So now we learn that at around the same time Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was bullying and threatening Congress into passing TARP legislation, his fourth branch co-leader Ben Bernanke was secretly providing the banks with additional billions of funds through a Federal emergency lending program. Unsurprisingly, Goldman Sachs was a prime beneficiary of as much as $30 billion with a rate as low as .01%. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase also participated - along with a group of foreign banks.
But let's just concentrate on The Squid. Back when he was still US Senator from New Hampshire, Judd Gregg was known for repeatedly pronouncing that Goldman Sachs did not need the capital infusion that Paulson forced on the TBTF banks. Now we find out that Gregg has been newly hired by GS for an international advisory position (aka Senate lobbyist).
To my way of thinking, this brings up a true quandary with only two possible answers:
1. It was false that GS was not in need of a capital infusion.
2. GS took advantage of a rather secretive program, with the knowledge and support of the Fed, to boost its profitability (and associated bonuses) by needlessly being allowed access to the funding.
Either way, this is clearly not a situation with any honorable aspect whatsoever. If one reasonably assumes that the Treasury and Fed were aware of each other's actions (and these two "patriots" do meet regularly), then it is just evidence of further abuse by the unconstitutional recently established fourth branch of government. ( The Fed/Treasury branch ).
I'm actually beginning to think that it might serve Americans well to support a Ron Paul candidacy on the sole issue of abolishing the Fed. Because it is apparent that the Executive and Legislative branches are trampled by it on a daily basis. And it is exceedingly hard to come up with anything that former fan favorite Mr. Obama has done to address unemployment, the demolition of the middle class or the rise of the super elite. So just what is the use of keeping him around?
................................................
At least the Treasury is (supposedly) answerable to Congress. The Fed has clearly shown that it takes its orders from the banking system. A banking system just supplemented by a former Republican Senator who might well have been disgraced during confirmation hearings for a short-lived Secretary of Commerce potential appointment due to alleged profiteering from the federally financed development of the former Pease Air Force Base complex in good old New Hampshire.
The Judicial branch is dangerous. The Executive branch is laughable. The Congressional branch is bought and paid for. The fourth branch is running the economy.
God Save Us.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Our Four Failing Branches of Government
As students we were taught that our government had three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. It is now apparent to anyone that a fourth has been added - the Fed/Treasury branch.
All have failed us miserably since the turn of the century. Turned us from a surplus driven strong economy to a nation whose policies are made solely in behalf of the super elite 1-2% of the population.
In many ways it began with the Supreme Court Bush-Gore decision which robbed us of the ability to continue flourishing under standards probably extending Clinton era practices. Instead, it brought prosperity-stifling tax cuts for the wealthy under Bush - not just once but twice. It brought us the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The former being unquestionably proven to have been launched under false pretenses. The Supreme Court also awarded us with a ruling that massive corporations are free to buy any and all candidates for elective office. Thanks people - you really helped us out.
The Executive branch (achievements) are plain for all to see. It's silly and time consuming to list all George W. Bush's (contributions) - just summarize it by checking out his surplus coming in vs. the crushing national debt going out. The man was a menace to the country.
Obama's greatest achievement to date has been reneging on his election promise not to extend the revenue choking tax cuts for the wealthy. (Unless you choose to count the ten year overdue assassination of Osama bin Laden).
Then you have the Legislative branch who bent over to each and every Wall Street demand while passing funding for each and every thing that came their way while somehow failing to notice the national debt chart spiraling into the stratosphere. These guys have to approve spending before the money is allocated. Our fabulous system of checks and balances in all its glory.
Now we hit the newly established fourth branch of government - the Fed/Treasury. Greenspan greatly assisted in spawning the derivatives/real estate bubble by his interest rate philosophy and view on free markets acting efficiently. He was clueless about reality. Basic concepts like greed, avarice. corruption, betraying of clients and To Big To Fail were foreign to him. His (legacy) was to plant the seeds for the launch of the Great Recession. Bernanke then arrives to enact measures solely for the benefit of the banksters under some crazed notion that what is good for Wall Street will filter down to Main Street. His QE policies are destroying the value of the dollar and unleashing unchecked inflation in the two areas most important to citizens - food and energy. The mere fact that these inflationary components are not even properly recognized by the CPI is farcical - especially when the collapsing values of homes is included to pervert the measurement.
