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In the Shadow of Hoover
While he was in China, Barack Obama made a bizarre declaration that the US government must reduce its budget deficits in order to avoid "a double-dip recession." The remark was alarming because it suggests the president may not fully understand the country's economic predicament. Deficit spending is a cure for our troubles, not the cause. If Obama follows through and actually reduces the red ink, the Great Recession could be born again with new fury.
In an interview with Fox News, the president said: "It is important to recognize if we keep on adding to the deficit, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point people could lose confidence in the US economy in a double-dip recession." Maybe he didn't mean it. Or was merely nodding to Chinese leaders, our leading creditor, who had scolded him for profligate spending.
Still, his backward logic gave me a chill. If Obama acts on it, he will be walking in the footsteps of Herbert Hoover, not Franklin Roosevelt, and I fear his presidency could be doomed as a result. I know that sounds too strong and brutally unfair, given the president's energetic vision for the country and his early efforts to stimulate economic recovery. But history is often unfair to leaders who do not get their priorities straight and fail to deliver what they promise.
Hoover was the Republican president from 1929 to 1933 and faced a far more dramatic unwinding of the economy after the 1929 stock market crash. In popular memory, he was blamed, somewhat unfairly, for causing the Great Depression. People came to loathe him personally for the repeated pep talks--"Prosperity is just around the corner"--and Democrats ran against "Hoover" for many years after.
Barack Obama is a towering political talent by comparison, but also has troubling similarities. In an age of limited government, Hoover preached "volunteerism" and worked earnestly to persuade business to cooperate with labor and "do the right thing." Obama's softball approach to the financial crisis reveals a similar reluctance to use government's powers to compel results. Instead of directing bailed-out banks to lend more aggressively, Obama asked them nicely. The bankers blew him off. His economic stimulus was a good start, yet clearly insufficient.
If Herbert Hoover was guilty of anything, it was ambivalence and confusion of purpose. Hoover was a very intelligent technocrat who sincerely tried various sound measures to relieve the general suffering. But Hoover never found the will to follow through decisively. He was pulled in an opposite direction by failed market orthodoxy that was still influential. To his subsequent regret, Hoover heeded the steely advice of Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon: "Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate." In other words, let nature takes its course. Clear away the wreckage and capitalism will heal itself.
In the era of big government, Obama is a far more activist president, but he has followed a less brutal version of the same conservative thinking. Pour billions first into restoring the financial system, then it can revive the real economy. That approach was backwards, as nervous members of Congress are beginning to grasp.
Like Hoover, Obama is pulled between opposing imperatives. Deficit hawks demand he get control over the budget deficits to restore confidence among investors (those Chinese creditors who buy our Treasury bonds). Bleeding-heart politicians, on the other hand, want him to focus on rescuing the folks (who need jobs and foreclosure relief and can renew consumer demand for businesses). Obama would like to do both, but hesitates to choose decisively.
Blaming this on his center-right advisors--Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers, Rahm Emmanuel--is too easy. Obama picked them. He obviously agrees with their reluctance to go full bore in behalf of the real economy. Geither and Summers, meanwhile, are taking victory laps for saving the country. Ordinary citizens wonder what they are talking about. Obama should tell them to shut up with their self-congratulations (better still, he should replace them with more imaginative policy thinkers).
Piling up more government debt is undesirable and involves risk, but it is not as bad as a low-grade depression that would go on for many years without relief. In this crisis, the United States is astride a fundamental disjuncture that only the federal government can repair by borrowing tons of money and spending it--force-feeding recovery, then cleaning up the balance sheet afterward.
The awkward truth about capitalism is the machine does not function unless someone is borrowing money and spending it. The genius of the capitalist system is that it recycles surplus wealth--savings and profits from past economic activity--by lending the wealth for new production and consumption. When nobody in the private economy can borrow and nobody will lend--neither households nor business and finance--government has to step up to the task. In a crisis like this, if the federal government declines to get things moving again by borrowing and spending, as heavily as necessary, then the economy will stumble along far below its potential (that is, higher unemployment, weaker production, more failures). If Obama decides to curtail the deficits now, he is disarming unilaterally.
In history, even FDR wanted to have it both ways, but New Dealers learned from painful error they could not serve both masters. In 1936, they decided the recovery was complete so they reduced federal spending and raised interest rates. The depression was resumed with new viciousness. Obama and advisers now seem to think they are out of the ditch and can safely tilt toward fiscal responsibility.
The truth is, nobody knows what comes next. Just as plausibly, the trouble is not over but may even get worse. Instead of cresting, unemployment could rise further for another year or more, spreading the suffering and loss more widely. If the "recovery" proves to be an illusion, then another stock market break might follow. Uncertainty is still in the saddle.
