David Stockman, former Budget Director for Ronald Reagan, says he believes Ben Bernanke is finished, done. He says we need to address the disastrous problems in the banking system, not print more money which has only enriched Wall Street and encouraged massive speculation in commodities, derivatives, etc.
Stockman says it was an Urban Legend that Wall Street's problems in 2008 could have resulted in a Great Depression should the bailout have never happened. He also says the thing to have done would have been to allow the banks to sort out their own problems and restructure after certain of them failed.
Possibly the most contentious example which Stockman describes was what should have happened to GE. Stockman says the blame for GE almost going under rests on the shoulders of CEO Jeff Immelt. Instead of a bailout by the government for GE Capital, Stockman says GE should have been allowed to force their shareholders to take a massive hit, that GE should have gone back to the markets with secondary offerings for their errant behaviour in investing in massive derivative schemes to boost profits.
25 June 2011
24 June 2011
The Middle Class Awakens In Spain And Europe: "We demand a Democracy which has zero tolerance for corruption!"
The Revolution has begun. Check out the crowds in Spain. Tune in to the rock song and lyrics accompanying this agitprop video. The Banksters and Corrupt Politicians had better start paying attention, and they should be very worried.
23 June 2011
Max Keiser Report 6/22/11 - Greece News And An Interesting Interview With Professor Steve Keen
Max Keiser and his sidekick, Stacy, report on their recent trip to Greece where they witnessed a society taking it to the streets.
They also cover the IMF report which just downgraded the United States' GDP rate from 2.7 to 2.5%. Kaiser says these numbers are cooked. Stacy and Max stop and consider the irony in this as Stacy points out the IMF just a few years ago was "bankrupt". Then they focus on how the IMF is playing Hank Paulson type of politics with America, calling for America to increase its debt ceiling ASAP. As Stacy points out, all the IMF wants is more debt posted by America. If America will increase its debt to the banksters, the IMF will cease downgrading American GDP.
They then cover these sentences from a recent piece in the Financial Times by Stephen Roach: "The global economy is being hobbled by a new generation of zombies, the economic walking dead. The US Consumer is in the early stages of an unprecedented retrenchment."
Max Keiser Interviews Professor Steve Keen
After Stacy completes her segment of tossing headlines to Max, Max comes back from a break in the show to interview "The Non-Economist, Non-Economist" Australian Economics Professor Steve Keen. Professor Keen takes Keiser through the differences of private vs. public debt . . . a fascinating explanation of why we are in a Global Debt Crisis today. Keen beautifully explains private created debt drives the economy while government debt is like an ambulance which comes along to rescue the bad drivers in the private sector.
Possibly the most contentious assertion which Keen makes is the only way for us to get out of this mess is to increase private wages. Keen says raising wages will cause inflation; however, he states the only way to reduce the "value" of our debt is to increase inflation.
Lastly, my favorite thought from Steve Keen is how he looks at the banks. He says they are the big villains in the Credit Crisis as they are not in the business of lending money to finance business capitalization any longer, but are in the business of speculation.
They also cover the IMF report which just downgraded the United States' GDP rate from 2.7 to 2.5%. Kaiser says these numbers are cooked. Stacy and Max stop and consider the irony in this as Stacy points out the IMF just a few years ago was "bankrupt". Then they focus on how the IMF is playing Hank Paulson type of politics with America, calling for America to increase its debt ceiling ASAP. As Stacy points out, all the IMF wants is more debt posted by America. If America will increase its debt to the banksters, the IMF will cease downgrading American GDP.
They then cover these sentences from a recent piece in the Financial Times by Stephen Roach: "The global economy is being hobbled by a new generation of zombies, the economic walking dead. The US Consumer is in the early stages of an unprecedented retrenchment."
Max Keiser Interviews Professor Steve Keen
After Stacy completes her segment of tossing headlines to Max, Max comes back from a break in the show to interview "The Non-Economist, Non-Economist" Australian Economics Professor Steve Keen. Professor Keen takes Keiser through the differences of private vs. public debt . . . a fascinating explanation of why we are in a Global Debt Crisis today. Keen beautifully explains private created debt drives the economy while government debt is like an ambulance which comes along to rescue the bad drivers in the private sector.
Possibly the most contentious assertion which Keen makes is the only way for us to get out of this mess is to increase private wages. Keen says raising wages will cause inflation; however, he states the only way to reduce the "value" of our debt is to increase inflation.
Lastly, my favorite thought from Steve Keen is how he looks at the banks. He says they are the big villains in the Credit Crisis as they are not in the business of lending money to finance business capitalization any longer, but are in the business of speculation.
Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex) Talks To ABC Interviewers
ABC News interviews Ron Paul on his view of foreign and domestic policy.
