Keith Olbermann Fires Back At Ted Koppel Over Objectivity, 'Real News'

Facts in news are like dust on a vinyl record ... it is the speck that lodges in the grove that provides the biggest pop from the amplifier
About Keith Olbermann
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David Axelrod Had To Get Fiscal Commission Report Off Internet

Ok, here are my suggestions for fixing the economy.



1) A Wealth Cap - No personal fortune can be greater than 100 million dollars. Any excess is taxed at 100%. In addition, any yearly individual income greater than 10 million dollars will be taxed at 100% as well. The American people permit wealth to be created in the United States and their society should be rewarded for that generosity through the above mentioned tax structure. (Kudos to Huey Long).



2) Corporate Tithe - In order to do business in the United States every Corporation will need to pay a 40% Tithe in Tax. Corporations that employ Americans domestically will only pay a 25% Tithe. Doing Business in the United States is a privilege not a right.



3) Tariff - In order to protect American jobs and have them reconstitute domestically a tariff should be implemented on any goods or services coming into the United States, whether from Foreign Companies or Domestic Companies using foreign labor in its business model.



4) Wealth Forfeiture - Any individual or Corporation found to have circumvented the above Tax Structure though off shoring of assets will have their domestic assets seized.



US Economy Fixed.
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Oklahoma Sharia Law Blocked By Federal Judge

"OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday to block a new amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would prohibit state courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases."



Do you want to tell the geniuses of Oklahoma that Jesus and his disciples weren't Americans or shall I? Even the Ten Commandments aren't American. I guess this law is one way to keep the laws of the Christian God out of American courts.
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Why We Must Reduce Military Spending

A nice audit of the Pentagon would be a good start. We might find a lot of programs that are meaningless cash cows with no application in the real world. Also, the bloated defense budget is a National Security issue. Consider if China or Russia were to exhibit the the same extreme level of military spending ... would the rest of the world take comfort in that or would they be wary of being the next Afghanistan or Iraq? If the United States wants to be seen as a threat to the rest of the world, the absurd buildup of Military expenditures is definitely the path to that end.
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Obama To Aides: 'Plug The Damn Hole'

Let's not just focus on BP here ... the entire US Oil Industry is implicated in this mess. Does anyone think that if any rival oil company had the capacity to address this problem they would just allow BP to twist in the wind? All oil companies drilling in American waters, thanks to Bush/Cheney elimination of sensible regulations and enforcement, are incapable of addressing blowouts at depth ... all of them.



Every American Oil Company needs to demonstrate to the Federal Government their capacity to swiftly intervene and stifle a blowout like this, Not in theoretical terms, but in practical terms. If the Oil Company cannot demonstrate this then they forfeit the rig and the lease, and the well must be sealed. It doesn't matter what the safety record for drilling in the sea is for the Oil Industry over the past 40 years ... that record is now meaningless.



This Deepwater Horizon failure is the US Oil Industries 911 ... nothing that happened before this incident matters. Drop the hammer.
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Rand Paul: Obama Sounds 'Un-American' For Criticizing BP Over Gulf Oil Spill (VIDEO)

I think Dr Paul should show us how silly we are being about the oil spill and BPs culpability ... I say he bring a camera crew to Louisiana, put on his Speedos and swim in the stew of oil, toxins, and dead wildlife that BP gifted the people of the Gulf coast with. Then he could finish his exhibition with a sumptuous seafood dinner, provided from the catch of one of the region's sickened fisherman. That would be the American thing to do.
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Bill Kristol: Campbell Brown For Senate

I remember when Campbell Brown was coming to CNN and it was like some big, amazing coup, and I was like ... "Who's Campbell Brown?". Then we get her stoic resignation from CNN, and I'm thinking ... "She still had a show?"



Now Kristol is throwing out Campbell Brown as a Senator and, frankly, I'm thinking "Why not?"



She has to be one of the most forgettable and mediocre individuals to flop onto the scene in a long time, and with Kristol backing her you a have to assume she sports the same regrettable character traits that inflicts the majority of Senators of either party.



The Titanic is sinking anyway, one more lump of ice can't make a difference.
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Rand Paul On 'Maddow' Defends Criticism Of Civil Rights Act, Says He Would Have Worked To Change Bill (VIDEO)

Rand Paul is absolutely neolithic in his thought process here, but that's besides the point, he should have been honest and said what he meant straight out. That he believes the US Government doesn't have the right to discriminate but Private Industry does. Why is that so hard? The Pauls like to present themselves as men of conviction ... why should Rand hedge on this? It's deceitful.
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'Naked Keynesianism' At The University Of Texas, Says Fox News (VIDEO)

The thing that makes me laugh is that the Fox "News" meat puppets will throw around terms like "Keynesianism" as though the chittering nitwits that gobble up their programming would know what it means.



"Keynesianism, Clem, naked Keynesianism!!!!"



"You mean them, thar Radish Talibanis are running around naked now? What more do our troops needs to take? Filthy radish Talibani, communist, socialist, fascist, libral perverts!"



"Keynesianism is part of the Global War on Terror?"



"Course, ya moron! Keynsianism is one of he top five or nine leaders of Al Qaeda and is a founding member of Greenpeace to boot!"



"econ-nazis"



"Exactly, Clem, Ruthless Radish Talibani eco-nazis taking orders from the Kenyan in the White House and nakedly tormenting our troops!"



"Wait, Keynesianism ... Kenya ... it fits!"



"Damn, straight."
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Breaking the Public Sector Unions' Stranglehold on State and Local Governments

Mr Zuckerman, the problem is that Unions aren't strong enough. What is needed in the Global Era is a unified Multinational Labor/Consumer party to counter balance the abuses of Multinational Corporations.