Liberal-labor forces, in and out of Congress, are mounting a counter-attack on Obama's timidity and demanding major new spending for direct job creation. The president has agreed to a "jobs summit" to consider the problem.
This is an opening for Obama to announce a major "course correction." If he states the gravity of the situation honestly, people will not be angered by his truth-telling. They already see things are worse than officials acknowledge. If Obama opts instead for half-way measures--too little too late--then he will fall squarely under Hoover's shadow.
Herbert Hoover tried to emphasize the positive as the economy continued to unwind. He expressed his deep faith in the country's future and offered helpful suggestions for coping. Americans were at first reassured, then gradually they became angered as they saw the president's optimism contradicted by events. In the end, Hoover's good intentions frightened people. Hearing from the president, again and again, that things were getting better, when they knew otherwise, told them he was indifferent to their plight or, more frightening, he had lost touch with reality.
47 Comments so far
Show AllFor anyone interested
Mother Jones is fielding an Oxfam action on poverty - seeking to do exponential outreach through Thanksgiving
Check it out
http://actfast.oxfamamerica.org/
may the day gain meaning for all of us
As I have been pointing out in my posts for the past 6 months...during the campaign Obama was billed as another JFK, RFK or MLK. By inauguaation day he was looking more like LBJ. Since Inauguration day he looks more and more like Calvin Collidge ("the business of America is business") and Herbert Hoover.
After the Democrats lose control of Congress in the 2010 elections Obama we will be comparing Obama with Dubya as the worst President of the past 100 years.
This morning, Amy Goodman broadcast a clip of Obama talking about the economic recovery as if it is real. I muted him. I can no longer stand to look at him, and I can't stand to hear his voice. A jobless recovery, with more jobs disappearing daily, is NOT a recovery. And, Obama's plan to host a jobs summit next month is NOT soon enough. Real unemployment numbers are near 20%, and maybe actually higher. but certainly not the 10.2% reported by the M$M. In NYC, I've read that as many as 1.5 million people are out of work. When Penny's was ready to open, 15,000 people applied for 400 jobs. Clearly, the road to recovery is a very rocky and unsettled path, especially with poor and impotent leadership.
"Blaming this on his center-right advisors--Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers, Rahm Emmanuel--is too easy. Obama picked them. He obviously agrees with their reluctance to go full bore in behalf of the real economy. Geither and Summers, meanwhile, are taking victory laps for saving the country. Ordinary citizens wonder what they are talking about. Obama should tell them to shut up with their self-congratulations (better still, he should replace them with more imaginative policy thinkers)." -- William Greider
Greider is correct: Obama picked his advisors. From the beginning, when Obama appointed his economic advisers, I feared the worst. I didn't vote for Obama, but I didn't expect him to completely betray us, either. From "health insurance reform," to continuing and escalating wars, he has shown us where he stands.
As for "volunteerism" -- well, an economy can not be run for the public good on unemployed citizens signing up to be volunteers. Here in NYC, I read that Mayor Bloomberg and Al Gore are partnering to create green jobs. Here's the kicker, though -- people in NYC are being asked to volunteer for the green jobs, and one of the jobs will be to paint roofs white. Who will benefit from that work? Real estate owners will benefit. The last time I checked, Mayor Bloomberg is worth about $20 billion. And, Al Gore is also a very wealthy man. Someone, somewhere in this city, should be able to come up with enough money to pay people to do the work.
Of course, if you walk around the city, you'll notice empty commercial spaces on just about every block in the city, including Madison Avenue. Most of the spaces have emptied out since the 2008 holiday season came to a close in January of 2009. Some blocks in the city are completely empty of businesses. And, developers are building more spaces that need to be filled, and luxury apartments as well, most of which, in my neighborhood, are sitting empty. Of course, the work keeps some men employed. But, I have also read that there are fewer union jobs to be had.
Already, we are being bombarded by Christmas advertising, and the deals are also advertised in every window that I pass. But, one holiday season can not make up for the downturn of a complete year of economic crisis.
What a disastrous mess!
Sioux Rose
KAY: I think the stock market is posed on a precipice hoping this holiday season will buoy up retail "optimism" in the form of sales the public cannot afford.
Others in this forum have related that their credit card interest rates just went up. It is PREPOSTEROUS that banks now pay 2.2% interest on our savings/CDS while credit card companies have just determined their right to charge 23%! This type of usury OUGHT TO BE ILLEGAL! We bailed these banks out and not only are they not loaning money (they need it on hand, after all, to buy politicians to keep "the laws" in favor of their FREE trade in the form of naked, unregulated profits) they have the nerve to raise rates on our cards? Then they urge us to go shopping?
