"The action I am taking is no more than a radical measure to hasten the explosion of truth and justice. I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul. Let them dare, then, to bring me before a court of law and let the enquiry take place in broad daylight!" - Emile Zola, J'accuse! (1898) -

Sunday, September 21, 2008



(BUT FIRST; KEEP UP THE PRESSURE!)
Join The Phone Blockade For Impeachment



Resume Financial Posting…





If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it. ~ Julius Caesar


In 2000, the long fought for and long admired democracy of the United States of America began a slow and steady decline toward fascism - a Bush family tradition - with the installment of a president - a man the citizens overwhelmingly rejected (although the funny math told a still believed myth) - by a few corrupt judges on the US Supreme Court. That coup is now nearly complete and checkmate is all but unavoidable.


Let me first point you to the Bush administration's so-called Wall Street bailout bill, here, so that you can see for yourself that this treachery is being conducted in the light of day. Fascism is finally and formally out of the right-wing closet even if the F word is not yet openly being used (although it should be, and often).


Now, if you do not yet understand that the Wall Street crisis is a man-made disaster done through intentional deregulation and corruption, I have a bridge in Alaska to sell to you (or Sara Palin does anyway). This manufactured crisis is now to be remedied, if the fiscal fascists get their way, with the total transfer of Congressional powers (the few that still remain) to the Executive Branch and the total transfer of public funds into corporate (via government as intermediary) hands.


I would guess that this has to be one of the biggest peacetime transfers of power from Congress to the Administration in history. (Anyone know?). Certainly one of the most concise.
The Treasury Secretary can buy broadly defined assets, on any terms he wants, he can hire anyone he wants to do it and can appoint private sector companies as financial deputies of the US government. And he can write whatever regulation he thinks are needed.


Most importantly, Davidson points to this passage in the bill:


Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.


The Bush family, in the form of Prescott Bush, has tried a more aggressive coup before in order to install fascism in this country. This treasonous plot was called "the Business Plot," because the high-level plotters - including Prescott Bush - were Wall Street men who openly supported fascism.


It seems this time around, the Bush family is trying the more subtle approach to open bloodshed: first create a crisis, then under the guise of addressing that crisis, overthrow democracy. Yes, it does sound terribly conspiracy-theory-esque when explained just this way. But what else does one call a criminal conspiracy to destroy Congressional powers permanently, alter Judicial powers permanently, and steal public funds?


As I see it now, we have but two options and I have long alluded to hoping against hope that one of these options would not be the only one left to a peaceful people. The first and frankly most preferable option is for Congress to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against the members of this latest Business Plot.


No time needs to be wasted on hearings as we already now have in writing, formally as presented to Congress, the intentions of this administration to nullify Congressional powers permanently, to alter Judicial powers permanently, and to openly steal public funds using as blackmail the total collapse of the US economy if these powers are not handed over. You do see how this is blackmail, do you not? You do see how this is a manufactured crisis precisely designed to be used as blackmail, do you not?


The other option, the one I have long prayed we would never need to even consider, is a total revolution. But, If Congress won't act in its own self-defense, in the defense of democracy, in defense of us - the people who have elected them to protect us from this very danger - then what is left for us to do? I don't want to see it come down to this, but I fear that it will. Put your party politics aside right now. We are in a crisis so dangerous that should these people succeed in their coup, your party affiliation will no longer matter, your American flag will be a nice collectible item of something that once was, and your version of God will be worshiped in secrecy because your freedoms will be owned by the few.


You are no longer Republicans, Democrats, or any shade of voter. You do not live in a swing state or a solid colored state. You are simply this: an American. That is the only side that matters. So call your members of Congress and demand, no, declare that unless they do their duty to the Constitution and to us, we will move to the streets - not because we want to, but because our founding fathers demanded this duty of each and every citizen in the face of such a domestic enemy. Demand - as is your right - that this bill be voted against and demand - as is your right - that the people plotting this treachery be held to account. We are either a nation of laws or we are no longer a democracy. Pick a side, because there won't be another time, another moment, another chance to be a patriot.


UPDATE


"I can only hope the lawful authorities are monitoring such enticements towards insurrection with all due seriousness, and find a nice, well-lit and cheery cell for those who require one."


Enticements? I did not realize I was standing on a street- corner pulling on my fishnet stockings in hopes of starting a revolt. Now let us examine what I actually wrote - I will bold the key points:


As I see it now, we have but two options and I have long alluded to hoping against hope that one of these options would not be the only one left to a peaceful people. The first and frankly most preferable option is for Congress to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against the members of this latest Business Plot.


