The Fall Of A Nation

Oligarchy Democracy
A guest post
By Engineer of Knowledge

As I write this article today, September 26, 2008, Congress and President Bush are cutting a deal to bail out those who were responsible for the destroying the economy of the United States to the levels never before seen since the Great Depression. Those that bought influence over the years, ending with this administration, to remove the financial and stock market safeguards that had worked so well for so many years since being put in place by Joseph Kennedy during the 1930’s Depression Era.

Oligarchy is a form of government where political power is by an elite segment of society. Many times it is distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military powers or occult spiritual hegemony. The U.S. has been under the control of politically powerful families whose children were heavily conditioned and mentored to be heirs of the power of the oligarchy exerting control through economic means. Oligarchy governments are completely reliant on public servitude to exist and the financial abuses are a common result for the middle working classes.

The Great Depression was brought on by more than a decade of abuses like the Teapot Dome Scandal of Warren Harding, a Republican President who allowed the oil industry to pump oil from U.S. reserve sites without reimbursing the U.S. government as oilmen gave gifts totaling over $400,000 to his administration. Much like what we are experiencing today in the U.S. A decade that ended up with the corrupt Presidential Administration of Hubert Hoover, a Republican who was from the mining industry that allowed the abuses to the government by corporate America to continue. Again, much like what we are experiencing today in the U.S. This decade of abuses finally lead to the financial infrastructure and stock market crash of 1929. Just like we are experiencing today.

Three years into the Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in November 1932. By this time the national income was cut by more than half and five thousand banks had crashed, wiping out nine million dollars in savings and retirement accounts. More than fifteen million workers had lost their jobs. The Great Depression devastated the middle class who were, like today, the bulk of the tax base. This ruination of the working class brought to light the question of government’s role to the forefront of protecting the working class from the abuses of the corporation’s controlling officers.

The election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt represented a revolutionary realignment of political power in the United States. The ascendancy of the Democratic Party facilitated by new voting coalitions of rural south and industrialized north, dislodged the Republican Party’s nearly seventy-year dominance.

One of the first reforms of Roosevelt was the passage of the Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934. Roosevelt appointed Joseph Kennedy as the first Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. With this appointment Kennedy became responsible for drafting legislation which would regulate the business dealings of his former Wall Street colleagues. The first legislation drafted proposed federal supervision of securities traded over state boundaries, and established the Securities and Exchange Commission empowered to enforce the regulations. Some of the abuses that the commission was to address were insider trading, bear raiding, and manipulating stocks to create the illusion of activity. One of the most alarming propositions was that companies selling stocks would have to reveal their financial histories to the public.

Since the late 1970’s, there has been strong lobbying movement by the financial industry to remove these laws of check and balances. Slowing nibbling away, year after year, repealing those laws which kept the ethics of proper business practices and prevented greed from taking over the financial markets. President Regan even made the statement that, “Government is not the answer to problems, Government is the problem!” Without any elaboration to his sound bite statement’s meaning, too many from the middle working class accepted the statement at its generic face value.

Even Presidential candidate John McCain noted the abuses as being wrong when Bears Stern was bailed out from bankruptcy with tax payers’ dollars. The CEO, Alan Schwartz, rewarded himself by cashing in his stock options walking away with millions of tax payers’ dollars originally slated to keep Bears Stern cash viable. Yes, after making decisions responsible for the financial ruin of Bears Sterns, he felt that he did such a good job that he should be rewarded with his yearly bonus with our tax payer’s bailout money. Without any concern that he was taking away from the retirement funds of the working class that had invested in Bears Sterns, his greed was dominant over common sense of what should have been honorable.

So in conclusion, we are now debating rewarding with a financial bailout of those who bought influence with our elected officials, those who removed the safeguards placing ourselves in this financial ruin. Meanwhile our elected officials are now trying to look like epific legislating heroes as they come up with legislation that will cure and safeguard the American public on the $700 billion to be given to those that bought the influence dismantling Joseph Kennedy’s laws.