Where I live electricity rates, gas (tank rental) rates, vehicle registrations, and now credit card rates have all gone up when many are struggling to run in place. I can only imagine what it does to morale when wages remain flat and all the expenses of life rise around workers. It's purposely designed so that a huge segment of the population cannot get ahead. In a sense, if we're not those serfs that Chris Hedges pointed out some weeks ago, then we're all IN THE GHETTO now. Guess that's why there's so much money to be made in building/running prisons! Who'd a thunk the land of the free & brave has come this far?
Yes, the big banks are currently jacking up interest rates. The other night, I heard my son arguing with his bank about raising his interest rate several points. He thought it wouldn't happen to him. Sioux Rose, I completely agree that usury should be illegal, but usury laws were dismantled when Carter was president and he also had a democratic congress.
And, Sioux Rose, I also agree that Wall Street is attempting to feed us the illusion of 'optimism" to persuade people to spend money they don't have during the upcoming "holiday" season. Every month, I watch the so-called experts scratch their heads when the new stats are released and the unemployement numbers are higher, and spending is down. The experts always seem quite befuddled, and even mystified by the data. Foreclosures continue to rise, too.
Have you seen the Orson Welles film, F For Fake? It's priceless!
Sioux Rose
Hi, Kay... I'll have to check that film out.
Here's an analogy that came to me in relation to the way Americans dub their own celebrity/expert culture: it's our version of the British Royals making use of titles like Duke and Earl. Since media time generally leads much of the public to the false conclusion that the person on camera is famous because s/he owns real talent, by allotting media time to those who are already devotees of those causes the media's owners wish to further enshrine, they establish the false credibility of this "witness" class. The climate deniers come to mind, or any of the sell-outs Fox "news" utilizes to provide its "fair and unbiased" reportings. I mean if people listen to a slob like Rush Limbaugh, then ANYTHING is possible if someone is given access to a microphone and his or her words broadcast across numerous markets. The tautalogy here is that "success breeds success." Manufacturing consent may be expensive, but it works best for those with deep pockets regardless of how they happened to have come to their fortunes.
I used to tell my daughters, "When God runs out of gifts, he gives money." Steve Forbes is a pretty good example of that axiom.
Sioux Rose: I'll be interested in your comments, if you are able to find a copy of the DVD reissue of the Orson Welles film, F For Fake. He takes on the issue of EXPERTS. These experts are from the world of art, with degrees, and experience, etc. It's quite profound, and relative as well, and as usual, Orson Welles turned illusion and reality, with the blurring of the lines, inside-out, and upside-down, so to speak! I was mesmerized by the film. In addition, the DVD version includes a couple of very interesting documentaries on similar subjects.
Sioux Rose
Kay: Consider me ON the case. (I'm great at finding hard to find things. Sometimes they literally fall into my life, lap or path!)
Amen, Kay!
BTW, I have developed the same reflexive antipathy to this Unitary Executive as I had for the last one; like you, the sight and sound of Obama sends me running for the "mute" button.
For all of Obama's vaunted intellectual eloquence, to the extent I can stand listening, I find his extemporaneous remarks typically banal and perfunctory at best-- the same dubious crap Elected Misrepresentatives-in-Chief always spew.
His barking, staccato inflection doesn't have the ring of self-assured confidence and competence Obama obviously intends to impart. Although he will fool some of the people all of the time.
The odious pair of Geithner and Summers remind me of The Duke and the Dauphin, the sly confidence-tricksters in "Huckleberry Finn".
I think it's a far better bet that they'll get Presidential Medals of Freedom before they get the boot they so richly deserve; pun intended. It will be Peace Prizewinner Obama's way of Paying It Forward.
· Yr Obd't Servant
Great comment, also Kay's and Sioux Rose's. How is it Obama EVER fooled anyone? Especially, how the hell is he fooling anyone now? He seemed like a total fake to me the first time I saw or heard him. "Barking staccato" is an apt description of his speaking manner. Without a teleprompter the guy is a complete mediocrity.
Ephraim: I agree -- how did Obama fool so many people?
And, I agree that Obedient Servant nailed it with his description -- "barking staccato" -- as well as the comparison to the Duke and Dauphin from Mark Twain.
Even in the beginning, I didn't buy into the idea of Obama's speaking eloquence, and I still remember watching a Jon Stewart segment when he showed Obama to be as inarticulate, and uncertain, as G.W. was. Afterwards, Obama began using a teleprompter -- as I recall.
Cymbalic president ... tin ears, AGAIN!
The "recovery" is an illusion. How could it be otherwise?
