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PJK
Alien Abductee
USA
4159 Posts |
 Posted - 09/30/2008 : 09:09:21 AM
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I hesitate even posting this, but decided to do it anyway. I did not support Dennis for President, for various reasons, but do believe that he has a good economic head on his shoulders, therefore I was particularly interested in his thoughts on this bail out initiative. He voted NO yesterday, no surprise to me, but I was more interested in why than the vote he cast. I have to agree with his thoughts on this even though unlike most of you here, I stand to lose a lot from this. I am posting an interview with Dennis here because I thought it might interest some who might not otherwise go searching for it.
Sept 29, 2008
JUAN GONZALEZ: The House is set to vote today on a $700 billion emergency bailout plan for the financial industry. The proposed legislation was forged during a marathon negotiating session over the weekend between lawmakers from both parties and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The 110-page bill would authorize Paulson to initiate what is likely to become the biggest government bailout in US history, allowing him to spend up to $700 billion to relieve faltering banks and other firms of bad assets backed by home mortgages, which are falling into foreclosure at record rates.
While the legislation creates multiple levels of congressional oversight, Paulson would be granted broad latitude to purchase any assets from any firms at any price and to assemble a team of individuals and institutions to manage them. The measure would also require federal officials to rein in excessive compensation for corporate executives who participate in the bailout.
Money for the program would be released in segments, with the Treasury Secretary receiving $250 billion immediately. Paulson has said he expects to spend about $50 billion a month on the program.
AMY GOODMAN: The Senate could take up the bill by Wednesday. The financial package looms as a final piece of business before lawmakers leave to campaign for the November elections.
Just before this broadcast, I caught up with Democratic Congress member Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. He was just headed to the House floor. I asked him about his thoughts on the bailout plan.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: This is a copy of the bill which will provide for a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. It has provisions in it where it talks about helping homeowners, but when you read the fine print, you see it has language like “may” instead of “shall” and “encouraging” instead of “mandating” help for the millions of homeowners who are worried right now about whether they’re going to lose their home. There’s no help for them in this.
So what we have here is a rescue plan that essentially gives all the speculators a bailout and puts the bad debts in the custody of the government. The president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank has said that this plan could create a fiscal chasm, says that the problem isn’t tight monetary policy, it’s the reckless behavior of some of these investors who have now found themselves in a position where a government bailout is going to help reward their bad behavior.
AMY GOODMAN: Is it any better than when it was first introduced by the Treasury Secretary, by Henry Paulson?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, you know, that implies that you would accept the underlying premise. I reject the underlying premise that we needed this bill. And as a matter of fact, that we’re putting this up before an adjournment in an election season shows that Congress is being put under extraordinary pressure to bail out Wall Street. We haven’t looked at any alternatives, Amy. This is—you know, it isn’t as though, if you had a liquidity crisis, that—you know, a real one—that you’d start to look at all the alternatives. We haven’t done that. We have a bill here, a bill of more than a hundred pages, that we haven’t had a single hearing on the bill, you know—on the concept, yes, on what Paulson and Bernanke asked for initially. But, you know, we need to have hearings on this. There’s 400 economists and three Nobel Prize-winning economists who have said, “Whoa, wait a minute! What are you doing? Why are you rushing this?” You know, this thing doesn’t smell right, frankly.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you think has to happen right now?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, you know, Congress better get ready with a plan B. If this thing goes down, we need to find a way to help Wall Street pay for its own problems. You can do that with a 20—.25 percent stock transfer tax, cancellation of dividends. You know, make the shareholders and the investors have to pay for the funny business that was going on on Wall Street. Why make the taxpayers pay? You know, the very underlying idea of this needs to be challenged, and frankly, there hasn’t been enough of that going on.
Well, what we have is a transfer of wealth, actually. It’s a continuation of a transfer of wealth. This whole government has become nothing more than a big machine that transfers the wealth upwards with our tax policies, our energy policies, with this fiscal policies, with the war. All the wealth of the country goes from the pockets of the people into the hands of a few. This is a very dangerous moment. You know, it’s the biggest amount of injection of capital by the government in a single time since the New Deal. And frankly, there is no trickle down here. There’s just rewarding bad behavior.
AMY GOODMAN: It sounds like it was mainly the House Republicans who balked, who revolted on Friday. Yet, you and a number of your colleagues are joining them. Do you believe this will pass today?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: It’s going to be a very close vote. And I don’t see this as a partisan issue, by the way. I mean, in a way, the debate that tries to make it a partisan issue is a diversion. This is really whether or not people will side with Main Street in a struggle with Wall Street, because, you know, this is not about left or right. This is about up or down, and it’s about the color green.
And frankly, Wall Street is—has put itself on a trajectory with now we have almost a quadrillion—half a quadrillion dollars of derivatives that are out there, floating out there. People have said that if this is intended to be a fix, it’s a joke, on one hand. On the other hand, who’s paying for it? Why are we rushing this? I don’t—you know, and everything about this, I think, is unacceptable.