So in essence, we have government of the influence lobbying contributors, by the influence lobbying contributors, for the influence lobby contributors. The United States has been governed by the lobbying contributions of an elite few with influence that has increased annually for the past 30 years. The middle working class masses have been duped into thinking that they are included in this group. The real truth is we have been taken financial advantage of and left with the responsibility of their financial burden.

McCAIN'S MEDDLING

Razzle-Dazzle is how Matthews described McCain's
showboating with the financail crisis. Indeed,
Matthews applied the term to everything the McCain
has done from the time of selecting Palin until
now. However, the actions of McCain in the last
week are anything but "putting the country first".
Rather, it is what can I, John McCain, do to put
my name first.

In the past week McCain began by trying to tell us
that the economy was strong. I was in NYC at that
very moment, and in a few hours of him making that
statement Lehman Brothers was in collapse. As we
watched employees streaming out with their belongings,
over 10,000 would lose their source of income. Then,
by the end of the week McCain was being the populist,
the man on horseback, rushing back to D.C. to save
the nation, when for 26 years he sat in Washington
passing all the enabling rightist legislation which
permitted this crisis to come to fruition.

Both McCain and Obama are out of the loop in these
negotiations, if any one knows how Congress operates.
Decisions and agreements are reached basically in
committee hearings, and neither one sits on the
Senate Banking Committee. Moreover, while McCain had
no contact for the last 10 days with the Senate Banking
Committee, Obama had been talking numerous times with
Paulson and with Sen. Dodd, the chairman. The actions
of McCain were verified this morning on the early news
program of CNN by Sen. Shelby of the Committee. Shelby
said he had received only one phone call from McCain, and
that was on Wednesday. And, it was Obama who reached out
to McCain and asked that they issue a bipartisan statement
about meeting the immediate financial situation. McCain
then in an hour said he was going to D.C. to rescue this
crisis. Now, the report this morning is that McCain just
sat in at the White House meeting yesterday and made no
contribution.

What appears to have happened, even Pat Buchanan is saying
that McCain has been showboating. It appears McCain wants
to be seen as getting the parties together. At 1 o'clock
yesterday the fundamentals of a plan was announced by the
President and Dems and Reps on the Senate Banking Committee.
None were happy, but the outline of some resolution of the
credit crunch was there and the stock market shot up. But,
McCain arrived back just at that time, met by Sen. Liebermann,
and proceeded over to the House and Bonher of Ohio, and the
'ambush' was developed. As all gathered at the White House,
it was left to Bonher to say he and all House Republicans
would oppose the plan. McCain's game plan is so obvious, do
whatever is necessary to show that he will do anything to
give the impression that he is putting country first. Now,
however, Pat Buchanan is saying that McCain has painted
himself into a corner. If McCain now says he has conferred
with House Republicans and some will join and vote for the
legislation he could lose Right support, and on the otherhand,
if it fails and stock market tanks, McCain will be charged with
the failure. Would it be so, McCain takes himself down, but
unfortunately, it is the United States that suffers......

The Debate Must Go On!

Late last night, the Democrats in both the House and Senate were able to stand united with an alternate economic proposal to counter the secretive mandate given by The Administration and the Treasury Secretary Paulson to bail out the Financial Institutions that caused the economic melt down.
Congress has pointedly told Senator McCain that his presence is not needed and that he would only hinder the process by trying to use the meltdown as a photo oportunity while he buys time to try to tuurn the disastrous decisions he has made in his campaign around.
McCain, as in previous occasions, is drawn like a moth to a candle when there is a disaster he can try to uuse to his advantage.
We have only 40 days or so until the elction, yet he is taking advanttage of this opportunity to call off not only his debate with Senator Barack Obama tomorrow night, but to perhaps call off the debate between Joe Biden and his increasingly evident not ready for prime time running mate, Sarah Palin.
He said, yesterday, he was going to go directly to Washington because of the emergency and suspend his campaign. What is he waiting for?
Yesterday, McCain met with Her Royal Highness Lady de Rothschild (she called blue collar Americans "rednecks" last week) and made time for one of the BIGGEST CELEBRITIES in the world: Bon0 (who thinks all candidates must kiss his butt. McCain showed up on CBS News last night. And, this morning, he's at Bill Clinton's Global Initiative.