So if Chinese workers, for instance, are being tormented in factories that supply goods to Europe and America, then American and European members of the Multinational Labor/Consumer Party ... will engage in economic boycott of the products and stores that sell them, until Union leaders in China verify that the problems in the factory have been corrected. Sure it might put some bad companies under and drive some investors into bankruptcy, but that is okay. It's a Free Market after all, and a responsible company, meeting it's obligations to its employees will be rewarded by the world's Labor/Consumers and step into the abusive company's place.



The problem with Unions is that their footprint has become so small that the Chamber of Commerce sees an opportunity to completely wipe them out. Should that happen a Multinational Labor/Consumer Party with a really lousy disposition needs to take their place.
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Stocks Fall On Europe Fears

Had Wall Street not gotten so greedy that it used its leverage to eliminate every regulation that was implemented to ensure the economy wouldn't collapse because of malicious behavior then we wouldn't see the problems we are seeing.



I don't see how this mess is corrected. I think we need to develop a new economic system entirely. Repudiate all debts. Start from scratch. The current system is going to seize anyway. It's pretty obvious at this point.
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Afghan War Costs Now Outpace Iraq's

Absurd.



We lost these wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as soon as we engaged in them. I believe George W Bush was a big fan of William McKinley. McKinley got us into the Spanish American war and, as byproduct of that war, the Philippines. That action set in motion events in the Western Pacific that led to WWII, ultimately. As well as our current Korea problem. If anyone noticed, we don't talk much about our forty-eight year Colonial/Commonwealth relationship with the Philippines in US history class ... there is a reason for this ... it was a failure.



Enter Afghanistan, and Iraq.
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BP Oil Spill Underwater Video Shows Oil Gushing Like Steam From Geyser (VIDEO)

Ok, here's my idea. In order to stop the leak you make, what amounts to a huge bathtub stopper...



No, no ... wait ... hear me out.



You go to a foundry and make a huge disk, about 75 feet in diameter with a massive spike on the bottom at the center. On the opposite side of the massive steel plate you build a twenty foot tall steel wall reinforced with re-bar and steel cross beams.



So you basically have a huge, reinforced steel pie plate with a spike on the bottom.



You lower this plug to the bottom of the sea and line the spike up with the leaking well.



You then fill the pie plate with concrete and other objects of massive weight until the plug seals the hole.



I'm not certain of the pressure coming out of the well but I'm guessing the guys at Haliburton or BP know ... and I'm certain of you dump enough focused weight into a large enough spiked, pie-plate you could plug the well up.



Anyway, that's my idea and BP, Halliburton can feel free to cut me a huge check if they use my idea and it works ... though I won't hold my breath.
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Cut Spending Today to Save Tomorrow

A couple of observations, Mr. Blankley.



"About a third think President Obama is moving in the right direction, with many of them impatient for the president to be bolder with his leftist agenda."



President Obama is a self proclaimed "New Democrat" who is surrounded by DLC Clintonistas ... where did you get the idea he was a Leftist?



"Somewhere in the vicinity of 40 percent to 50 percent of Americans are shocked and appalled at the nation's rush toward bankruptcy, socialism, fundamental transformation of our way of life and the permanent weakening and impoverishing of America."



Are this 40 to 50 percent otherwise known as "Rip Van Winkle Americans" who slept through the Reagan-Bush41-Clinton-Bush43 years when the process you describe was implemented ... or is the proper term "Boiled Frog Americans"? Oh, and I think you have a typo in that paragraph. I think you meant to say "Corporate Socialism", rather than socialism. but mistakes happen.
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Rudy Giuliani: Obama Administration's 'Political Correctness' Led To 'Missed Signals' On Terrorism (VIDEO)

Wasn't it a Republican Administration that oversaw the loss of four airplanes, the World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon, and 3000+ human lives on September 11th 2001 because it couldn't be bothered to take seriously a August 6, 2001, President's Daily Briefing Memo entitled:



"Bin Ladin determined to Strike in US"



Which included ...



"Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.



The FBI is conducting approximately 70 full fieid investigations throughout the US that it considers Bin Ladin-related. CIA and the FBI are investigating a call to our Embassy in the UAE in May saying that a group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with explosives."



What, exactly, can Giuliani, or any Republican or Conservative, have to say on the way the Obama Administration is dealing with terrorism that isn't a case of throwing rocks in Glass Houses?



If the GOP hadn't lost the WTC, that would be one thing, but the GOP DID lose the WTC.
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On Prop 13 -- Time to Amend and Correct

All that Prop 13 was a spasm of selfishness from voters during the 1970's that has undermined the quality of life in California for decades. I remember what California was like BEFORE Prop 13 ... lots more services, and far better schools. Prop 13 is a cancer on the state of California.
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Go Easy on the Blue Dogs

Mr Shows, I think everyone learned tonight with the vote on "Too Big To Fail" that there really isn't any difference between Blue Dogs and Republicans. There are a good number of DLC in the list of "No" votes tonight.



I prefer Democrats to Vichy Democrats. Let them fall.
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Expect Nothing: Why We Need a New Approach to the Chaos in Europe

Are Governments complicit in this? Of course, because they allowed themselves to get sucked into this fatally flawed and inhumane "free market" economic model. I don't begrudge any Government that does what it can to benefit the needs of as many of its citizens as possible, Addiction to amassing wealth and power has always been problematic with mortal men. Thinking one can find a hedge against mortality is a fool's errand. We, all of us, skitter about the surface of a wet rock in the middle of nowhere for a limited number of days ... with nowhere else to go ... and are ultimately gone forever.