AMY GOODMAN: Congressman Kucinich, what happens if this doesn’t pass?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, that’s exactly right. I mean, we need to be ready with plan B, which helps Wall Street restrain some of this bad conduct, which immediately, you know, puts—looks at some of the issues of liquidity that have to do with the policies of the Fed. We had a former head of the FDIC tell a group of congressmen yesterday that the Bush administration has been going around the last few weeks, actually, so tightening up on the practices of banks that they’re forcing them to have bigger reserves, which in a way would, you know, kind of create—help to create the kind of tight money policies that we’re saying we’re trying to alleviate with this bill. So, you know, there needs to be a deeper look at this.
It seems to me there’s a possibility that this crisis has a little bit of manufacture to it. And that really concerns me, because we haven’t had enough time to look at this in an in-depth way, to analyze the impact of it on the economy, to see if it’s going to do anything about a recession that we’re obviously headed into, to see if it’s going to handle the underlying concerns on Wall Street about the speculation and a lack of regulation. The bill doesn’t, by the way, address anything about the speculation, anything about the lack of regulation. The SEC has failed. The Fed has failed. And we’re essentially telling all the same actors, “Go for it. You know, here’s another opportunity,” except this time it’s with taxpayers’ money.
AMY GOODMAN: We’ll come back to Democratic Congress member Dennis Kucinich after break.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: We go back to my interview with Democratic Congress member Dennis Kucinich. I spoke to him just before the broadcast. He was headed to the House floor, and I asked him what he said on the House floor earlier, comparing the Congress to the board of Goldman Sachs.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: I said we’re the Congress of the United States; we’re not the board of Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is struggling to survive. And, you know, their former chief is now the head of the US Treasury. He’s in a position to be able to direct assets in a way that would help enhance his own financial standing. I mean, that’s a clear conflict of interest. And, you know, that’s something that needs to be said. You know, why are we permitting the person who has essentially been in a position where he’s managed assets that—you know, many of which are now in trouble, and he can come back and help clear the books for a lot of his friends? This is wrong. It’s fundamentally wrong. And, you know, it’s one of the things that adds a degree of stench to this.
AMY GOODMAN: What concessions do you think right now are critical? For example, what do you think should happen to homeowners who have already been foreclosed on or are facing foreclosure?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, you know, there’s been a number of suggestions about the homeowners, and, you know, one is by an economist by the name of Nouriel Roubini, who says that we should come up with a plan that’s very similar to what’s happened in the ’30s, where you have a home loan process called the HOLC, and this would enable homeowners to actually be protected, that people wouldn’t go out of their—wouldn’t find themselves in a position where they’re going to lose their homes. It’s called the Home Owners’ Mortgage Enterprise. And this would be a means of helping—several steps that would help assure that we address directly the issue of people losing their homes, often through no fault of their own, and finding themselves in a position where they’re not getting any help from the government, because one of the real conceits of this bill is that it has the word “homeowner” all over it, but when you look deeper at the fine print of the text, it does not provide any direct aid for homeowners and doesn’t even require that the government set itself on a path to help homeowners. This is not about homeowners. This bill is about bailing out Wall Street speculators with $700 billion of taxpayers’ money.
AMY GOODMAN: Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke warned lawmakers that an imminent meltdown in financial markets threatens to destroy the wealth and jobs of millions of Americans, if this isn’t passed.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, there’s many ways that you can stimulate the economy. One is that you can have massive infrastructure spending. You could get that started right away. It would have to go far beyond what Congress passed the other day. If you want to spend money into circulation and move the money in the economy, you can do that through spending on things that are tangible: bridges, water systems, sewer system. You can stimulate the economy by having a national healthcare plan. I mean, that would take a little bit longer to set up, but that would be a huge break for all these businesses that are having difficulties.
There are many ways that we could address this, but the plan that they’ve put to us, they said this is the only option. Isn’t it interesting that the only plan that we get up—you know, for an up or down vote is one that gives a complete bailout to Wall Street without any restraints or protections for the investors who might come into this now.
AMY GOODMAN: Congressman Kucinich, can you explain how it is that the Democrats are in charge, yet the Democrats back down on their demand to give bankruptcy judges authority to alter the terms of mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure, that Democrats also failed in their attempt to steer a portion of any government profits from the package to affordable housing programs?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, I mean, those are two of the most glaring deficiencies in this bill. And I would maintain there was never any intention to—you know, well, many members of Congress had the intention of helping people who were in foreclosure. You know, this—Wall Street doesn’t want to do that. Wall Street wants to grab whatever change they can and equity that’s left in these properties. So—
AMY GOODMAN: Right, but the Democrats are in charge of this.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Right. You know, I’ll tell you something that we were told in our caucus. We were told that our presidential candidate, when the negotiations started at the White House, said that he didn’t want this in this bill. Now, that’s what we were told.
AMY GOODMAN: You were told that Barack Obama did not want this in the bill?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: That he didn’t want the bankruptcy provisions in the bill. Now, you know, that’s what we were told. And I don’t understand why he would say that, if he did say that. And I think that there is a—the fact that we didn’t put bankruptcy provisions in, that actually we removed any hope for judges to do any loan modifications or any forbearance. There’s no moratorium on mortgage foreclosures in here. So, who’s getting—who’s really getting helped by this bill? This is a bailout, pure and simple, of Wall Street interests who have been involved in speculation.