Profits are up on Wall Street due to the loss of US jobs and it isn't sustainable over time. This has been coming for some time with the elevation of the free market as the only game in town, the campaign to destroy oversight, the political climate encouraging de-regulation and now, the control of government resulting in wholesale looting of the future. The scam of the market rallying based on bubbles, deliberate inflation and skewed stats is divorced from not only the "real economy" but reality itself. A vicious circle is created by the ongoing policy of off-shoring jobs with slave labor to pump up profits and avoid environmental laws and taxes, creating US job loss, loss of homes, less taxes, less revenue, more lay-offs, less consumption, more lay-offs. Any idiot can see this--yet people still echo the notion that the recession is over because Corps are making money at our expense and exploiting overseas sweatshops-- like they defend Obama based on his campaign rhetoric. How many US companies now are stationed in China but still benefit from their US address? China might own us but how many American Corps are unofficially running the show?
I really can't see how following this road, considering the structural paralysis enforced by power and wealth benefitting from the deception, things could possibly change. My guess is that those predicting unemployment not going beyond 10.8 in 2010 are in for a shock if they can't figure out another trick to hide it.
"The "recovery" is an illusion. How could it be otherwise?" -- Vern
Exactly!
Sioux Rose
VERN: Right on!
The five outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) all require years for their orbital cycles. Astrologers have observed specific interactions among planets that demonstrate in scarcity here on earth. Two of the major interactions that were in play during the Great Depression are about to surface, one is already IN play. The 2nd big set of factors show up in June-September 2010.
Media has framed the issue of violence in Iraq in a way that makes it seem the nation has improved, the "war effort" proven satisfactory. The MSM of course doesn't mention the purported MILLION killed and four million rendered refugee in status.
It's the same with climate change. The MSM gives equal time to voices paid by the big polluting corporations so that under the appearance of "fair and balanced" discussions, the truth gets muddied.
The EXACT same type of psychological strategy is underway regarding the ILLUSION that the recession/depression is over. It is not. What are used as indicators play into the wishes of power elites and firmly manufacture consent. Chomsky understood this mechanism, and those who have made their fortunes using PR to marginalize dissent in favor of selling illusions will own a special place in purgatory.
Meanwhile, the hard times ($) are NOT over!
Damn, does he have bad aspects to neptune-sun or ruthless ones to pluto-mars?
Hard to tell if it was illusion on his part running to win the first Black president title without considering his role after being elected, or was it sheer manipulation from the start considering the shift from campaign to White House? Seems it was all about ego to get it--and he was accomplished as a campaigner, but how could his ego allow himself to flop so disasterously once there unless their was complicity? I just can't see how going down as a failure as the first Black president would be worth it. I would be praying for a bullet if only to save my legacy a la Kennedy.
His success on the campaign revealed him to be much less competent than anyone imagined, because he doesn't even try to hide it.
Sioux Rose
Hi, Vern, to be honest, I have not studied his chart. Bill Clinton is a Leo as is Obama and Leo is foremost a showman. Most Leos are influenced by their hearts, although the lust for power is also a factor. It seems he is a loving husband and father, and I would think the emotion of love would bind him to the realization that the things he refuses to act upon (say sane policies to curtain global warming) will undermine the lives of his children and someday grandchildren. It is almost impossible for me to conceive of how persons in power can act with such knowing disregard for the very sustainability of the planet. There is one dark possibility, that just as Tony Blair and Bush believed in "End Times," and Hillary was known to attend an odd religious "lunch" at some lobbyist house near the Capital, that Mr. Obama also is a devotee of this dark prophecy and therefore feels no onus for all that he is not doing. It's been estimated that 100 million believe in End Times. This is hardly a tiny fringe group, and about half of those numbers reside in the U.S. Undoubtedly the darling Ms. Palin is among that ilk. Can you imagine a more diabolical excuse for compromising the responsibilities leadership calls for? To presume it's ALL nearly over, that nothing matters is a form of nihilism on steroids. It's also gotten plenty of press in the form of popularly promoted Christian literature! What if that belief system is also Obama's? Otherwise, somebody got to him... and let him know his family's lives would become collateral damage if he didn't follow THE program.
"Otherwise, somebody got to him... and let him know his family's lives would become collateral damage if he didn't follow THE program."
Like they showed him the Zapruder film and said, "any questions?". I doubt that Obama was naive enough to believe he was going to end the wars, fix the economy, etc. like a knight in shining armor or the cavalry riding to the rescue. The guy was thoroughly vetted by the MIC/financial sector and was found to be "our kind of guy" as Bill Clinton called Suharto.
"The guy was thoroughly vetted by the MIC/financial sector and was found to be "our kind of guy" as Bill Clinton called Suharto." -- newbie
I still remember Bill Clinton calling Suharto "our kind of guy." I shuddered when I read your comment!