That being the underlying reality of all, I prefer to eliminate any economic system that harms the many to benefit the few during our limited ride on earth. If Greece went bankrupt trying to help as many of its people as possible more power to it.



And a reminder ... Governments aren't Corporations nor or they supposed to be.
About Europe
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Expect Nothing: Why We Need a New Approach to the Chaos in Europe

The main problem is since the dominant Anglo-American financial model, which the bulk of the world is encumbered with, decided to become a cut-rate, fraud, chop shop over the last thirty years, thanks to irresponsible deregulation, it has left nations around the world trapped in the international Ponzi with no fallback position.



First it was Iceland. The regional banks of South Korea nearly collapsed after the fall of Lehman (I'm sure some of the Fed's backdoor money found its way there). Now we are speaking of Greece ... maybe Portugal, Spain ... Ireland ... Italy ... one by one the dominoes fall. My instinct tells me that the excrement will hit the spinning blades when the problem jumps the Euro Zone and re-emerges in Asia or South America. Then it will be Japan, England, and other nations perceived "healthy" currently ... and right back to the United States again.



Outside of nations like Somalia, North Korea, Cuba, and Myanmar ... name me a country that is free of this "Greek Contagion"?
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Modern Day Slavery in America -- Welcome to the World of "Guestworkers"

The only answer to this problem is to make participation in human trafficking at any point after the victim enters the United States, a capital crime. Whether you are transporting the trafficked individual, providing them false documentation, housing them during their transit, or ultimately exploiting them for their labor ... the reward should be death.



I had a friend who went to Malaysia years ago and commented on the anti-drug billboards he saw there. Skulls and Crossbones with the slogan "Dada = Death".



Malaysia has no problem executing drug traffickers ... the United States should not be squeamish about the same penalty for those involved in human trafficking.
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Michael Brown: Obama Wanted Oil Spill (VIDEO)

It's laughable ... BP and Halliburton cause a massive ecological disaster and these Bush persons squirm out of obscurities' woodwork to try to draw comparison to their former bosses' disastrous and callous response to Katrina.



Folks like Brownie and that "lying-sack-of-cute" Perino can't fathom that Obama's response to this Oil Company Created Nightmare has been absolutely stellar when compared to George W. Bush's response to Katrina.



And for the record, Mr Brown, President Obama didn't want an oil spill and President Bush didn't care there were people suffering in the aftermath of Katrina.
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Gulf Oil Spill: At Least Another Week For 'Underground Volcano Of Oil'

""It's probably easier to fly in space than do some of this," Charlie Holt, BP's drilling and completion operations manager in the Gulf of Mexico, said Sunday."



I don't know, but I would think the Oil Industry should have presented their disaster plans to the Federal Government for scenarios like this BEFORE they were allowed to sink a well a mile under the water. I'm not going to blame only BP in this regard.



This is the failure of an entire industry and of the Federal Government's responsibility to regulate it effectively.
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Arizona and Our Future

Shakira, the difficult thing with America is there are many Americans that are afflicted with xenophobia. The same Americans that are ranting about undocumented aliens in the United States would absolutely fill their diapers if they had to pay $10 at the supermarket for a head of lettuce or tomato ... or had to make their own bed when they stayed at a Hotel. In hard times immigrants are always the focus of ire. It happens all around the world, and in the United States everyone arriving in the country has had the chance to be the whipping boy ... Irish, Italian, Eastern European, Chinese, Latinos ... name it.



I hear the argument "This is only because of illegals ... it isn't anti Mexican or Hispanic!"



Sure. How many illegal Irishman do you think the Arizona Police will pullover for probable cause?



Americans have to come to terms with reality. There are millions of illegals here because Business wants them here ... and without them, the cost of many staples of American life will shoot through the roof.



Shakira, the United States needs address the need for comprehensive immigration reform and recognize that the racial profiling and marginalization of individuals who, like it or not, are an indispensable part of the US Economy is pointless, cruel, and stupid.
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The 'Obama's Katrina' Meme Myopia

This is a case of, yet again, business f@%king up and trying to place the blame on someone else. BP, and evidently Halliburton, half-assed the construction of the rig and it encountered a failure, costing the lives of eleven workers and creating a massive environmental disaster.



One wonders how many other shoddy rigs waiting to go up like a Roman Candle populate the Gulf of Mexico.



I won't blame Obama for a failure of business' responsibility.
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Ted Poe: Congressman Compares Illegal Immigrants To Grasshoppers

Gotta love the hateful rhetoric of these ... ehem ... "Patriots".



I'd love to see the undocumented workers getup and leave en mass, just to watch the industries that rely on them, at they same time they support attacks on them, completely collapse.



I would laugh, boy, how I would laugh.
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Using Education to Cope With a Complex Economy

I would agree that all Americans would be far better off with more education in the area of how to manage their finances. Definitely.



... But how would that education have helped in the situation we find ourselves now? Where Wall Street Bankers in collusion with Government Officials (In an era in which meaningful oversight of key areas of the economy were abandoned) precipitated a global economic Ponzi scheme, fed by the kiting of securities whose exotic design rendered them perfect vehicles for vast institutional fraud ... to the tune of hundreds of trillions of dollars polluting the world economy?



How would knowing how to balance a bankbook or read a mortgage or credit card contract have helped the American people to prevent the crisis that befell them? Just wondering.
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Arizona Immigration Law FALLOUT: New Law Sparks Fiery Debate

"Racial profiling should be for terrorism. If you look like and act like a terrorist, if you come across as a bad person, you’re going to do harm to our citizens, whether it’s deal drugs, commit crime or commit a terrorist act. Absolutely we ought to profile everybody that looks like a terrorist. I don’t have a problem with that,” Gibbons said. “But if they want to have a racial profile of Irishmen, you know, then I’m going to question that.”