And I don’t, for the life of me, understand why this is going to do anything to address the underlying problems in the economy, which actually had to do with the recklessness. This is what the president of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas said, that—and, you know, I might have the actual quote here. Listen to this quote: he said, “The seizures and convulsions we’ve experienced in the debt and equity markets have been the consequences of a sustained orgy of excess and reckless behavior, not a too tight monetary policy.” This is the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank president, Richard Fisher.
So, you know, we’re getting stampeded here to vote for something that doesn’t help homeowners, that doesn’t do anything about foreclosures, that doesn’t help those people who have been in bankruptcy and are looking for a way out. As a matter of fact, it made sure they can’t get out. So, who’s this for? It’s for speculators. It’s to play a game that provides some temporary help in the market, and, you know, you might see an uptick today if this passes the House. On the other hand, if it doesn’t, we need to be ready to find a way for Wall Street to address its problems without having to tap the increasingly diminishing resources of the federal taxpayers.
AMY GOODMAN: And the issue of oversight, Congressman Kucinich? Before, there was Section 8, saying there was no executive or legislative oversight here.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, you know, the word “oversight” has new meaning here. You know, oversight could mean “I overlooked something.” And frankly, the Securities and Exchange Commission looked the other way while all these—all this fast-paced trading was going in derivatives and derivatives of derivatives. We have about a four—$500 trillion, almost a half a quadrillion dollars of derivatives floating out there that no one really understands how that’s going to affect the underlying economy when some of these things start imploding.
You know, I think that—I think we’re looking at a situation here where it is precisely the lack of regulation and the lack of oversight by the administration that has caused this. Congress is going to have hearings next month, but frankly, we should be having hearings now, before we pass a bill. I mean, it’s just upside-down that you have hearings about the underlying problem after you pass a bill, because you have hearings first, you do the analysis, and then you come up with a fix that can protect investors, strengthen the economy.
We should be concerned about the strength of the FDIC. We’re told that there’s more than a hundred banks that are in trouble right now and could collapse. We have to make sure depositors’ money is protected. This bill doesn’t have anything to do with that.
AMY GOODMAN: The issue of corporate compensation? According to the Institute for Policy Studies, chief executives of large US companies made an average of $10.5 million last year, 344 times the pay of the average worker.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, this is really a fundamental issue in our society. Again, it’s all about how the wealth accelerates to the top and how work is not respected or rewarded for its own intrinsic value. We’ve really moved, you know. We’ve made a transition in our economy from industrial capitalism to finance capitalism. And with this debt-based economy that we have, where we keep—this public and private debt keeps exploding, as it has under—as it did under Alan Greenspan, quadrupling in a period of twenty years, we see ourselves in a position where the debt just keeps building and building and building, and we’re calling that economic progress. It is not.
We need to challenge again the underlying assumptions about a debt-based economy, about whether or not we should revisit the 1913 Federal Reserve Act, which has an unfortunately privatized monetary system and created a system which includes banks having the ability to create money almost out of thin air with a fractional reserve. We have to look at the implications of that, maybe put the Federal Reserve under the Treasury and have the Treasury really be responsive to the interests of the American people and keeping the economy going.
You know, we’re looking at the potential here for some positive changes, if we address them directly. But what this bill does, unfortunately, it just kind of helps things keep going until the next trillion-dollar crisis, which is coming in a few months when the Alt-A or jumbo mortgages, which are being reset in ’09 and 2010, will find their maximum financial stress on marketplaces. So I think that you have to realize that this—what we’re doing today is not going to forestall a recession, it is not going to solve the problem of a collapse of mortgages, it’s not going to help homeowners.
When all is said and done and the jeweler’s eye is applied to this bill, this bill is about Wall Street. And unfortunately, you know, Goldman Sachs, with their man now as the Secretary of the Treasury, is going to be able to have some of its policies escape scrutiny. And this is probably a way to keep them afloat, I’m sure. Well, you know, I don’t want anybody to go down or out of business, but it seems to me that when the Secretary of the Treasury has massive holdings in Goldman Sachs and he’s going to be in a position of being able to direct investments and buy out bad investments, I think that we could easily conclude what that would do for his former firm.
AMY GOODMAN: Democratic Congress member Dennis Kucinich. He’s voting against the bailout today.
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rubylith
Fluffy-Esque
1915 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2008 : 10:38:50 AM
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If they pass the bailout package our country is doomed...well even more doomed.
Thankfully there are intelligent people like Mr. Kucinich, and Mr. Paul left in congress.
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Arthen
Alien Abductee
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2008 : 02:53:58 AM
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| Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinch, Michael Moore, and Lou Dobbs all agree: fuck the bailout. I have to agree. |
Steve Hackett: "I'm my own opening act, you see."