And, I agree that Obama was "thoroughly vetted" by the MIC/financial sector prior to becoming a candidate for president.
Sioux Rose: Your comments are deeply disturbing to me. However, I believe that the influence of religion in this country can NOT be ignored. A few months ago, I read the Jeff Sharlett book about "the C-Street house," The Family.
What if Obama believes in the "End Times" -- and that is one of the factors that influences his decisions?
Hillary Clinton attended the same prayer meetings that George Allen (Virginia senator -- Mr. Macawcaw) attended. As you stated, this is not a fringe group if 100,000,000 people believe these dogmas about "End Times."
"It seems he is a loving husband and father, and I would think the emotion of love would bind him to the realization that the things he refuses to act upon (say sane policies to curtain global warming) will undermine the lives of his children and someday grandchildren. It is almost impossible for me to conceive of how persons in power can act with such knowing disregard for the very sustainability of the planet." -- Sioux Rose
I agree -- it's very difficult to swallow!
However, we know that Obama made the decision to continue the Faith-Based Initiatives, begun by G.W., and to continue to fund religious charities. Therefore, we no longer live in a society that separates church and state.
Recently, we read that Nancy Pelosi was on the phone with the Vatican about the "health insurance reform" bill -- and disallowing abortion rights to women in the United States.
In about 2004, I read Esther Kaplan's book, With God On Their Side. Ms. Kaplan takes on one issue after another, documenting meticulously how deeply embedded the religious dogmas have become within our political system.
James Carroll's book/documentary, Constantine's Sword, shows how embedded religion, and especially Christianity, is in our military.
"Can you imagine a more diabolical excuse for compromising the responsibilities leadership calls for? To presume it's ALL nearly over, that nothing matters is a form of nihilism on steroids. It's also gotten plenty of press in the form of popularly promoted Christian literature!" -- Sioux Rose
No, I can't imagaine a more diabolical exuse for doing nothing.
Just the other day, CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, told the world that he was "doing God's work!"
How ominous is that?
Sioux Rose
KAY: Thank you for adding so much important elaboration. A friend of mine said that the best way to get people, naive kids who are learning to become soldiers, to kill is to tell them GOD wants them to do this. Has this excuse not been over-used down the centuries? It's straight out of a Benny Hill skit that so many still do NOT get it!
I really don't have any other explanation for Obama. I mean IF he graduated from a top university one would assume he knows something about climate change, honors the work of bona fide scientists, and recognizes that America's martial foreign policy is costing so much more than any profits skimmed off the top for an elite few. How he can participate in such a lethal masquerade is beyond anything a sound mind can understand. Would he sell out his own children for an hour upon the stage? I mean it will soon enough be THEIR world.
I feel guilt for the state of the world and I am very low on the totem pole as per use of food, electric, material items, etc. I do drive twice a week and feel badly about it, but I live in the sticks and some travel is required. We have no buses or cabs or any form of mass transit here. I bike when I can. I shudder to think of the world (ecologically) that my grandchildren will grow up in. It would seem any sentient individual MUST care about this. You probably know that such an ethos constituted THE ethos, Indigenous author Dhyani Ywahoo calls it "The Beauty Path," that which, taken from the Council of the Grandmothers, considered the tribe's present choices in relation to their likely bearing upon the next SEVEN generations. We now live in a nexus where quarterly profits determine the raison d'etre of far too many decisions and policies.
I know that Tony Blair was a believer in that nonsense, and likely the previous prime minister (or is it president?) of Australia. It was a white boy's caucasian Christian club of devotees of the crusades if not End Times. In either case, the careful twisting of beliefs of the uninitiated as fuel for wars represents nothing less short of a devil's bargain. The impact on the rest of us is chilling. Thanks for noticing. There were some very scary pieces published on CD on the evangelical presence within the US air force, those lovely angel-faced kids using their joysticks these days to send murderous drones over Afghanistan... some think the religious element is just a coincidence, nothing to be bothered about. Having read literature from Morris Dees' Southern Poverty Center (he has successfully sued hate groups on civil as opposed to criminal grounds and won landmark cases), the idea that many of these persons want nothing less than a Christian theocracy for the U.S. remains in the back of my mind. So every time a "moderate" sells out women's rights over their own bodies (i.e. reproduction), it's another point to their retrograde Neantherthal team. Our nation has fallen so low...