So I am assuming that Nevada police regularly stop and question white guys, in army fatigues, sporting a buzz-cut under the suspicion that they could be intending to blow up a Federal Building?
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Somebody Close the Door: Reactions to Arizona Immigration Law Misses the Big Picture

"Let's face it: right or wrong, the Arizona legislation is treating the symptoms of an international disease that needs much stronger medicine."



True like treating Cancer with aspirin, but before the Doctor can treat you he has to properly diagnose your condition. I understand where you are coming from, Mr. Jones, but any conversation that leaves out the way US Business draws Illegal Immigrants into the United States to benefit their enterprises and then provides support for their illegal presence once they are here is also a misdiagnosis of the ailment as well. If we don't confront the practices of US Business in this area there is no solution to the Immigration problem.



I think shaking our collective fists at the US Government will be of little value, for the Health Care and Financial Reform debates pretty much exposed the fact that the majority of our elected officials don't work for us once they get our vote. And the Government of Mexico is little more than an emasculated front for the Oligarchs that own Mexico and are probably in collusion with US Business to provide them peasants to work north of the border as well.



People have to remember that as head of the UFW Cesar Chavez fought against the Farm Owners using illegal migrant workers to replace American workers in the fields. It seems that the rest of the US Business Community learned this trick from Chavez's Farm Owners.
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Deep Horizon Oil Well Gushing 42,000 Gallons Into Gulf Of Mexico Per Day

What was that famous battle cry?



"Drill, Baby, Drill!"



Wasn't it?
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Andre Bauer, South Carolina Lt. Gov., Blames 'Flat-Out Lazy' People For Immigration Problems

And what, exactly, does a Lt Gov in South Carolina do? Is that job any different than sitting home doing nothing and getting paid for it?
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The Arizona of 2010 is the Alabama of 1963

The most dishonest aspect of the illegal immigration problem is to overlook the fact that there are members of the US Chamber of Commerce that rely on illegal immigrants for their work force. We think it is the guile of individuals jumping the border when they are actually drawn in. There are between ten and twenty million undocumented immigrants in the United States and they are here because US Business WANTS them here. Some American businesses factor the use of undocumented aliens into their business model. Lest we forget, that one of Cesar Chavez's big fights as head of UFW was against farm owners who undercut employing Hispanic-Americans in agriculture in favor of illegals.



"The UFW during Chávez's tenure was committed to restricting immigration. César Chávez and Dolores Huerta fought the Bracero Program that existed from 1942 to 1964. Their opposition stemmed from their belief that the program undermined US workers and exploited the migrant workers. Their efforts contributed to Congress ending the Bracero Program in 1964. In 1973, the UFW was one of the first labor unions to oppose proposed employer sanctions that would have prohibited hiring undocumented immigrants."



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Ch%C3%A1vez
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Republican Governors Anti-Obama Ad Borrows Political Terrorism Theme

The American Dream has been systematically and methodically dismantled by Republicans and Corporatist Democrats for the last thirty years. Today's political rhetoric is chilling, but is nothing compared to what really happened.
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Obama Miners Memorial: President To Speak At Service For Upper Big Branch Mine Victims

"They lived and they died pursuing the American dream, working in dangerous conditions underground to help keep the lights on across the country."



Being multi-generational wage slaves to a Mining Company is "pursuing the American Dream"? That's just sick. The Miners died because their Government didn't protect them from their employers. End of story.
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TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads

Anyone else enjoy Fareed Zakaria's Epic Fail on his CNN GPS show? Besides allowing Geithner a chance to spin his success and frame criticism against him as originating from "myths" ... I laughed pretty good at that one. Zakaria opened his show with an analogy in which he tried to explain to we rubes that what Goldman Sachs is in hot water for is little more nefarious than a bookie taking bets on a sporting event. I don't think any sports bettor would want a Bookie like Goldman Sachs.



Zakaria was saying that what you have in the Goldman Sachs business was Goldman taking bets from all sides and some bettors were just more astute than others. If Zakaria's analogy was honest, he would have included the key point ... that the Bookie knew that the Sporting Event was rigged and was actively soliciting bets in favor of the team that was preordained to lose.



I'll give Zakaria the benefit of the doubt and say his analogy was just sloppy and really bad as stated.
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The Sickening Abuse Of Power At The Heart Of Wall Street

The difference between the United States under Obama in an economic crisis, and the nation under FDR in the same state is that FDR was a blue blood from upstate New York. FDR could walk into the sanctums of the Rich and play hardball with them, and they would grudgingly listen. FDR's Elite peers may have despised him, but he saved their way of life. I'm sure the heirs of the Elites of FDR's day that Obama is faced with have no respect for the President at all, and view him as a gnat with a populist odor. Because of that fact, Obama will not be able to save their way of life this time.



It doesn't matter how many officials you bring in and debrief, they're just patsies. All of this struggle is being played out in amongst what remains of the US Government that isn't wholly owned and a cabal of Elites whose names we wouldn't even recognize. Remember, even Blankfein, Dimond and the other Lords of Wall Street are employees of someone ... despite their immense wealth they are owned too.