Tim (before "Faceoff"): "Peace, love....and SEX!"
cbenc41@hotmail.com |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2008 : 08:49:35 AM
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Press Release from the American Monetary Institute Sept. 29, 2008
Contact person: Stephen Zarlenga phone: 224-805-2200
The following press release is issued by the American Monetary Institute following its 4th annual Monetary Reform Conference at Roosevelt University, Sept. 25-28th.
"The private sector has failed. The public sector is expected to rescue them and it will. Therefore the public sector should control the money system to benefit the country".
Why No Immediate Wall Street Bailout Will Work
In order for the bail out to work, it needs to restore confidence among the public, not just Wall Street gamblers. Confidence cannot be restored by rushing Congress into bailing out the very same people who wrecked our money and banking system. The public understands this and sees the $700 billion grab as adding insult to injury.
The only way to restore confidence is if the Congress carefully deliberates how to solve the crisis, in the American interest. The people will see and understand that Congress is doing its job, and our country can then start rebuilding it’s money system.
MORE SPECIFICS FOLLOW and more is at http://www.monetary.org:
Monetary Reform of the Federal Reserve System.
At the heart of the problem is that our money system has been privatized. Naturally it’s been run for the benefit of the “privates” in control, with minimal concern for the public interest.
Legislation called The American Monetary Act has been in preparation for years. It’s based on well known monetary principles and actual experience from our own, and other countries monetary history. (see the act at http://www.monetary.org/amacolorpamphlet.pdf)
The Act incorporates the Federal Reserve System into the U.S. Treasury. It removes the banking systems privilege to create money, placing that firmly within government, and it establishes areas for governmentally created money to be introduced into the economy for infrastructure, including the human infrastructure of health care and education.
Should the situation deteriorate markedly now, the American Monetary Act could be put into effect immediately with the reliable understanding that it would be a definite and major improvement over the current system.
Our money system would then shift away from credit and debt, to real money. One difference between money and credit is that during uncertain times, credit evaporates, but money does not go out of existence, it is much more stable. A big part of the current problem is that while we have had loads of bank credit circulating, there has been very little “real money” issued by government in circulation mainly our coins and bills. The credit is evaporating along with housing valuations.
The AMI has been ready and working on these provisions for years, while realizing that it unfortunately might require a crisis to bring real attention to it. We have the crisis now.
Rather than borrowing the $ billions being demanded, and ending up paying back about 3 times the amount after interest charges, The US Government would issue money itself, instead of borrowing it from banks. But while the banks issue credit that substitutes for money, the U.S. would issue actual money. Our Government has the power to create the money, in an account, or by simply printing it as “greenbacks.”
There would not be inflationary effects, because it was already believed that those moneys existed in the form of the real estate values and loans. In effect this would stop a deflation which will follow from writing down those assets and loans to their present market values. Conditions in the act assure that the banking system could not use those government created dollars for further credit creation, as that would be inflationary. The US Treasury would help direct the money into the real economy, not speculation.
Warmest regards and ready to help,
Stephen Zarlenga
Director,
American Monetary Institute
224-805-2200
Dear Friends of Monetary Reform,
ABOVE is our press release after the 4th Annual Monetary Reform Conference (a report will soon go out; participants are emailing their congratulations)
Meanwhile, a gang of ruthless, murdering thieves is attempting to steal an additional $700 billion from our nation, under threat of an economic meltdown.
There are two things you can and should do RIGHT NOW to stop this outrage:
1) Forward this email immediately to your entire email list by Wednesday at the latest, and request that they also forward it to their lists, etc, etc, etc!
2) Forward this email to both of your U.S. Senators, and to your Congressman. (The email address of your Congressman is at https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml Your Senators email addresses are at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Do this before Thursday's vote!
Thanks,
Stephen Zarlenga
Ami |
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy         
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2008 : 09:03:13 AM
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Protecting the public interest in any economic "bailout"
Dear Friend,
The U.S. government has been turned into an engine that accelerates the wealth upwards into the hands of a few. The Wall Street bailout, the Iraq War, military spending, tax cuts to the rich, and a for-profit health care system are all about the acceleration of wealth upwards. And now, the American people are about to pay the price of the collapse of the $513 trillion Ponzi scheme of derivatives. Yes, that’s half a quadrillion dollars. Our first trillion dollar compression bandage will hardly stem the hemorrhaging of an unsustainable Ponzi scheme built on debt "de-leverages."
Does anyone seriously think that our public and private debts of some $45 trillion will be paid? That the administration's growth of the federal debt from $5.6 trillion to $9.8 trillion while borrowing another trillion dollars from Social Security has nothing to do with this? Does anyone not see that when we spend nearly $16,000 for every family of four in our society for the military each year that we are heading over the cliff?
This is a debt crisis, not a credit crisis. Just as FDR had to save capitalism after Wall Street excesses, we have to re-invigorate our economy with real - not imaginary - growth. It does not address the never-ending war on the middle class.
The same corporate interests that profited from the closing of U.S. factories, the movement of millions of jobs out of America, the off-shoring of profits, the out-sourcing of workers, the crushing of pension funds, the knocking down of wages, the cancellation of health care benefits, the sub-prime lending are now rushing to Washington to get money to protect themselves.