No time needs to be wasted on hearings as we already now have in writing, formally as presented to Congress, the intentions of this administration to nullify Congressional powers permanently, to alter Judicial powers permanently, and to openly steal public funds using as blackmail the total collapse of the US economy if these powers are not handed over. You do see how this is blackmail, do you not? You do see how this is a manufactured crisis precisely designed to be used as blackmail, do you not?


The other option, the one I have long prayed we would never need to even consider, is a total revolution. But, If Congress won't act in its own self-defense, in the defense of democracy, in defense of us - the people who have elected them to protect us from this very danger - then what is left for us to do? I don't want to see it come down to this, but I fear that it will.


Hmmm, sounds like a massive terrorist plot, right? Oh, and don't forget to contact your members of Congress. Seriously, is this guy taking heroin with his coffee? Which part of "I hope against hope" and "I fear" is an enticement for anything that would require me to be arrested and put in jail? Freedom of speech, a no-no in Confederate Americana. Stop by and tell this guy what you think of his hopes that I end up in prison.


UPDATE 2


Another kook joins the distortion train and swift-boat party. This one is actually now claiming that I am calling for an insurrection (wow, in a few hours they will be claiming that I armed the rebels, and charging the Bastille). And if you read the comments section of this blog, you will find yet more examples of rabid xenophobia and bigotry.


And yet even more stunning? Not a one of them can seem to find the time to react to the unlimited power the Executive Branch is demanding. Perhaps they are too busy eating their racist Obama waffles?


On a side note, please use the phrase "insurrection in bed" in every comment since the right wing requires a distraction, even an imaginary one.


UPDATE 3


I have gotten some emails where people appear confused by my use of the Caesar quote. Just to clarify, this is in reference to Bush as Caesar, not my support of Caesar. This is in reference to the massive Bush power grab buried in the bailout "coup" bill. Sorry for any confusion.;)


Paulson resists calls for added help in bailout
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Sunday that the nation's credit markets remain frozen and Congress must move quickly to pass a $700 billion bailout package for financial firms. But key Democrats said the legislation needs changes to provide better protections for taxpayers and homeowners in danger of losing their homes.


"The credit markets are still very fragile right now and frozen," Paulson said in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press. "We need to deal with this and deal with it quickly."


Paulson made the rounds of the television talk shows to stress the need for speed in getting the bailout package approved. The administration spent the weekend negotiating the details of the proposal with members of Congress with the expectation that it can be passed in the next week.


Paulson said that "it pains me tremendously to have the American taxpayer put in this position but it is better than the alternative."


Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said that what Congress was being asked to approve was the "mother of all bailouts" which Shelby said would end up costing more like $1 trillion rather than $700 billion when the costs of the government taking over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and insurance giant American International Group Inc. were added.


Democrats said they understood the need for urgency but insisted that the measure needed to provide help for homeowners threatened with losing their homes, perhaps by changes in bankruptcy laws to allow for mortgages to be modified, and by capping pay and benefit packages for executives at the huge Wall Street firms that will be selling their bad debt to the government.


"I don't want the American taxpayer to get this bad debt and then the guy (whose company once held the bad loans) gets millions of dollars on his way out the door," said House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass.


Paulson and President Bush have argued that the alternative would be credit markets that remain frozen, meaning that businesses will fail because they can't get the loans they need to operate and the economy will grind to a halt because consumers, who account for two-thirds of economic activity, won't be able to get the credit they need to keep spending. Story continues


Foreign Banks May Be Included In Bailout
In a change from the original proposal sent to Capitol Hill, foreign-based banks with big U.S. operations could qualify for the Treasury Department’s mortgage bailout, according to the fine print of an administration statement Saturday night.


The theory, according to a participant in the negotiations, is that if the goal is to solve a liquidity crisis, it makes no sense to exclude banks that do a lot of lending in the United States.


Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson confirmed the change on ABC's "This Week," telling George Stephanopoulos that coverage of foreign-based banks is "a distinction without a difference to the American people."


"If a financial institution has business operations in the United States, hires people in the United States, if they are clogged with illiquid assets, they have the same impact on the American people as any other institution," Paulson said.


"That's a distinction without a difference to the American people. The key here is protecting the system. ... We have a global financial system, and we are talking very aggressively with other countries around the world and encouraging them to do similar things, and I believe a number of them will. But, remember, this is about protecting the American people and protecting the taxpayers. and the American people don't care who owns the financial institution. If the financial institution in this country has problems, it'll have the same impact whether it's the U.S. or foreign."