We need an FDR to navigate this crisis at the level that matters and we don't have one.
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Financial Reform at a Crossroads

I'm certain the situation, like a Financial China Syndrome, will resolve itself should the House, Senate, and President not deal with it in a responsible fashion. I mean, we already know the newly "profitable" Banks are allowed to hold trillions of dollars in bad paper off their books. You can't BS yourself around a fraud forever, no matter how much hubris is capable of being generated in defense of the status quo.



Frauds ultimately resolve themselves.
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The Speech: The Good, The Bad and The Missing

Dylan, I am curious about something. Why would anyone in their right mind, who wasn't an anointed insider, be investing in Wall Street? Why are millions of Americans making a sucker bet on their 401k contributions instead of just depositing the money in a simple savings account? The problem with what the Government does or doesn't do in terms of regulations is one thing, Wall Street has proven itself to be, to the World, a massive, corrupt fraud palace that is not engaging in honest business practices ... legality is besides the point.



This is really Caveat Emptor time for all investors ... whether you be an online investor, with your USS Enterprise Investment Helm Configuration in your den, or a member of the Bakersfield Woman's Auxiliary Investment Club, or the Nation's of Greece, Portugal or South Korea ... if you don't have a bona fide market insider stewarding you through the risks then, in the current Wall Street configuration, you are nothing more than a turkey being fattened up for someone else's Thanksgiving.



The perception that the market isn't honest is far more debilitating for Wall Street than the quality of new Government regulations that are likely built to be circumvented anyway.



Mr. Ratigan, do you still believe the Market is a safe place for the people's hard earned money ... or just for the privileged few?
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Anderson Cooper Confronts Birther Legislator (VIDEO)

Actually the Birthers have a good point. It is obvious that there is a problem in all 50 states with record keeping in terms of Birth Certificates. I believe that we should establish a Federal Birth Certificate, and only allow the State Administered Birth Certificates have relevance in the State where the Birth Certificate was issued. That way, every individual within the United States will have to prove to the Federal Government that they are actually Natural Born Citizens. Since State Birth Certificates will have no weight, it will be incumbent on every individual petitioning for validation of their United States Citizenship to provide sworn witnesses to their live birth ... the delivering doctor, midwife, or nurse. Parent's would not be allowed to be witnesses due to bias. Until proof of Citizenship to the Federal Government is provided, all Americans would fall into the class of Un-certified American Citizen ... a rung below Resident Aliens who actually filed their papers to achieve their status. Under the status of Un-Certified American Citizen all rights and privileges of Citizenship will be suspended, and the right to work in the United States withheld until proof of Citizenship had been filed. Every human within the United States, from any age group from birth to death, will be required to petition for their citizenship ,,, no exceptions.



It's only right.
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South Park's Depiction Of Muhammad Censored AGAIN

.... and for their next trick, Messieurs Matt Stone et Trey Parker will don furry speedos and flippers, smear themselves with elephant seal blubber and take a dip, sans cage, with the majestic Great White Sharks off the Farallon Islands during seal calving season ...
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Goldman Sachs Connections, Donations Haunt White House

"PRESIDENT OBAMA: No. I-- I think that-- and I've said this repeatedly, we have to have a thriving financial sector. Because essentially-- part of what's made America so successful is our ability to-- if we've got a dream and we want to go get some financing-- for the next Apple computer. The next iPod, the next-- you know, invention out there, that we are able to go and get investors to finance our dream-- and make it happen. So, we've got to have a thriving-- and effective-- financial sector.



JOHN HARWOOD: So, it is God's work."



Harwood thinks he is a comedian, when in actuality he is an employee of a company who has been fronting for a massive institutional fraud on Wall Street for years. I wouldn't be cute, I'd be nervous.



Then again, it depends upon which god Harwood was referring to as well. Let's not jump to conclusions.
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Goldman Sachs Connections, Donations Haunt White House

We have some pretty intelligent people in the White House right now. People who understand when you can bluff yourself around a problem and when you are forced to confront it. If it comes time to stab Goldman Sachs in the back, despite contributions and connections they will do it. They might not like doing it, but they will. I'm sure the recent fraud revelations have undermined the position of some of the President's key economic advisers, and I am certain that the President is taking advice from other quarters despite the appearance of status quo.



Obama doesn't want to see systemic, institutional fraud on Wall Street undermine the economy, further erode the United State's image in the world, and solidify his White House with Tea Pot Dome operations of another age.



The United States has a lot on the line, so does this President ... and he is completely aware of it.
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Here Comes Wall Street's Attack on Social Security

Mr Miller, Wall Street is a Ponzi Scheme that won't survive without fresh capital. I'm certain the goal is to get the money currently going from paychecks into Social Security to go directly to Wall Street instead. The most important difference for Americans between Social Security and Wall Street is that Social Security guarantees a return while Wall Street doesn't. Think about working your whole lifetime, having money pulled from each paycheck, and being told "Sorry, sucker!" when you go to withdraw. Anyone who disagrees with me obviously didn't pay attention to what Goldman Sachs just pulled on their clients. Oh, don't get me wrong, some favored investor will get to enjoy the years of paycheck contributions ... but not the person whose paychecks were deducted.



I'll stick with fixing Social Security, and the refugee from Lehman had better reconsider his devious plans.
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Donny Deutsch Sidelined At MSNBC Over Keith Olbermann Segment

I have heard Olbermann issue an apology or retraction if the data he presents isn't accurate which indicates a sense of responsibility to his profession. The Limbaugh's and the Fox "News"ers fabricate their data so apologies and retractions are never required, and if pressed on overstepping the line they will cop-out with the "I'm only an entertainer" excuse.