The double standard is stunning: their profits are their profits, but their losses are our losses.
This bailout will not bring real jobs back to America. It will not bring back jobs that make things. It does not rebuild our schools, streets, neighborhoods, parks or bridges. The major product of this financial economy is now debt. Industrial capitalism has been destroyed.
In the next few days I will push for a plan that includes equity for every American in any taxpayer investment in this so-called bail-out plan. Since the bailout will cost each and every American about $2,300, I have proposed the creation of a United States Mutual Trust Fund, which will take control of $700 billion in stock assets, convert those assets to shares, and distribute $2,300 worth of shares to new individual savings accounts in the name of each and every American.
I will also insist that all of the following issues be considered in whatever Congress passes:
1)Reinstatement of the provisions of Glass-Steagall, which forbade speculation
2)Re-regulation of the finance, insurance, and real estate industries
3)Accountability on the part of those who took the companies down:
a) resignations of management
b) givebacks of executive compensation packages
c) limitations on executive compensation
d) admission by CEO's of what went wrong and how, prior to any government bailout
4)Demands for transparencey
a) with respect to analyzing the transactions which took the companies down
b) with respect to Treasury's dealings with the companies pre and post-bailout
5)An equity position for the taxpayers
a) some form of ownership of assets
6)Some credible formula for evaluating the price of the assets that the government is buying.
7)A sunset clause on the legislation
8)Full public disclosure by members of Congress of assets held, with possible conflicts put in blind trust.
9)A ban on political campaign contributions from officers of corporations receiving bailouts
10)A requirement that 2008 cycle candidates return political contributions to officers and representatives of corporations receiving bailouts
And, most importantly, some mechanism for direct assistance to homeowners saddled with unreasonable or unmanageable mortgages, as well as protection for renters who have lived up to their obligation but fall victim to financial tragedy when the property they live in undergoes foreclosure.
These are just some thoughts on the run. You will hear more from me tomorrow.
Dennis J Kucinich
www.Kucinich.us
216-252-9000 877-933-6647 |
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2008 : 09:06:05 AM
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Dear Friend,
While Wall Street and the Bush Administration try to blackmail Congress into a $700 billion bailout for corporations that have shown zero concern about the plight of the American people through the last decade, I have been working on a comprehensive alternative. Today, I am releasing a plan for economic recovery that will provide not only economic stimulus, but also fairness for everyday people on every "Main Street" in America. The plan is detailed below, and it will also be available on the campaign website www.kucinich.us.
Of course, this is a plan that has not only economic implications, but also moral and spiritual implications as well. The social, economic, and political divisions in our nation must be healed. We can make a new beginning, seizing this moment of crisis and transforming it into a moment of rebirth for our nation. I hope you will take the time to read it, consider it, and share it with your friends. I welcome your comments and your support.
Kucinich’s Main Street Recovery Plan
1. Health Care for All: Insurance companies make money not providing health care. As the co-author of HR 676, a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system, Medicare for All, I understand millions of Americans want health care that is accessible and affordable.
Medicare for All will help businesses large and small, create jobs as well as save the jobs of thousands of people including those of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who are currently leaving medicine because it is run by the insurance companies. $1 in every 3 dollars of the $2.4 trillion spent annually in America for health care goes to the insurance companies. If we take that money ($800 billion in unproductive wasteful spending) and put it directly into care, we will have enough money to cover everyone. We are already paying for Medicare for all, but not receiving it. HR 676 changes that!
2. Prescription Drug Benefit for Seniors: HR 6800 is the MEDS Act, which provides a fully paid prescription drug benefit, under Medicare, for all seniors. I wrote this bill to help alleviate the economic pressure that comes from the high cost of prescription drugs. We can pay for it by letting the government negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies as well as by permitting re-importation.
3. Stop the Oil Companies’ Price Gouging: As you know, I was the first one to step up to challenge of the corrupt price gouging and market speculation of the oil companies by proposing a windfall profits tax, on oil and natural gas companies, with revenues put into tax credits for the purchase of fuel-efficient American-made cars. However, it may be that nationalization is the only way to put an end to the oil companies' sharp practices.
4. Protecting the American Homestead: As Chairman of the Domestic Policy Oversight Subcommittee, I am working to protect your basic right to have a roof over your head, whether as an owner or renter. I have investigated and helped to expose the manipulation of mortgage markets, and I am crafting a new federal policy so that neighborhoods with the highest number of foreclosures get the most help.
5. Jobs for All: Congressman LaTourette and I have co-authored the bi-partisan New Deal-type jobs program, HR 3400, "Rebuilding America's Infrastructure." It will create millions of good-paying new jobs rebuilding our roads, bridges, water systems and sewer systems.
6. American Manufacturing Policy: I am drafting the American Manufacturing Policy Act, which for the first time, will state that the maintenance of U.S. steel, automotive, and aerospace industries are vital to our national economic security and must be maintained through integrated public-private cooperation, new trade policies, and investment.