The greatest (contribution) by the Treasury co-branch was Henry Paulson's treasonous act of bullying and misleading the gullible Congress regarding the immediate necessity for $700 billion in TARP funds. He portrayed the purpose as buying toxic assets to free up the paralyzed credit markets. But he reverted back to his Goldman Sachs roots by later deciding funds could be better utilized by shoring up mega bank balance sheets. From where came his right to do so? The Fed/Treasury also decided to institute "100 cents on the dollar" when any thinking person would realize that the underlying products should have garnered what they were worth. When super-elite bankers and traders make gruesome errors for bonuses and fees, they should not be rewarded for their disastrously destructive acts. Of course, any patriot should be appalled by the constant contact between the Treasury and Big Banks during this period. Then you have the misuse of TALF funds - most notably to allow Mrs. John Mack to make a bet on which she cannot lose. Geithner's post-Paulson policies have merely followed through on the goal of asset accumulation for the wealthiest 1% by artificially inflating the stock market. Completely absent is any cohesive policy for addressing unemployment or the crushing of the middle class.
So there are undeniably four branches of government despite the conventional wisdom still being taught. All have failed us in the twenty first century. More importantly, the have failed and continue to fail the once-mighty United States of America. They no longer recognize or implement those attributes that come together to constitute the term "Democracy".
All have failed us miserably since the turn of the century. Turned us from a surplus driven strong economy to a nation whose policies are made solely in behalf of the super elite 1-2% of the population.
In many ways it began with the Supreme Court Bush-Gore decision which robbed us of the ability to continue flourishing under standards probably extending Clinton era practices. Instead, it brought prosperity-stifling tax cuts for the wealthy under Bush - not just once but twice. It brought us the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The former being unquestionably proven to have been launched under false pretenses. The Supreme Court also awarded us with a ruling that massive corporations are free to buy any and all candidates for elective office. Thanks people - you really helped us out.
The Executive branch (achievements) are plain for all to see. It's silly and time consuming to list all George W. Bush's (contributions) - just summarize it by checking out his surplus coming in vs. the crushing national debt going out. The man was a menace to the country.
Obama's greatest achievement to date has been reneging on his election promise not to extend the revenue choking tax cuts for the wealthy. (Unless you choose to count the ten year overdue assassination of Osama bin Laden).
Then you have the Legislative branch who bent over to each and every Wall Street demand while passing funding for each and every thing that came their way while somehow failing to notice the national debt chart spiraling into the stratosphere. These guys have to approve spending before the money is allocated. Our fabulous system of checks and balances in all its glory.
Now we hit the newly established fourth branch of government - the Fed/Treasury. Greenspan greatly assisted in spawning the derivatives/real estate bubble by his interest rate philosophy and view on free markets acting efficiently. He was clueless about reality. Basic concepts like greed, avarice. corruption, betraying of clients and To Big To Fail were foreign to him. His (legacy) was to plant the seeds for the launch of the Great Recession. Bernanke then arrives to enact measures solely for the benefit of the banksters under some crazed notion that what is good for Wall Street will filter down to Main Street. His QE policies are destroying the value of the dollar and unleashing unchecked inflation in the two areas most important to citizens - food and energy. The mere fact that these inflationary components are not even properly recognized by the CPI is farcical - especially when the collapsing values of homes is included to pervert the measurement.
The greatest (contribution) by the Treasury co-branch was Henry Paulson's treasonous act of bullying and misleading the gullible Congress regarding the immediate necessity for $700 billion in TARP funds. He portrayed the purpose as buying toxic assets to free up the paralyzed credit markets. But he reverted back to his Goldman Sachs roots by later deciding funds could be better utilized by shoring up mega bank balance sheets. From where came his right to do so? The Fed/Treasury also decided to institute "100 cents on the dollar" when any thinking person would realize that the underlying products should have garnered what they were worth. When super-elite bankers and traders make gruesome errors for bonuses and fees, they should not be rewarded for their disastrously destructive acts. Of course, any patriot should be appalled by the constant contact between the Treasury and Big Banks during this period. Then you have the misuse of TALF funds - most notably to allow Mrs. John Mack to make a bet on which she cannot lose. Geithner's post-Paulson policies have merely followed through on the goal of asset accumulation for the wealthiest 1% by artificially inflating the stock market. Completely absent is any cohesive policy for addressing unemployment or the crushing of the middle class.
So there are undeniably four branches of government despite the conventional wisdom still being taught. All have failed us in the twenty first century. More importantly, the have failed and continue to fail the once-mighty United States of America. They no longer recognize or implement those attributes that come together to constitute the term "Democracy".
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