In addition, Olbermann is passionate about his job, but I wouldn't call him a propagandist. The same doesn't hold true for the other personalities cited. Deutsch may have intended one type of comparison but it came across as another, and that is where he faltered ... but he's a Business "Specialist", so what do you expect?
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Rendell: Democratic Party Is Soulless, 'Cowering Behind The Shower Curtains'

As a Nation we suffer from a Political Correctness problem when it comes to ignorance. The Right Wing would be nowhere without Americans of inferior intellect. The woefully, intellectually inadequate are being courted by all sides who feel the need to compliment them for their passionate level of ignorance. Stupidity, and its exaltation is the scourge of America. What the Democrats are cowering in fear behind shower curtains about is their fear of offending the ignorant people the Right has whipped up into a fever.



The Right Wing's ideology is regressive and damaging for the United States of America. Because of the Right Wing all that America represents to the rest of the world at this point is indiscriminate wars for profit, ignorance, and fraud. There is no future in that for America, none, and the rest of the world is not required to wait for us to pull ourselves out of the cesspool we are currently wallowing in as a Nation.



Democrats need to be less diplomatic in their engagement with the Right Wing and its followers. The US is in a serious state currently, we can't afford cowards, who are afraid to offend the people whose positions have no standing, as our leaders ... it aids and abets our opponents and their cretinous legions.



There are times to be diplomatic and there are times to Fight. It's time to Fight, unless like the Republicans, the Democrats no longer view the US as worth fighting for.
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Financial Debate Renews Scrutiny On Size Of Banks

We must remember there are three components that need to be firewalled from each other ...



Commercial Banks



from



Investment Banks



from



Insurance Companies



... and all three from each other.



It is these three entities working in concert that prove devastating to the economy. Only firewalling Investment and Commercial Banks would still allow a lot of damage to be caused through their relationships with Insurance Companies.



Remember AIG's impact on our economic crisis as well.
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Even With U.S. Oversight, AIG Keeps Secrets

The stonewalling makes perfect sense. This whole catastrophic economic event was caused by a massive institutional fraud, but those who have the most on the line in Business and Government want to spin it as an unforeseeable event that was part of the natural cycle of business. If the parties with the most at stake can successfully re-imagine the cause of the crisis and sell it to the world then they can avoid neighboring jail cells to Bernard Madoff. The AIG data would likely cause a huge problem for key players and that is why the data is being suppressed. The upshot of all of this, however, is that the current state of the world's financial system is built on a foundation that is criminally corrupt, as such, it will ultimately collapse whether there are meaningful investigations or not. As they say, there are two ways to address this problem, the easy way or the hard way.



It seems the easy way is out of the question.
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New Ash Cloud Threatens To Disrupt Air Travel Recovery

I don't think the volcano cares a whit about the concerns of human ants. Remember when Mount Pinatubo kicked the mighty US Military out of Clark Airbase and Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines after a 90 year stint there? This volcano could continue erupting for days, weeks, months or years, and if it puts the European Airlines out of business that's just the breaks. I wouldn't risk my life or that of my loved ones flying anywhere near that ash cloud.
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Is Jerry Brown the California John McCain?

California is in real trouble, with real problems. Jerry Brown has experience to be Governor, because he WAS Governor. Meg Whitman lucked out as the CEO of a boutique website that took off. The choice is clear in California.



If you are sick do you go to a doctor (Brown) or do you go to someone who SAYS they're a doctor (Whitman)? That's the choice before California voters despite Whitman's war chest.
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Shorting The Middle Class: The Real Wall Street Crime

Arianna, I know there is a tremendous focus on the plight of the Middle Class now, but as pressure was building upon poor Americans in the preceding decades the Middle Class blamed them for their condition the same way some quarters are blaming the Middle Class for its own condition now. The way I see it, we, as a Nation in the last thirty years have moved from an inclusive economy to an exclusive economy. What we are seeing economically echoes that children's song:



There were ten in the bed and the little one said,

"Roll over, roll over."

So they all rolled over and one fell out.



~and so on until~



There were two in the bed and the little one said,

"Roll over, roll over."

So they all rolled over and one fell out.



There was one in the bed and the little one said,

"Good night!"



Arianna, not to over dramatize, but the mortar that keeps our diverse society intact is the possibility of prosperity. Take that away and it's hard to see how things don't get really ugly.



We can't afford an exclusive economy which allows Americans and their families to keep rolling out of bed, we need to pull the people on the floor back into bed and recognize it isn't a "Goodnight" until everyone has a bit of bed and blanket to share.
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Gun Rally: Second Amendment Activists Swarm DC, VA Rallies (NEWS, PHOTOS)

I hate to burst the 2nd Amendment bubble, but in terms of your personal firearm protecting you from the federal government's weapon arsenal, if it came to that, you might as well be shaking a baby rattle.
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Goldman Sachs Bonuses: Bank Paying Staff Over $5 Billion For Just Three Months Work

The CMO's are just the tip of a very huge iceberg ... All forms of consumer debt were securitized through CDO's, Bond's were securitized through CBO's, even the capital that went into leveraged buyouts were securitized, leveraged and reinvested in the vast float bubble of derivatives as CLO's. Anything that wasn't nailed down, and much of what was nailed down, was securitized and pumped into the vast $750 trillion dollar derivative cloud.



These Goldman Sachs findings amount to merely trickle from a crack in a systemically failing dam.
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Simon Johnson: John Paulson Should Be Held Accountable For Goldman Fraud

"The Times report identified Tricadia as one of several firms involved in deals that some critics said had produced profits at the expense of the firms' own clients. (Tricadia responded that it has always put the interest of its clients first.)"