Sioux Rose: When I read that Tony Blair was also a born-again Christian, and that G.W. and Blair discussed scripture and teachings, I shook my head in wonder, especially as they ramped up the rhetoric for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The merging of church and state escalated right under our noses. It's almost impossible to forget Lt. General William G. "Jerry" Boykin who said (on June 30, 2002 -- at the First Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, OK), "What I'm here to do today is to recruit you to be warriors of God's Kingdom." He also said that "the U.S. military is recruiting a spiritual army that will draw strength from a greater power to defeat its enemies." G.W. added the word "crusade" to the pot, and stirred it with righteous anger, boasting of speaking to God instead of his earthly father.
Not long ago, a friend of mine and I were discussing the very "Christian" song, "Onward Christian Soldiers," and how, as kids attending Sunday School, we used to vigorously sing out the words as loudly as we could. Today, we are both horrified by the words of the song, and the fact that we were so easily led by our good Christian Sunday School teachers to march to the song as we sang. Certainly, early indoctrination has to be the crux of the tautology of the teachings.
Indeed, I do know about the Council of the Grandmothers. Years ago, I learned that the U.S. Constitution was based, in part, on the Algonquin teachings. However, the part that was left out of the U.S. Constitution was the Council of the Grandmothers, who, if necessary, could fire the chief, so to speak. Whereas, the U.S. Constitution granted NO power to women, or to anyone other than wealthy white male landowners.
Like you, I worry, and feel guilt, about the future and our grandchildren, and what their lives will be. You and I, though, leave a small footprint, compared to the massively wealthy who have several enormous homes, heated pools, several gas-guzzlers, jets, etc. Unlike you and I, they probably feel no guilt, but more importantly, they are the very people who are fighting against making changes in the way we live our lives on this finite planet Earth. Do they think their lives, because they have the biggest toys and the most money, won't be effected by global warming? Do they think they will be safe in their gated communities? I can only conclude that they are thoughtless -- much in the same way that Hannah Arendt described Eichmann in Jersalem at the trial. She named it the "banality of evil," when otherwise ordinary men and women are capable of, and don't even notice, the most heinous of crimes.
As for a Christian Theocracy -- I read the Kevin Phillips book, American Theocracy. His research on the subject is exhaustive, and frightening! Therefore, you are not the only person who connects the dots, and wonders, seriously, about what is lurking behind the scenes and beneath the surface. How can our elected officials ignore the warnings of global warming, and its consequences?
As usual, we return to the present, and Obama's education and resume. He is touted as a constitutional lawyer and scholar. Glenn Greewald wrote -- when asked about Obama being a constitutional lawyer, and his consistent willingness to impede the Constitution, and I am paraphrasing Mr. Greenwald's answer -- a constitutional lawyer can work to reinforce the constitution, or, a constitutional lawyer, with expert knowledge, can work to undermine it.
So far, it's not looking good, is it?
Sioux Rose
Dear Kay, you are very good at connecting the dots, and I appreciate how well-informed you are. Thank you for providing the Boykin text. I remember that idiot saying "My god is bigger than your god." I know this may offend some in this forum but as I've matured I have wondered if there really is such a thing as a MAN; or if the very premise of a mature male endowed with the wisdom of age and suffused with integrity exists at all? What I see far too often are very large boys. Their outer appearance may suggest that of a MAN, but the inward development is so frozen at such an immature stage of emotional development that I truly do NOT think the word MAN applies to most males in the United States.
In 2000 when my daughters were on their own I was strongly advised to try out one of the Internet's Matchmaking sites. I never had anything remotely like the responses engaged during the entire experience of my life. The site lets you post some of your views and I said right out that I found INTEGRITY lacking in most men I'd known. One guy wrote back, "Ouch." I had some very intriguing conversations, dated about 10 of the more than 60 that pursued some form of interest, and fell for one who once again confirmed my (self-fulfilling perhaps?) prophecy as per that lack of integrity. We are instructed to think it's all about the self, but more and more I realize that society as an entity has conditioned persons in ways that truly bring out the worst in their characters. I think humanity has been crippled utterly by views that are blatantly patriarchal. These nurture selfish macho traits at the direct expense (or perhaps usurpation) of qualities associated with the feminine, such as feelings, empathy and compassion.
I realize there are some evolved males who regularly contribute to this forum who are NOT programmed that way, and indeed may in fact own integrity. They are the rarest form of "the species," and may the Goddess bless them.
I am heading out tomorrow, so if I don't return to this thread, you'll understand. Enjoy the holiday. I will be with my darling grandchildren.
'The genius of the capitalist system is that it recycles surplus wealth--savings and profits from past economic activity--by lending the wealth for new production and consumption."
This "genius" of capitalism will eventually cause it's very failure. This lending to create new production and consumption requires continuous growth. This can NOT be done indefinitely on a finite planet with finite resources.