The legislative outline that went to Capitol Hill at 1:30 a.m. Saturday had said that an eligible financial institution had to have “its headquarters in the United States.” That would exclude foreign-based institutions with big U.S. operations, such as Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS.


But a Treasury “Fact Sheet” released at 7:15 Saturday night sought to give the administration more flexibility, with an expanded definition that could include all of those banks: “Participating financial institutions must have significant operations in the U.S., unless the Secretary makes a determination, in consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, that broader eligibility is necessary to effectively stabilize financial markets.” Story continues


Meltdown 101






Wall Street Is Licking Its Chops at the Bush Team's Multi-Hundred Billion Dollar Giveaway PlanBy William Greider, TheNation.comIf Wall Street gets away with this, it will represent an historic swindle of the American public. Read more


Economists see financial bailout as necessary


The Middle Class Must Not Be Forced to Bail Out Wall StreetBy Sen. Bernie Sanders, AlterNetIf the economy is on the edge of collapse we need to act. But we can't just give away $700 billion of taxpayer money to the banks. Read more


Shelby: 'A trillion dollars at least' By ERIKA LOVLEY
Wall Street's woes continued to dominate the airwaves. See also: 'Clean and quick'Plan won't save all
and

McCain and Obama mum on bailout By GLENN THRUSH & TIM GRIEVESee also: Meltdown timeline
Candidates have their fingers up to determine the prevailing wind.


Rescue plan—up to $700 billion in play By DAVID ROGERS
Bush administration asks Congress for more money than expected to buy bad mortgages. See also: The plan



Sunday TV talk show tipsheet By DANIEL W. REILLY
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is making the rounds of the Sunday talk shows.


Bernanke warns of 'extensive recession' By PATRICK O'CONNOR
"If we don't get this (authority), it will be nothing short of a disaster for our markets,” Paulson says.

Paulson's rescue plan is called 'TARP' By POLITICO STAFF
Get ready to hear a lot about TARP — the "troubled asset relief program."


Paulson plan could cost $1 trillion By MIKE ALLEN
As much as $1 trillion could be needed to avoid an imminent meltdown of the U.S. financial system.


Bill's pain, Bush's brain, Paulson's exit By PATRICK O'CONNOR
Convention speculation trumped Russian attacks on Georgia on today's Sunday shows.


WH yanks threat to veto housing bill By DAVID ROGERS
Will hit House floor with provisions to up loan limits, adjust debt ceiling. See also: Schumer pokes Bush


Housing bill bonus: Alleviate debt ceiling By DAVID ROGERS
Treasury also open to the pending housing bill, since it would hasten Paulson’s Fannie and Freddie rescue.


Treasury, top Dems rosy on mortgages By DAVID ROGERS
“... I’m very optimistic,” says Barney Frank, after talks with Henry Paulson. See also: Frank's Freddie-Fannie reading


Bush walks like a duck as GOP bolts By DAVID ROGERS & PATRICK O'CONNOR Hours after receiving Bush’s veto on Medicare legislation, lawmakers overrode him. By a lot.


GOP warns against fast mortgage action By DAVID ROGERS
Plan to shore up confidence in mortgage finance market gains traction. See also: Campaign ads


Frank: 'The markets are overreacting' By DAVID ROGERS
He is optimistic that remaining issues can be resolved quickly this week, quelling "hysterical" markets.


'An unprecedented crisis' By DAVID ROGERS
Paulson: It'll take “hundreds of billions of dollars” to buy assets. See also: Plan could cost $1 trillion


Hell freezes, coalition melts By JEANNE CUMMINGS
FM Policy Focus, which pushed for greater regulation and oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is no more.


Congress weighs new regulations amid crisis By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Congress eyes tough new regulations for investment banks and a new role in the mortgage market.


Landmark housing bill clears Congress By DAVID ROGERS
Measure gives administration new tools to try to shore up mortgage markets. See also: Fish in the sun


Tell Congress To Help Homeowners, Not Bail Out Crooked Corporations


Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/help_people_instead.php


Giant Gaffe: McCain Confuses National Guard and Army -- and Palin's Son
If you don't already do it, you really should be checking out the Anchorage Daily News site regularly, for local Palin news, editorials and op-eds, and its excellent Alaska Politics blog (special bonus Ted Stevens coverage there). Today, for example, the paper hits Palin hard in an editorial for abdicating to the McCain campaign on Troopergate.


And here's a brand-new gem on a stunning, overlooked McCain gaffe from David Hulen at the Alaska Politics blog:



Brother Can You Spare A Dime?





What’s Next?

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