Back in the Cub Scout years of my life I went to a birthday party of one of the other kids in my Den. When I went into his bedroom I was awestruck by a tank with a fat snake and next to the tank a cage of four, skittering white mice.



"It's really cool your folks let you have all these pets!" I said.



To which my friend gleefully responded:



"Yeah! And I get to feed one to the other!"



And in unison from the members of my Den packed into the birthday boy's bedroom rose a solemn.



"Wow ...."
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Jim Cramer Insulted By Sylvian Raynes On CNBC, Erin Burnett Kicks Raynes Off Show (VIDEO)

Again, how many fortunes were saved when the talking heads of CNBC sounded the warning of the imminent economic crisis in the months and weeks leading up to the tailspin of 2008? These guys and gals were all front and center chanting "Danger Will Robinson!!!" ... right?



Folks, all of these convincing, well spoken, seemingly sincere and honest individuals on CNBC are just carnival barkers working to get the nickles out of the rubes pockets before allowing them into the sideshow to glance at the Investment equivalent of the painted lady or puppy with two heads. Oh, they will all argue that money was made in the market in the last decade and that they helped a lot of people do well with their fancy schmancy online trade software. Meh. Of course money was being made ... in an unregulated Ponzi scheme powered through the kiting of worthless securities money will definitely be made, especially when government officials are providing cover for the floating crap game that Wall Street devolved into. But every con runs its course, and the Friedman, Rand, Reagan, Greenspan, Rubin, Gramm fiscal fantasy has nuked the proverbial fridge. Thirty year run, but now it's done.



I appreciate Raynes gave the CNBC clowns the treatment they deserved, unfortunately it won't put any money back into their viewers or the taxpayer's pockets.
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How To Survive The Apocalypse: Some Things You Need To Know Before The World Ends

I think I'd be partial to the Sasquatch costume, and I might even consider the Survivaball if it came in a blue "Violet Beauregarde" edition.



A can opener might be nice as well.
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Kathy Griffin Has Public Pap Smear, Shows Off Vagazzling (PHOTOS)

Well, if I looked like Kathy Griffin in a bikini I would probably televise my poolside gynecological procedure as well ... if course, I'd probably have to consider being female in order to pull it off.



Details, details.
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Goldman Sachs FRAUD Charges Filed By SEC Over Subprime Mortgage Securities

I'm sure this will be received like a pitcher of ice water on the genitalia of the denizens of Wall Street. Wait until foreign governments whose economies have been hobbled by Wall Street practices start bringing their grievances against the United States to the WTO ... that's only a matter of time.



"Financial services Instability in the banking system affects the whole economy. The financial services annex gives governments very wide latitude to take prudential measures, such as those for the protection of investors, depositors and insurance policy holders, and to ensure the integrity and stability of the financial system. The annex also excludes from the agreement services provided when a government is exercising its authority over the financial system, for example central banks’ services. "



http://www.wto.int/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/agrm6_e.htm



I believe that nations like Iceland, Portugal, Greece, etc could bring a case to the WTO that the unwillingness of the United States to responsibly regulate its domestic financial services industry put its trade partners at undue risk of loss.
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Holder Picks Wrong Crowd For Defense Of Military Commissions

Where the Administration and the United States has a huge problem with the trials of Gitmo Detainees is in the probability that most of them were innocent, picked up in sweeps in Afghanistan and deposited under the title of "Worst of the Worst" in Gitmo to be tortured. Think a second, who would have first hand knowledge that the detainees are nobodies, without terrorist affiliation? That would be the US Lawyers assigned by the Government to defend them ... the one's that Liz Cheney is fond of referring to as the "al Qeada 7".



Where the Obama Administration has a problem is they approached the trials from the legal position, rather than as a National Security issue, probably because they weren't aware of the scope of the problem at the beginning. National Security not in terms of a threat of terrorism to the US, but to the United State's position as a world leader. The Bush Administration seizing innocent foreign nationals, and transporting them to an isolated location where they are tortured and murdered turns the United States into the textbook definition of a Rogue State.



War Crimes have obviously been committed by the Bush Administration, and bringing that information to light in a public trial would require the United States to prosecute the Administration figures involved, or risk the complete loss of credibility of the United States as anything but a imperialistic predator.



That reality puts Holder in a difficult position.
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Tea Parties Protest Tax Day 2010 (PICTURES, VIDEO)

I would imagine Karl Rove's proper place in the Fox "News" stable is as a smelly lump in the corner attracting flies.



Reality Check. How many American jobs were shipped abroad by US Corporations that were gifted with a tax break for doing so by the Bush Administration? Let's talk about jobs, Karl.
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Tax Day Fact Check: Most Americans Got A Tax Cut This Year

I really think that the Tea Party protesters are little more than a prop for the Conservative Establishment, very much the same way the Gitmo Detainees were used as props by the Bush Administration to further their WOT agenda.



In terms of the Tea Party, there are always aimless drifters of life you can coagulate into a chanting clot of sign wielding vitriol. Give them a funny hat and a reason to leave their couch and "Voila" you have the illusion of of a grass roots political movement. Since the majority of Tea Baggers stand for nothing more than a reason to be angry in public, they are a White Board for the Political establishment to write upon. You can have Corporate Pundits in the press interpret the meaning of the Tea Bag Rorschach in anyway that suits the narrative of the Conservative Organizations they are affiliated with. I think the biggest threat to the Tea Bag Movement, and the greatest concern for the Conservatives that are counting on them, is boredom setting in on the part of the participants to the point that reruns of "Hogan's Heroes" prove more enticing than going to a rally.
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Sarah Palin's Boston Tea Party Speech: Obama Agenda 'Un-American'

"I'm not calling anyone un-American, but the unintended consequences of these actions -- the results -- are un-American."