I wonder if we are not starting to run into issues with resources that were causing problems with the capitalistic model and the exotic financial "products" and huge bailouts were just failed attempts at keeping the pending failure of the system hidden from the masses for a long as possible.
Another article on CD today says that if everyone wanted to live like Americans it would take 5 Earths. As hard has I look around I only see one. So even if we are not already bumping up against fundamental issues with resources it can't be that far down the road.
Unfortunately as that Chinese proverb warns "We may indeed be living in interesting times."
"This lending to create new production and consumption requires continuous growth. This can NOT be done indefinitely on a finite planet with finite resources." -- NC-Tom
I agree!
But, they found water on the moon!
"I wonder if we are not starting to run into issues with resources that were causing problems with the capitalistic model and the exotic financial "products" and huge bailouts were just failed attempts at keeping the pending failure of the system hidden from the masses for a long as possible."
I have to update my own comment here. I watched the PBS Frontline show on Credit Cards last night and found that what is going on is simply complete and total corruption of our financial and political system. I had no idea how bad it really was. I recommend checking it out. TV has one thing over print in that you can see peoples facial expressions and body language. The total contempt that the lobbyists and bankers displayed for the average person was quite disturbing.
Our banking and government systems are now totally corrupted. The corruption is complete, and anybody that thinks that this system can be fixed by political pressure or voting is sadly deluded.
"TV has one thing over print in that you can see peoples facial expressions and body language. The total contempt that the lobbyists and bankers displayed for the average person was quite disturbing." -- NC-Tom
Thanks to your post on another thread on this site, I just finished watching the PBS Lowell Bergman report on credit cards. I had recorded the show to the DVR. The cold, hard contempt displayed by the people you mentioned can't be missed. These individuals displayed NO empathy, no compassion and no sympathy for anyone, regardless of their situation. Are they sociopaths? Or, psychopaths? Probably! They believe in profits, and more profits, and not much more of anything but profits. If you haven't already watched the film, The Corporation, add it to your list. It's worth watching!
I also have to question Timothy Geithner's sincerity. I shuddered every time he appeared on screen! It's also very clear, if anyone still had any doubts, that our elected officials do NOT represent "we the people," except in a few rare instances, e.g. Dennis Kucinich, etc.
As for our banking system, in my opinion, the entire industry has been corrupt for decades! Usury laws were dismantled under President Carter, and a Democratic congress. Finally, though, with the dismantling of Glass-Steagall, and the passing of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, the corruption is complete.
Within a different post on this thread, I wrote that I heard my son, just the other evening, arguing with his bank credit card company about their decision to raise his interest rate by several points even though he always pays his bills on time, and always pays more than the minimum payment. He thought it wouldn't happen to him. When it happened to me a couple of years ago, he was rather contemptuous toward me. Now, he's facing the same situation. I'm sympathetic, but there's a bit of an "I told you so," raging beneath the sympathy -- even though he is my son.
Sioux Rose
KAY: They are raising rates on EVERYone! It has nothing to do with credit history, it's merely another form of predatory capitalism; that is they are doing IT because they can. I remember when Bush took office a writer said that there would no longer be ANY countervailing interests against those of big business. How true that's become. When Bush did his sleight of hand "prescription drug benefit plan" many thought it would be an improvement. As we know, he merely locked prices in to protect big pharma over citizens' needs. Now it seems Obama is prepared to enact part II where the public is demanded, via rites of extortion, to pay for insurance when said insurance is only a gamble, no guarantee of coverage for any number of medical emergencies. It is INSANE, corrupt, immoral, and as you stated, the art and artifice of sociopaths on display. I find it particularly disgusting that these rates were raised before the holidays when people use their cards to shop for gifts. SHAME on them. A congress and senate and court of nothing but Ebineezer Scrooge clones! They should be left in dark rooms with no food, only access to marijuana, and forced to watch endless reruns of "A Christmas Carol." After a term of such immersion, let THEIR community service begin... in hospitals and ghettos!
Sioux Rose: I couldn't agree with you more -- they are raising rates on credit cards because they can! I used those very words a couple of years ago when my rates were raised, and my son was NOT very sympathetic. He thought he was doing all the right things so that it wouldn't happen to him. But now, he's the target. There is no escape! I also agree with your comment about the timing -- right before the holiday season begins! SHAME on them!
"Another article on CD today says that if everyone wanted to live like Americans it would take 5 Earths."
Why do you think the US is suddenly interested in space exploration again? The evil ones are building their escape pods as we speak...
With the announcement of more troops going to Afghanistan, my support for the Obama administration has vaporized. I can no longer make any counter-argument with conservatives; in their shrill zeal to attack all things Obama, they have forgotten the years of keeping Iraq's and Afghanistan's war appropriations off the books. Suddenly, people are hoarding old silver coins, cashing out CD's, and shopping for gold, which is hitting historical, and hysterical, highs. Meanwhile, the working poor are lining up for Friday's sales. As Inspector Kemp said in Young Frankenstein, "A riot is an ugly thing. And it's about time we had one!"