McCain just said he suspended his campaign. Just because he said it doesn't make it true. McCain is desperate and this was a desperate stunt.
It's becoming like Lady Macbeth and her perfume...there are things that no amount of $5,563.43 make jobs up can cover up. What's up with the dudes left eye? The same side the very big melanoma was removed from a few years ago.
Today, I read in Forbes Magazine that a Department of the Treasury spokes person being interviewed was asked "Why the amount of 700 billion dollars?"
The spokesperson admitted that the amount was chosen because it was a number that would impress the American people. Are you impressed? Did George Bush's press conference last night inspire you to believe that your goverment is working in your best interest as a private tax payer?
As I stated above, the election is scheduled to take place in about 40 days. Reality has imposed it's ugly head with a nauseating rapidity that the Conservative spin machine cannot begin to fathom how to deal with.
They have successfully manipulated reality in the past, will they try to drastically alter it this time by declaring an emergnecy and usiong the presidents new emergency powers, delay the very election until theyy can spin their way out of this?
I am not saying I expect this to happen, but it could.
That is one very good reason why the American People must demand emphatically that the campaign go on and the debates take place as scheduled!
It's your country, it's your reality...take control of your lives!

I Hope That At Least Included A $600 Haircut...

The latest post of Celebrity News included this item about John McCain and the $5,583.43 Make up job he needs to make himself presentable for the American public.
That's a hell of a lot more than any drag queen I have ever met.
This news comes on the day as McCain's campaign manager Randy Davis is revealed to have been recieving $15,000 a month to lobby for Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae up until last month! The McCain campaign had been denying reports that Davis had been a lobbyist for Freddy and Fannie in the past. Davis has been reported of earning $30,000 a month for a few years, making a total of over 2 million dollars to use his influence on John McCain for favorable legislation....
Now in an about face, they have had to admit that Davis was employed up until last month. The only way they could spin this was to attack the "Liberal" biased news organizations for telling the truth.
Davis is only one of 83 McCain staffers that have been lobbyist for Wall Street.
This has thrown the McCain camp into total disarray. McCains flustered and frankly scary response to the finanacial meltdown has paralyzed his supporters and drawn severe criticism from normally fawning pundits, including George Will.
To make matters worse for McCain, Sarah Palin proved why she has to be kept away from the press. She actually told reporters that the America was definitely heading for a depression. Uhh, did I mention that her NBC Wall Street Journal polling is in the tank? And I know it's crass and uneccessary, but have you seen the cover of todays NATIONAL INQUIRER?
His approval rating is plummeting and Obama gained a 10 point lead in the polls today.
What else could this desparate inveterate gambler do but try a desparate roll of the dice, and try to cancle the debate this Friday. His strategy is to try to project a show of concern and a need to "act responsibly" in this time of crisis.
Will he? I don't think so......
His strategy is to push the need to pass the Treasury Secretary's bail out plan as swiftly as possible before any one can question the wisdom and examine the guaranteed golden parachutes it insures to the very reckless executives who drove the American economy off the cliff.............
While he says he will "suspend " his campaign, will the negative lies stop for a minute? Will he stop the divisive, misleading ads? His track record says NO!
He is playing for time. He is playing for sympathy. He wants to go to Washington for some photo ops in another disaster area. He has proven in this campaign that he will stoop to anything and this is just a lame ploy to delay the inevitable.
THE DEBATE MUST GO ON! JOHN McCAIN IS A LYING HYPOCRITE WHO WILL STOOP TO ANYTHING TO SIEZE THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES.
Even wearing more make up than any other 72 year old drag queen could afford!

Urgent Email Offer! Act Now!

CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL

Dear Mr. American,

Good day and compliments.