21 June 2011
Max Keiser On Financial Terrorism, Marks On The Heads Of Bankster CEOs, Financial Rape Of Sovereign Countries + Bonus Video
Max Keiser lets loose with both barrels on RT TV, claiming Libyan forces have put a mark on Llyod Blankfein's head. Keiser has been in Europe doing interviews on radio and tv to raise awareness of Europeans to the "financial terrorism" (his words)visited upon their countries by Too Big Too Fail Western Banks.
To understand why Libya is upset with Goldman Sachs and other Western Too Big To Fail Banks, see the second "bonus" video explaining how Western Banks "invested" billions of Quaddafi's money to plug "holes" in their books.
Bonus video from a few weeks ago explaining why Western Banks aren't going to pay back Col. Quaddafi:
To understand why Libya is upset with Goldman Sachs and other Western Too Big To Fail Banks, see the second "bonus" video explaining how Western Banks "invested" billions of Quaddafi's money to plug "holes" in their books.
Bonus video from a few weeks ago explaining why Western Banks aren't going to pay back Col. Quaddafi:
How Corporate Media Has Destroyed Fair and Balanced News, Real Music, And Film And TV Production Which Is Not Corporate Spawned
An outstanding look at how the Fairness Doctrine was overthrown by a Ronald Reagan veto which empowered the Conservative Corporatization of Media to own hundreds of television and radio stations.
Part 1 of 4
You will learn that in certain areas of this country, right after Clear Channel Radio went on its massive acquisition binge during the mid and late 90s, there were entire big cities where not one single opposing political view was ever heard on radio and tv. It used to be corporate behemoths could not own more than six media outlets in any broadcast market. When Reagan overturned the Fairness Doctrine by veto, he allowed companies (read supporters) to waltz in and buy every media outlet in a city if they so wished.
Not only this, but during the George W. Bush administration, the 3 Republican FCC Commisoners sitting voted to allow more media control, i.e., they pushed through a ruling which 3 million American citizens opposed in written mailings to the FCC, whereby one giant conglomerate could own all the newspapers, radio stations and tv stations in any town in America. If you wonder why Fox News and Clear Channel Radio came to be so powerful in big swaths of the country, watch this eye opening piece (cut into four parts of about 15 minutes each) which just aired, ironically, on Russia Today.
If you wonder why Fox News and Clear Channel Radio came to be so powerful in big swaths of the country, watch this eye opening piece (cut into four parts of about 15 minutes each) from Russia Today. If you wonder why great investigative journalism of the lead up to the Iraq War took a back seat to sensationalist news coverage of say dead celebrities, watch this documentary.
Part 2 of 4
Media consolidation means fewer real reporters and more talking heads blathering from their already solidified points of view. Media should bring clarity to an issue. However, big media has brought confusion and mis-information to the biggest issues of the 21st Century (the reasons for attacking Iraq, the Housing Bubble, the Housing Crash, etc.) because media is no longer focused on getting the story right, but is more concerned with bigger profits.
As Amy Goodman points out when she comments about only 3 out of 400 interviews before the Iraq War were with anti-war people while half the country was against the invasion, the "mainstream" media is now an "extreme" media.
This investigative piece also looks at other issues such the outing of Valerie Plame and how media was complicit in that story just so it could continue to have the almighty "access" to the White House which all media outlets seek. We also learn how military "commentators" on all the networks were paid shills who spouted the Pentagon line. We also learn that many of these ex-military commentators had/have financial stakes in companies which benefited from the invasion of Iraq.
There's also a look at how 8 radio stations owned by Clear Channel did not broadcast over the Emergency Broadcast System (which is part of their charter for licensing) to help residents during the biggest chemical spill ever in the USA, because Clear Channel's stations were not manned by live human beings in the town where their radio stations were heard by residents affected by the spill (Minot, ND). This is a story which hits home with me because the same thing happened to Florida Keys residents in the late 90s when Hurricane Georges took out all Clear Channel stations from airing emergency information. (As it was, a local mom and pop station from Big Pine Key stayed on the air all night (even with knee deep water entering their studios) by using a generator bought from a local hardware store. That station went on to win an Edward G. Murrow award for excellence in broadcasting for their work in helping Florida Keys residents stay in touch during and after the hurricane. The Clear Channel stations came back on the air 3 days later and to add insult to injury, would not give advertisers a break on their rates for ads which never aired).
Lastly, this report investigates the FCC's lack of response to petition to deny license by ordinary citizens such as you and me. After all, bandwidth is owned by we the people. We own the airwaves. It's up to us take back the media, even with a recalcitrant FCC which does the heavy lifting for the huge media conglomerates.
Watch this report in four parts. Afterwards, get involved in taking the media back from the corporations which do not give fair access to all points of view.
While Molotov cocktails burn on Athens’ streets, more vitriolic battles yet are blazing over Greece’s debt crisis behind the scenes, as financial markets and eurozone politicians fight their ground
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