Is 0bama even looking for "recovery" in any sense that many of us would use the term?
A simple misunderstanding of method would likely look like flailing. 0bama's economic and other positions do not: they are consistent. Every large action he has made since gaining office works to centralize power in the class of elite investors: the backroom deals with Pharma, the broad-daylight robbery that goes by the name of "bailout," the coursing money-and-blood siphon to the military, the sweetheart deals to coal, the apparent waffling and worse-than-inaction on environmental issues.
Is there any reason whatsoever that we call this "misunderstanding" or "ignorance" or "inaction" or "compromise" besides his race and his membership in the Democratic Party?
Look, 0bama's no LBJ either. He gives us war like LBJ, but domestic policy like Reagan or Cheney.
Interesting post because it shatters the illusion that Obama is a victim swept up by corrupting influences--and people just can't abandon the campaign production while he inacts the shock doctrine.
The question is whether he is worse because of incompentcy or is it an across the board swindle?
I don't believe that Obama is a victim, either. Every day, he shows us who he serves -- the interests of big business and corporations.
Greider advises Obama to state "the gravity of the situation honestly." But Obama cannot tell the truth about anything. He lies more than BushCo and is slicker than SlickWillie. On so many fronts, Obama proves he cares nothing for the commonfolk; in fact, he's actively trying to destroy them as his actions confirm the only part of the US economy that matters to him is the top 10%. Greider seems to think it impossible for a US president to act the way Obama has. But we now have lots of evidence that the #1 task for any US president is to be the commanding general in the Class War--everything is secondary to the looting of the US populace. Greider writes like he wants to maintain his position at the Nation rather than be a truth teller.
Obama's been let into the millionaire's club; he was handpicked and vetted long before his run. He's now showing the membership what a good team player he is.
Right. One way to maintain your position at The Nation is to always tell considerably less than the truth, even while banging around the edges of it.
Greider, although no-doubt well-intentioned, can't see past his training as an economist (an advocate for consumerism) and wants to see a return to consumer-driven growth.
Because I'd like to avoid the warfare and environmental destruction this would bring I hope he doesn't get what he wants.
Obama looks much more like Harding than Hoover. Much more.
I know this. I am unemployed, and, despite savings & unemployment compensation, I won't be contributing anything at all to the Christmas buying season this year. I have learned that most of the consumables I used to consider important, AREN'T! So, businesspeople, call you bankrupcy lawyers and find a nice bridge to live under, because you are doomed by this economy, forever ....
What does a "towering political talent" mean--something constantly said about Obama, in various ways--if the facts of what this man actually DOES, as opposed to the myth about him that seems hard-wired in American consciousness, is invariably incompetent, stupid, blundering and thoroughly idiotic? How does his first year in office in any way reveal a towering political talent? Where do these pundits come up with such bilge? Is it just something we're all supposed to believe about Obama regardless of the facts? Is it a Sunday School lesson we're being constantly taught, or WTF is it? I have never witnessed this towering talent, not since he first appeared on the political scene. A towering manipulator, yes. A surpassing con man, no doubt about it. But maybe what I'm missing is that these are precisely the talents that make a superior politician. In other words, all the best politicians are total FRAUDS. How fortunate we are to be subject to a system like this!
Sioux Rose
EPHRAIM: I think it's all in the branding, like Bush being the HONEST, religious, family man so many "bubbas" would like to have a beer with.
Your insights are much appreciated in this forum.
The "36" analogy rings so true, especially for laissez faire economics. Obama is starting to sweat, but he is still sure that he is doing the right thing. Let him sweat a little more during his jobs summit. First sign that he gets it will be to throw out his economic advisors-- and if he doesn't get it we have to make him a one term president.
Obama is the product of Chicago politics. As can be demonstrated, politics in Chicago, and the rest of the state, for that matter, is a subsidiary of organized crime. My take on Obama is that he learned early on that if he wanted to do any good at all he needed to show fealty to the crime bosses. Fortunately, or unfortunately for us, his training in accommodating the needs of the successful criminally insane in order to govern is proving very useful at the Federal level which is becoming as corrupt as his home state. The power lies with those who make offers that folks dare not refuse. That is the problem that we face. Ours is not a country. It is a crime scene.
herb
Sioux Rose
HERB: Masterful concluding statement. Right on!
Reference to a "recovery" while unemployment remains high, people lose their homes and our deficit soars to pay for more war is obscene spinning.