Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Common Sense Capitalism or Am I Nuts?


As Featured On EzineArticles


I'm listening to the Republican reaction to President Obama's speech to Congress. I'm amazed at how they never really say anything new, but "lower taxes, stimulate the economy" and "we need less government" - naturally.

Well, we just had less government in the form of deregulation of banking, look at the result. We may as well have handed all those executives blank checks in the name of their companies, "here's billions to play with, and no federal oversight - go stimulate the economy". Of course, a lot of the money went overseas, stimulating other economies at the expense of our own. Call it "outsourcing", or simply investments in emerging economies, the simple fact is our money flowed out, not much came back.

If we leave it all up to capitalists, the results would have been even worse, and quicker. We have public committee oversight of utilities to keep them from making mistakes with energy we all need to survive. Why NOT the same for the banking industry? We act like they must be responsible fiscally, they have business or economic degrees. Well, the federal reserve had 1600 economists (with degrees) working full-time before this crisis occurred, and it still happened.

One side blames Congress, the other the President, but the simple fact for decades has been that the Republicans argue for more and more de-regulation and when they get it, it simply fails. They tried in England, and Prime Minister Thatcher had to end de-regulation after U.S. corporations raised water and utility rates 200-300% and go back to basically nationalization of the utilities. They tried it in Argentina, through pressure from the IMF and World Bank who was refusing that government loans unless they went with de-regulation, let U.S. corporations in and concurrently cut the average wages by 25%. Argentina gave in, got the loan, the result was massive demonstrations, rioting, martial law, death squads, and the 'disappeared'.

The facts have always proven out that capitalists will always seek the most profit for the least cost, and the public pays. Ironic, because the corporations need the public as consumers, else no sales, no profits, no corporations over time. They need to realize a healthy, well-paid consumer equates to successful sales and profits, and capitalism succeeds.

This means, higher costs paid to workers would benefit them overall, but no one company wants to raise wages. Less taxes for workers, more taxes for corporations would also increase consumerism, but how many do you hear say that works. Corporations say they pass on the taxes to consumers, so you're raising prices on them, but how about they simply make less money per year, instead of more and more? A healthy but sustainable profit is more valuable over time than ridiculously high profits that bankrupt everyone, such as when oil was $145 per barrel.

They can't charge us more and more annually for the same stuff and think that a six-hundred dollar rebate makes up for the daily gouging we go through on both sides: higher prices and wages that don't keep up. This is the real root of the problem, the system as it is operating doesn't work over time, more of the wealth produced has to be given to the working class, the consumers that pay for all the profits with purchases.

Having a few more millionaires buying expensive boats doesn't stimulate the overall economy, it's time we gave up that ridiculous pipe dream: most of us will never get wealthy from capitalism, we'll simply work for a wage all our lives and hope to live comfortably, and that should be enough.

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Sunday, February 15, 2009

U.S. Capitalism is Done

Capitalism as we know and abuse it is simply "done" - put a fork in it.

As we're seeing, give these jokers bailout money to save the biz and they simply take it home, put it in their overseas bank and the money disappears - just like wages sent overseas and all our other corporate welfare breaks.

The US's wealth has been smuggled to foreign banks with secrecy laws (which is a legal loophole that Congressmen abuse else they would eliminate it), just like the Nazis did in WW2 with money stolen from Jews. Most went into Switzerland, who later returned about 50 billion of this money to Israel, but decades later (and likely under international pressure).

What they don't tell us: wealth transfers between nations are what make them poor or wealthy, and the US got 60% of the world's gold from 1912-1933 in exchange for ARMS we exported to all sides in both wars!

NOW we'll have to see if the fascist wealth owners can complete a dictatorship by the autocracy (if they haven't already) or if the people will fight for freedom once again and change the system.

From 30 Rock:

"..this is our party's ongoing war against the poor" ('GE executive' Baldwin)
"don't you mean 'war against poverty?'" (Tina Fey)
"whatever... " (Baldwin)

This is sad but true, they're trying genocide on poor people once again.

In France, remember that they simply killed the wealthy, (18,000 of em with no discretion, they even killed supporters, incl. the inventor of the guillotine itself!); in Cuba they just kicked the U.S. out, took back the corporate property, and divided up the wealth and every man, woman, and child got free education, healthcare, housing, (even 'basic food'! this was on NPR about 2 wks ago, you don't even pay for bread, rice, milk, etc - so no one goes hungry) - and four acres of land.

So who cares about free speech or even needs it? (do we have it when corporations own all the media anyway?) That doesn't pay for my appendectomy or my mom's nursing home. WE'll NEVER get all that here, the corporations will show enough losses that NO ONE below them can ever get ahead now - we've been had, they've figured out a way to steal our future wealth as well.

Sometimes we think we have freedom, but if stuck without a job or money, how free are we? So I'm free to think or criticize the system, whoopee! It's a false freedom anyway, advocate revolution (changing the system that has failed) then it's "sedition" and suddenly a crime!

Today they'd have to lock up Thomas Jefferson, he advocated a new revolution every twenty years, "by each new generation", lest "the government become tyrcannical and unresponsive to the people."


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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Computers Missing at Nuclear Weapons Labs


It now appears there are at least 67 computers missing from the nation's nuclear weapons labs. Of course, they like to stress "nothing classified is missing", which means that it's highly likely there has been a theft of classified info. We'll only know after the fact, like 911, how our security and intelligence failed us again.

Here's the story at USA Today: Missing Computers


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