I am HENRI PAULSON, the Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America, and the personal financial adviser to GEORGE W. BUSH (the eldest son of the former dictator of America, GENERAL GEORGE HUSSEIN WALKER BUSH).

This letter will definitely come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decision you make will go off a long way to determine the future and continued existence of the entire members of my country.

It is with deep sense of purpose and utmost sincerity that I have the privilege to write you this letter knowing full well how you will feel as regards to receiving a mail from somebody you have not met or seen before. There is no need to fear, I got your address from a Wall Street business directory which lends credence to my humble belief. I also assure you of my honesty and trustworthiness. I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

During the last Military Regime here in America, the Government officials set up companies and awarded themselves contracts which were grossly over-invoiced in various ministries. My country has had great crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of US$800,000,000,000.00 (eight hundred billion US dollars) in cash for safe-keeping. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be of most profitable for you.

I am working with the honourable MR. PHIL GRAMM, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As Senator, you may know him as leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s.

This is a matter of great urgence. We need a immediate blank cheque. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because as civil servants we are constantly under surveillance by Democratic members of Congress, the media, and the American public. My family lawyer, MR. RICK DAVIS, advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please note that this transaction is 100% safe and we hope to commence the transfer latest seven (7) banking days from the date of the receipt of the following information: all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. This way we will use your country's name to apply for payment in your name. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds. That's all. Let me know what you think about this.

We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit your confidentiality in this transaction.

May Allah show you mercy as you do so?

Your faithfully,

Dr. Minister of Treasury Paulson

Warning, Microdot Alert! Orange!

Mr. Mudrake is on a short vacation in Canada and to fill the void...and what an incredible void it is, I am taking the liberty to post some of my raving punk reality checks!
I notice all the self identified conservative bloggers are still hiding under their rocks waiting for the collapse of Wall Street to magically go away. Just shut up, let people in charge do what they do best...you have have lost control of your television set, they control the vertical, the horizontal, the sound and most of all your miserable little lives.
Remember, what ever they do, Don't criticize the government.
You think I'm exaggerating, have you any idea what section B of the bail out bill contains?
Just one little paragraph:

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.

That's it. In other words, as in the case when ever shit hits the fan in this administration, George W. Bush disappears. The Secretary of The Treasury, by this simple paragraph will become the defacto supreme leader of the country.
Are you included in his benevolent plans? I don't think so....

This bailout insures that all of his buddies get their golden parachutes and you get screwed. While we are at it, how about Phil Gramm and the USB Bank he represents?
Do you really believe that his involvement in John McCains campaign will make him become altruistic tell USB to stay above politics and for go a bailout?
And what about John McCain and his sudden about face? Now he is the bad boy of Wall Street.......What about his campaign manager, Rick Davis?
Allow me to make 2 points:

1. This is McCain's CAMPAIGN MANAGER. He's not some no name adviser who sometimes advises him on policy. This guy is a BIG FISH. He isn't someone who McCain spoke to for 5 minutes (Raines and Obama), he is someone who is trusted very much by McCain and ALWAYS has McCain's ears. He isn't some UNPAID adviser or an adviser that's one out of hundreds, but he is WITHIN the INNER CIRCLE of the McCain camp.

2. He did some SERIOUS LOBBYING. He didn't simply work for some lawfirm representing many different clients with this being just a small part of his work. THIS WAS A MAJOR DEAL. He not only collected almost $2 million in lobbying fees in 5 years, but he FOUGHT BACK HARD against regulation - the same regulation that McCain now says should have been in place for Fannie and Freddie.

I find it hard to believe that so many people can just close their eyes to their own best self interests. The serious disconnect between reality and the alternate reality so many of you seem to be living in was really hit home to me as I watched, on CNN, Sarah Palin, John McCains self proclaimed "ENERGY EXPERT" expostulate on fungible oil molecules to a gaggle of gaping mouthed geeks at a "town meeting".
I'm posting that video clip here and honestly, if you think she is making any sense at all, please tell me.............



Okay, you can all come out from under your rocks now, I'm done.....