12/13) without debate—the measure was sent to the President by unanimous consent. The ordeal took about 10 seconds in the Senate and 14 seconds in the House, according to official records.

The STOCK Act would have required members of Congress, their aides, and other federal employees making more than $119,554 a year to disclose their financial dealings in an online database. It was supposed to prevent government officials from using insider knowledge about policy-making to profit from stock trades and other investments.

Upon the signing of the bill into law last year (pictured above), President Barack Obama said, “The idea that everybody plays by the same rules is one of our most cherished American values. It’s the notion that the powerful shouldn’t get to create one set of rules for themselves and another set of rules for everybody else, and if we expect that to apply to our biggest corporations and to our most successful citizens, it certainly should apply to our elected officials—especially at a time when there is a deficit of trust between this city and the rest of the country.” The White House has not said whether the President will sign the repeal.

Despite the repeal, government officials will still have to file disclosures of securities trades over $1,000 within 45 days, but they no longer have to file them in a searchable database that was to be easily accessible to the public.

Congress and the President had delayed the online posting portion of the act from going into effect 3 times already, but the ultimate repeal came after the National Academy of Public Administration, a nonprofit group, found that publishing the information would create an “unwarranted risk to national security and law enforcement, as well as threaten agency missions, individual safety and privacy,” in a report delivered last month. The group suggested that the online posting requirements should be suspended indefinitely.

Lisa Rosenberg of the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit group advocating for government transparency, said that the repeal “sets an extraordinarily dangerous precedent suggesting that any risks stem not from information being public but from public information being online.“

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Scary. . .

. . .  you say?  And it's not even Halloween yet (let alone election day). . .

(By Martha C. White, http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/15/14454865-koch-brothers-to-workers-vote-for-romney-or-suffer-the-consequences?lite)
". . . As a contentious election season enters its final weeks, a flurry of communication from corporate leaders to rank-and-file workers strongly implies that voting for Obama could imperil their jobs and their financial stability.

Employees of a paper company owned by the outspoken billionaire Koch brothers received a mailing warning that they could “suffer the consequences, including higher gasoline prices, runaway inflation, and other ills" if they voted for candidates not supported by Koch-owned companies or its political fund-raising arm.

The company also provided workers with a list of those candidates it supports. At the top: Mitt Romney, according to media outlet In These Times, which broke the story. “The packet also included an anti-Obama editorial by Charles Koch and a pro-Romney editorial by David Koch,” it said.

“This is in no way an attempt to ‘intimidate’ employees,” Greg Guest, senior director of corporate communications at Georgia-Pacific, said in a statement on the site kochfacts.com.

"It's free speech. On the other hand, while it's maybe not directly intended to be intimidating, it can be intimidating," said Izzy Kushner, president of consulting firm HR Impact and president of the Human Resources Association of New York.

Although the Koch brothers are known for their outspoken support of the GOP, “Our support is not based on party affiliation, and we support both Republicans and Democrats who support market-based policies and solutions,” Guest’s statement said. . ."

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Closed doors. . .

. . . no scruples. . .

(from http://truth-out.org/news/item/11792-the-israel-lobby-and-how-it-operates)
". . . Step One:  A lobbyist, in this case someone from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), approaches Congresspersons or Senators.  At some point in time that means every single one of them has been approached:  all 435 voting members of Congress and every one of the 100 voting members of the Senate.  Party affiliation is not an issue here.

Step Two:  The lobbyist offers to organize financial campaign assistance, positive media coverage, briefings on situations in the Middle East, trips to Israel, etc.

Step Three: All that is asked in return is that the recipient consistently vote in a pro-Israel way.  In other words, AIPAC wants the politician to surrender a part of his or her mind to them — that part that might exercise critical and considered judgment on issues pertaining to Israel.

Step Four: There are several unspoken, but publicly acknowledged, consequences of turning down this offer, or alternatively,  managing to get elected on your own and then voting the wrong way.

1. If you say no, the same offer will be made to your opponent both at the primary and general election levels.

2. If you are elected and vote against Israel,  AIPAC  will do all it can, sooner or later, to see you defeated. It has a good record of turning such people out of office.

Step Five:  If you sign up for this Faustian bargain and are elected, the lobby becomes your permanent partner.  It is a constant presence.  Its agents are always hovering about,   rating your performance, letting you know they are there.  Prove yourself reliable and they will underwrite you for life. . .

President Obama made this bargain as solidly as have most other politicians in Washington. . ."

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