Oct 03 2008

The Peoples Republic Of Wall Street

Pepe Escobar cuts through the fog and bullshit emanating from the Washington, Wall Street, and media lockstep march to relieve you and your children of all the money they can, your future and the future of the country, while doing their damndest to stockholm syndrome you into giving it up to them willingly.

Pepe Escobar: What’s behind the “no banker left behind” bailout

The financial crisis may be the number one issue on US voters’ minds, but there seems to be no leadership at work in Washington, comments Pepe Escobar. The Wall Street bailout rejected by Congress and then approved by the Senate may not be the solution. It’s up to foreign analysts and economists to tell it like it really is.

What is in fact being saved – capitalism or a banking oligopoly?

26 comments

Skip to comment form

    • Edger on October 3, 2008 at 19:17
      Author
    • #

    …after signing into law the Federal Reserve Act

    “I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world – no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”

    –Woodrow Wilson

  2. I just left a long comment in OPOL’s essay about this. Here’s an excerpt:

    The system has been rigged so working Americans think their best interests are with Wall Street. From IRAs to 401(k)s, the middle class has been enticed into paying in their money into a vast transferal of wealth.

    When Wall Street didn’t get the bailout money they wanted on Monday because the House said, by 12 votes, “no”, the market reacted by taking the retirement investments of working Americans and chopping off 5-10% of their value.

    Instead of the middle class reacting by saying putting our retirement money on Wall Street is insane, we must make sure Social Security is strong and Medicare is strong. Many call they senators and representatives demanding that Congress do something to “protect” the dollar value of their investments. It is true madness.

    Among other things, I advocate we need a Retirement Defense Act that will decouple retirement from Wall Street by shoring up Social Security by removing the income cap, and help those retired by increasing the monthly payments.

    • OPOL on October 3, 2008 at 19:53
    • #

    The ultimate coup was to convince the entire nation that the well-being of the rich, meaning the well-being of Wall Street, was indeed the common man’s well-being.

    Joe Bageant on Alternet

    • Edger on October 3, 2008 at 20:50
      Author
    • #

    on CNN about the vote on this bill. They just delivered a bill of a trillion dollars or more to your mailbox, while driving the getaway car for the bank robbers on Wall Street.

    Why do Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emmanual, and the rest of the democrats always look so goddamned happy whenever they manage to do exactly what George W. Bush tells them to do, while sticking you with the bill?

    Could it be for the same reason they never ended the Iraq Occupation or impeached Bush? Because they judged that they would pay no political price?


    Asked about her “greatest mistake,” Pelosi said “Why don’t you tell me? ‘Cause I think we’re doing just great.” Remember when Georgie stumbled over a similar question and couldn’t recall any mistakes? It seems Our Only President is not the only one so afflicted.

    –Nancy Pelosi

  5. . . . Jane Harman, come Election Day, despite the fact that the brazen hussy continues to call herself “a Democrat” (as do I, for want of anything better).  If your congressperson voted yes on the bailout, I hope you will do the same, regardless of whether they’re pretending to be “Democrats” or “Republicans.”

  6. So the congress voted to give a gigantic pot of gold to its friends in the financial services industry. This was no loan.  It was an outright gift that by definition does not have to be paid back.  Ever. I’m shocked. Not.  I mean, if the government received stock in these companies, or held notes or bonds, or even took a security interest of some kind, it’d be undermining laissez faire, and being socialistic by regulating transactions in the market place by taking a financial interest in the companies.

    Long story short: the mfers got us to pay these titans of Wall Street big time and, and this is the important part, to get nothing, nada, zip in return.  Except more personal debt.  That sucks.

    Let’s just vote against everybody who voted, “Yes.”  It doesn’t matter at all what letter they might have after their names.

Comments have been disabled.