Sort of like being the wife of a member of the Alaska Separatist movement, I guess.
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Mark Zandi: 'It Would Be Counterproductive' To Offset Unemployment Benefits Now

It would be a huge mistake to interfere with unemployment payments in anyway. With the current condition of the economy everyone knows someone who is struggling without a job. If you want working consumers to tighten their spending habits all you need to to is send a message there is no safety net. People start putting money into savings instead of spending and the economy hits the skids once more.



This is not the time for politics ... the unemployment crisis requires commonsense.
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Eric Holder Denounces Liz Cheney's Ad Campaign As 'Reprehensible'

I am confident that the Bush Administration had a far more intimate relationship with al Qaeda, than the so-called "al Qaeda 7" that Liz Cheney is ranting about, and benefited profoundly from that relationship.
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Was Bernie Madoff the Exception or the Rule?

Mr. Borosage, I think we have to all remember that Bernie Madoff is in prison right now because he admitted that his operation was a Ponzi to members of his own staff and someone outed him. No SEC, FBI or other agency's investigation uncovered what he was doing. Individuals who had suspicions about Madoff's activities over the years were stonewalled. Bernie Madoff was made Chairman of Nasdaq (although the claim is now it was only a "ceremonial position"), so his approach to the business certainly didn't make them an outlier. As soon as the Gramm deregulation legislation was signed into law by Clinton at the end of his Presidency the Wall Street fraud Gold Rush was on. Given all the regulatory freedom they ever could have desired, the best Wall Street "geniuses" could arrive at was a Global Institutional Ponzi Scheme fed by the kiting of leveraged, inherently worthless, securities. To empower this massive institutional fraud, we had Al Capone style Accounting Practices in place, we had Rating Agencies that were rigging bad paper with triple A ratings, and we had, as noted in your piece, Corporations expecting their associates to engage in fraud for the benefit of the bottom line.



Furthermore, the stakes could never be higher to the Wallstreeters and the Government Officials who empowered this fraud ... for when it collapses, as it surely will, their futures couldn't be more indoubt.
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Our False Recovery: Why Wall Street Is Up and Everyone Else Is Down

"Since Americans believe that the New York Stock Exchange represents the national economic thermometer, they have been seduced into thinking hat we have fixed our financial problems, and we are on the road to a real recovery."



Reality check. I recently saw a letter from a school Principal asking for contributions for groceries for a family within the school that has been adversely impacted by the economy. This is in the San Francisco Bay Area. It really doesn't matter what the media spin on the economy is when reality confronts you like this. This Principal's request for aid for one of the school's families carries more weight than any news conference or article by economic experts. I'd add, that the same people trying to convince us that the economy is better are trying to convince of the perception of the American People on the economy. I'd say, people have eyes. People may watch television or read the paper, but at some point they leave their homes and interact with the real world, and that's when reality trumps spin.
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JPMorgan Chase Argues Against Mortgage Modifications, Citing Sanctity Of Contracts

Well, the Banks aren't thinking clearly here. The properties are no longer worth the fraudulently inflated prices they were originally sold for. The desire of the mortgage holder to renegotiate the mortgage, even by reducing principal, indicates a desire to continue paying on what was a Bank backed con to start with. The only logical alternative for the underwater mortgage holder, if the Bank refuses to negotiate, is to abandon the property, and leave the Bank to deal with it. What is it now? One out of four American Mortgage holders is underwater? It was an Institutional Fraud that put these individuals into their homes in the first place. If the Banks don't want to renegotiate the mortgage, I see nothing immoral about the homeowners just walking away. A contract is just a glorified piece of paper, and lawyers make as much money breaking contracts as making contracts.



For those with sympathy for the Banks, I'm sure they will recover the original value of the properties in 40-50 years or when hyperinflation renders a million dollar mortgage a bargain.
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Don Blankenship: Investors, Politicians Begin Calling For Massey Head To Resign

Finally someone is showing some common sense and humanity. We need to eliminate miners dying as part of the "just one of those things" management mentality of the mining profession.
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It's Official: Tiger Woods Has Learned Nothing

"The best golfer in history. And an asshole."



When you consider the deals made on golf courses around the world that have destroyed people's lives, I would only have to say that Tiger should represent golf without apology. He's perfect.
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Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster: Should Investigation Be Public?

"[As of now, the hearings] won't be open to the public ... Almost certainly, the investigative interviews will occur behind closed doors. Members of the press and the public will be shut out from this terribly important government task."



Of course, it would be silly in a free society to allow the information revealed during this investigation to be shared with the public.
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Recession Over? Not So Fast, Says The Organization That Tracks Downturns

There has been a major push to declare the Recession over since Government and Business Leaders reluctantly acknowledged there was a Recession to start with. I think the reasons for this are twofold.



First, to promote a lemming response amongst the American Consumer. If people think the economy isn't as bad as it is they may return to the behavior of spending on things they really don't need and can't afford. Exactly what our international trade partners require from their economic relationship with the United States.



Secondly, the individuals who had the most influence on the economic crisis are extremely wealthy with tremendous leverage over elected officials in both political parities. These individuals don't want to be exposed to any legal ramifications ... even if you could find a court that wasn't rigged in their favor in the first place. Furthermore, the fraud that is in the process of collapsing has made them richer and powerful beyond their fondest aspirations and they have no intention of allowing any changes in the current economic model.



So, the rest of the US and global population are along for the ride as this sliver of avarice driven humanity mandates their madness as our reality.



So, sure, the Recession is over ... or it isn't ... same difference.
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