7. Works Green Administration: I am also drafting plans for a green New Deal jobs program, in which the government creates millions of jobs by incentivizing the design, engineering, manufacturing, distribution and maintenance of millions of wind and solar micro-technologies for millions of homes and businesses, dramatically lowering energy costs and reducing our dependence on oil.
8. Fair Trade: The U.S. has lost millions of good-paying jobs, and more jobs have been out-sourced. As you know, I have helped to lead the way in opposition to trade giveaways. I strongly urge repeal of NAFTA. We must include workers' rights, human rights and environmental quality principles in all trade pacts. We must also protect the Great Lakes' water resources from the reach of multi-national corporations.
9. Education for All: I know families need help with the rising cost of day care. That is why I introduced HR 4060, a universal pre-kindergarten program to ensure that all children ages 3-5 have access to full-day, quality day care.
10. Protecting Pensions: I am working to change bankruptcy laws so pensioners' claims will be first, ahead of banks, and that corporate executives who misuse workers' pension funds are subject to criminal penalties. I want to fully fund the Pension Benefit Guarantee Board.
11. Social Security: From my first moments in Congress, I have exposed Wall Street's efforts to privatize Social Security and attacked it in the Democratic Caucus when it was being proposed. Can you imagine where seniors would be today if Social Security had been turned over to the stock market? Social Security is solid through 2032 without any changes.
12. Protect Bank Deposits: I will work to make sure the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has sufficient funds to provide for insurance of deposits up to $200,000 at all banks and savings and loans. This is an urgent matter since so many banks are said to be vulnerable.
13. Protect Investors: Bring back strong regulation to Wall Street. As Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, I challenged the Wall Street hedge fund speculators as a threat to small investors. I intend to keep active watch over the machinations on Wall Street.
14. Strength through Peace: You'll remember when I led the effort against the ill-conceived Iraq war, which has now cost more than 4,100 US soldiers' lives, cost U.S. taxpayers between $3 trillion and $5 trillion, and resulted in the deaths of more than a million Iraqis. We must bring our troops home and end the war. We must engage in diplomacy. We must reduce the military budget, and we must stop outrageous cost overruns by the likes of Halliburton.
15. Safety in America: I am proud of my work for peace. In July 2001, I introduced a bill, which today is HR 808, that for the first time creates a comprehensive plan to deal with the issues of violence in American society, particularly domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, gang violence, gun violence, racial violence, and violence against gays by establishing a Cabinet-level Department of Peace and Restorative Justice. This proposal has sparked a national movement and when implemented will save tax payers millions of dollars.
16. Monetary Policy: It is long past the time that we looked at the implications of our debt based monetary system, the privatization of money created by the 1913 Federal Reserve Act, the banks fractional reserve system and our debt-based economic system. Unless we have dramatic reform of monetary policy, the entire economic system will continue to accelerate wealth upwards. I am currently working on drafting legislation for an 'American Monetary Act' to address these and other issues in order to protect the economic wellbeing of America.
Dennis
www.Kucinich.us
216-252-9000 877-933-6647 |
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2008 : 09:10:07 AM
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The Bailout and What's Next
Dear Friend,
Yesterday marked a day that will go down in history, when Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike took on full responsibility to protect the interests of taxpaying Americans, and defeated the deceptive bail out bill, defying the dictates of the Administration, the House Majority Leadership, the House Minority Leadership and the special interests on Wall Street.
Obviously Congress must consider quickly another course. There are immediate issues which demand attention and responsible action by the Congress so that the taxpayers, their assets, and their futures are protected.
We MUST do something to protect millions of Americans whose homes, bank deposits, investments, and pensions are at risk in a financial system that has become seriously corrupted. We are told that we must stabilize markets in order for the people to be protected. I think we need to protect peoples' homes, bank deposits, investments, and pensions, to order to stabilize the market.
We cannot delay taking action. But the action must benefit all Americans, not just a privileged few. Otherwise, more plans will fail, and the financial security of everyone will be at risk.
The $700 billion bailout would have added to our existing unbearable load of national debt, trade deficits, and the cost of paying for the war. It would have been a disaster for the American public and the government for decades and maybe even centuries to come.
To be sure, there are many different reasons why people voted against the bailout. The legislation did not regard in any meaningful way the plight of millions of Americans who are about to lose their homes. It did nothing to strengthen existing regulatory structures or impose new ones at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve in order to protect investors. There were no direct protections for bank depositors. There was nothing to stop further speculation, which is what brought us into this mess in the first place.
This was a bailout for some firms (and investors) on Wall Street, with the idea that in doing so there would be certain, unspecified, general benefits to the economy.
This is a perfect time to open a broader discussion about our financial system, especially our monetary system. Such a discussion is like searching for a needle in a haystack, and then, upon finding it, discussing its qualities at great length. Let me briefly describe the haystack instead.
Here is a very quick explanation of the $700 billion bailout within the context of the mechanics of our monetary and banking system:
The taxpayers loan money to the banks. But the taxpayers do not have the money. So we have to borrow it from the banks to give it back to the banks. But the banks do not have the money to loan to the government. So they create it into existence (through a mechanism called fractional reserve) and then loan it to us, at interest, so we can then give it back to them.
Confused?
This is the system. This is the standard mechanism used to expand the money supply on a daily basis not a special one designed only for the "$700 billion" transaction. People will explain this to you in many different ways, but this is what it comes down to.
The banks needed Congress' approval. Of course in this topsy turvy world, it is the banks which set the terms of the money they are borrowing from the taxpayers. And what do we get for this transaction? Long term debt enslavement of our country. We get to pay back to the banks trillions of dollars ($700 billion with compounded interest) and the banks give us their bad debt which they cull from everywhere in the world.
Who could turn down a deal like this? I did.
The globalization of the debt puts the United States in the position that in order to repay the money that we borrow from the banks (for the banks) we could be forced to accept International Monetary Fund dictates which involve cutting health, social security benefits and all other social spending in addition to reducing wages and exploiting our natural resources. This inevitably leads to a loss of economic, social and political freedom.
Under the failed $700 billion bailout plan, Wall Street's profits are Wall Street's profits and Wall Street's losses are the taxpayers' losses. Profits are capitalized. Losses are socialized.
We are at a teachable moment on matters of money and finance. In the coming days and weeks, I will share with you thoughts about what can be done to take us not just in a new direction, but in a new direction which is just.
Thank you,
Dennis
www.Kucinich.us
216-252-9000 877-933-6647
PS Watch the 47 minute 'Money as Debt' animated documentary in http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9050474362583451279. This is a useful, though by no means definitive, introduction to the topic of debt and the monetary system. Let me know what you think. |
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2008 : 09:14:57 AM
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Protest at the Capitol Building on Thursday!
Not Another Rip-off! Put People's Needs Over Wall Street Greed!
Yesterday we won. Every news report describes Congressional offices flooded with emails and phone calls opposing the bailout. But Bush has made it clear that he wants to ram legislation through Congress when it reconvenes Thursday at 12 Noon. We have to be there to tell them that we will not hand over $700 billion to the richest bankers. There should be a moratorium on all foreclosures and evictions. That's the way to solve the housing crisis. Already, two million families have either been driven from their homes or are on the verge of foreclosure. Politicians didn't hold emergency sessions to solve their crisis. Half a million workers filed first-time unemployment last week. Congress didn't hold an emergency session for them. 47 million people can't go to the doctor when they're sick. The President and Congress have taken no special action for them.
Demonstration at
the Capitol Building
Thursday, October 2, 10am
Independence and New Jersey Ave. SE
South Side of the Capitol
Washington, D.C.
Initiated by VoteNoBailout.org supported by the ANSWER Coalition and ImpeachBush |
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2008 : 09:29:12 AM
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Seems like a GREAT TIMe to bring this back up. If you are having a hard TIMe understanding this financial crisis and how it will affect YOU, I would like to recommend this book once again.
TR and myself were introduced to Stephen A. Zarlenga by Dennis Kucinich. When we played in Cincinati, Dennis brought Stephen to dinner with us and Stephen presented TR with a copy of his book, "The Lost Science of Money". After TR read the book he was blown away and he passed it off to me to read and BOY! what an eye-opening book. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand a little better how the monetary system ACTUALLY works(or doesn't hehe) and how we got in the state we are currently in and offers great alternatives to getting out of this situation.
http://www.monetary.org/lostscienceofmoney.html
Dennis was a huge fan of Stephen's and was hoping to use what he learned to help reform our failing financial system. If you truly want to read one of the most in-depth attempts at explaining it all check out the book. The book is not as overwhelming as it sounds and is well written and easily understandable to even a dolt like me.
We discussed this book back in July '07 quite extensively. Here is a link to that thread:
http://www.timreynolds.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7845
Knowledge is power. Lets put the power in the hands of the people. Don't let "them" walk all over us because we don't understand the concepts at work here. |
Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2008 : 09:44:00 AM
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I also received a "Plan B" in my email box yesterday:
For you that are better on the Yahoo than I, a person named T.J. Birkenmeier proposed the following in brief:
Instead of the 85 billion $ bail out,
give it to each person 18+ = 200,000,000 people
Divided out = $425,000 per person
taxes would return $25,500,000.00 to Government
That is $297,500.00 per person or $595,000.00 per man and wife.
Payoff mortgage - housing crisis solved
Payoff credit cards
Repay college loans
Elderly people medical insurance paid
Reinvest in stock market
Save in bank - create money to loan
Enable Deadbeat Dads to pay off or else
SO the 85 Billion is now 59.5 Billion because 25.5 Billion has been returned instantly to Uncle Sam as taxes.
I could live with that!
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Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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PJK
Alien Abductee
USA
4159 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2008 : 07:18:45 AM
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Words of wisdom:
"Someone holds up a bank, and they get put in jail. Wall Street holds up the Nation, and gets a 700 Billion Dollar Bail out!"
........you guessed it, Dennis Kucinich |
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rubylith
Fluffy-Esque
1915 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2008 : 1:36:42 PM
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Is the math wrong on that I'm getting different numbers....
anyway the house passed the bill...go read the 450 pages and get terrified. Goto page 180.
\
Watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaF_MZVWM3E
KUCINICH TELLS THE TRUTH |
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PJK
Alien Abductee
USA
4159 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2008 : 3:28:34 PM
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Thanks for posting that Dave! Way to go Dennis! I agree with him 100%. I am an Obama supporter, but wish he hadn't voted yes on this bill. Listening to economists and the stock market channels I am more and more convinced that this is not a good thing for our country. Rushing into this makes me feel like I am dealing with a used car salesman.
Plus, the 150 billion dollar pork that was added on to this is making me literally ill! I am afraid to look to see if Congress passed this legislation today........I for one hope they didn't. |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2008 : 6:06:57 PM
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Elizabeth Kucinich's blog:
Friday, October 03, 2008
Congressman Kucinich: Why? Why? Why?
Category: News and Politics
Speaking against the bailout on the floor this morning, former presidential hopeful Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) invoked FDR and slammed the "cold calculations of the Dow Jones ticker."
"Some people will ask of this Congress, what were we thinking? Why did we give $700 billion bailout to Wall Street without fixing what caused the problem in the first place? Why did we rig the free markets for security fraudsters? Why didn't we explore alternatives to let Wall Street solve its own problems? Why didn't we have money save millions of homeowners, create millions of jobs and a green economy? Why didn't we stop the speculators? Why wasn't there accountability? Why didn't we take time to make an intelligent decision?
"Why? Why? Why?"
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Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2008 : 6:10:28 PM
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Friday, October 03, 2008
The Nation: "Kucinich: It is Still a Bad Bailout"
Category: News and Politics
Kucinich: It Is Still a Bad Bailout
posted by John Nichols
The Nation
10/03/2008 @ 11:37am
Good policy is rarely if ever set in the rush to an election.
But Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich keeps arguing that Congress should slow down and develop a responsible approach to the narrow questions raised by Wall Street's financial crisis and the broader question of economic instability on Main Street.
Most members of Congress want to get out of Washington and back to campaigning.
Kucinich is not afraid of staying in Washington and working.
Though the congressman faces a serious challenge this fall -- and a regular battering from his hometown newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer -- he is right about staying in Washington, both from a policy standpoint and from a political standpoint.
Ultimately, Kucinich's determination to stay focused on the economic fundamentals is likely to assure his reelection.
Why? Because voters really are concerned about the disconnect in Washington, where most politicians seem to be more wrapped up with the work of bailing out banks and getting out of town than with the dramatic new issues raised by unsettling unemployment numbers.
Kucinich "gets it."
That was clear in the speech he delivered during Friday morning's House debate on the curent version of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's Wall Street bailout bill:
"We have come a great distance in seventy-five years; from the New Deal to the Raw Deal, from having nothing to fear but fear itself, to being afraid of everything. We traded democracy's warm heart containing the ideals of faith, fairness and frugality, for the greedy, cold calculations of the Dow Jones ticker. The New Deal saved free market capitalism with jobs and regulation; now both sink in the swamp of speculation, manipulation and capitulation. The Golden Rule of 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' is submerged by the rule of gold, 'do unto others before they do unto you.' Some people will ask of this Congress, what were we thinking? Why did we give $700 billion bailout to Wall Street without fixing what caused the problem in the first place? Why did we rig the free markets for security fraudsters? Why didn't we explore alternatives to let Wall Street solve its own problems? Why didn't we have money save millions of homeowners, create millions of jobs, and a green economy? Why didn't we stop the speculators? Why wasn't there accountability? Why didn't we take time to make an intelligent decision?
Why? Why? Why?"
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Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Fluffy
Administrator
USA
10739 Posts |
Posted - 11/27/2008 : 3:15:00 PM
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For those in the NYC area:
Meet Stephen Zarlenga, Director of the American Monetary Institute in N.Y. City, Monday December 1st, 6 to 8 PM at the Henry George School at 121 E. 30th st. Conversation from 5:00 PM;
"What caused the Monetary Crisis and How to Fix It!"
talk starts at 6PM. Late arrivals OK.
(Please call 224-805-2200 to confirm time, and so we can arrange refreshments).
Event Info Host: American Monetary Institute - Monetary Reform Now!
Type: Education - Workshop
Network: Global
Time and Place Date: Monday, December 1, 2008
Time: 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Henry George School, NYC
Street: 121 E. 30th St
City/Town: New York, NY
Contact Info Phone: 2248052200
Email: ami@taconic.net
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=35180524291
This is mostly for you, PJK, if you are free. NYC is a short drive. Meeting Stephen is pretty awe inspiring. It was just like when I met Dennis. So much positivity and spirit, you can't help but get excited. Make it if you can!
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Peace & Keep the Faith
Fluffy
"THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A CRUEL AND SHALLOW MONEY TRENCH-- A LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY WHERE THIEVES AND PIMPS RUN FREE AND GOOD MEN DIE LIKE DOGS. THERE'S ALSO A NEGATIVE SIDE..." -Hunter S. Thompson |
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Dennis Kucinich on Bail Out Plan
