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Conservatives and Liberals Agree: End the Malignant, Symbiotic Relationship Between Big Government and Big Corporations
While many pretend that liberals and conservatives are too far apart to work together, there are actually many issues on which everyone can agree.
For example, both liberals and conservatives hate the malignant, symbiotic relationship between big government and big corporations:
Conservatives tend to view big government with suspicion, and think that government should be held accountable and reined in.
Liberals tend to view big corporations with suspicion, and think that they should be held accountable and reined in.
***
Conservatives hate big unfettered government and liberals hate big unchecked corporations, so both hate legislation which encourages the federal government to reward big corporations at the expense of small businesses.
Most Americans – whether they are conservative or liberal – are disgusted that virtually all of the politicians are bought and paid for. No wonder people of all stripes have lost all trust in our government.
And everyone hates government-enabled fraud. The big banks, of course, committed massive fraud. But the auditors, rating agencies and regulators also all committed fraud, which helped blow the bubble and sowed the seeds of the inevitable crash.
Both liberals and conservatives are angry that the feds are propping up the giant banks – while letting small banks fail by the hundreds – even though that is horrible for the economy and Main Street.
The Dodd-Frank financial legislation wasn’t a compromise where things landed somewhere in the middle between liberal and conservatives ideas. Instead, it enshrines big government propping up the big banks … more or less permanently.
Many liberals and conservatives look at the government’s approach to the financial crisis as socialism for the rich and free market capitalism for the little guy. No wonder both liberals and conservatives hate it.
And it’s not just the big banks. Americans are angry that the federal government under both Bush and Obama have handed giant defense contractors like Blackwater and Halliburton no-bid contracts. [And Solyndra and other solar companies]. They are mad that – instead of cracking down on BP – the government has acted like BP’s p.r. spokesman-in-chief and sugar daddy.
They are peeved that companies like Monsanto are able to sell genetically modified foods without any disclosure, and that small farmers are getting sued when Monsanto crops drift onto their fields.
They are mad that Obama promised “change” – i.e. standing up to Wall Street and the other powers-that-be – but is just delivering more of the same.
They are furious that there is no separation between government and a handful of favored giant corporations. [Indeed, Ben Bernanke has handed out more presents than Santa Claus to McDonald's Harley-Davidson, hedge funds and others.] In other words, Americans are angry that we’ve gone from capitalism to oligarchy.
As I noted Sunday:
The corrupt, giant banks would never have gotten so big and powerful on their own. In a free market, the leaner banks with sounder business models would be growing, while the giants who made reckless speculative gambles would have gone bust. See this, this and this.
It is the Federal Reserve, Treasury and Congress who have repeatedly bailed out the big banks, ensured they make money at taxpayer expense, exempted them from standard accounting practices and the criminal and fraud laws which govern the little guy, encouraged insane amounts of leverage, and enabled the too big to fail banks – through “moral hazard” – to become even more reckless.
Indeed, the government made them big in the first place. As I noted in 2009:
As MIT economics professor and former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson points out today, the official White House position is that:
(1) The government created the mega-giants, and they are not the product of free market competition
***
(3) Giant banks are good for the economy
And given that the 12 Federal Reserve banks are private – see this, this, this and this- the giant banks have a huge amount of influence on what the Fed does. Indeed, the money-center banks in New York control the New York Fed, the most powerful Fed bank. Indeed, Jamie Dimon – the head of JP Morgan Chase – is a Director of the New York Fed.
Any attempt by the left to say that the free market is all bad and the government is all good is naive and counter-productive.
And any attempt by the right to say that we should leave the giant banks alone because that’s the free market are wrong.
The [corrupt, captured government "regulators"] and the giant banks are part of a single malignant, symbiotic relationship.
Indeed, while most Americans are in favor of free market capitalism, we don’t have capitalism at the moment. Instead, we have socialism, fascism or crony capitalism, where the government allows a handful of companies to succeed by propping them up, covering up their fraud and handing them guaranteed profts … but allows everyone else to struggle.
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Where did this info come from? Our government? The same people who told us that Iraq had huge stock piles of chemical and biological weapons? That they had an advanced nuclear weapons program? Sadaam had 300,000 people buried in mass graves? And 4000 American solders died over these lies? (The American solder got dead while Haliburton got rich). The same government that told us we are in Libya to protect civilians? Is this allegation the first stage of a gulf of tonkin incident? Or will a false flag event originate in the Red Sea where both the Israeli's and Iranians have a naval presence. Well perhaps the Mexicans were planning on using the guns they got from our own government during operation fast and furious to carry out these assassinations. I agree with you 100% High plains drifter. It smells. The Iranians aren't a terrorist nation as far as I know. They just want to blow Israel off the map just as Israel would like to blow them off the map. There is one thing that is clear to most people. Weapons manufacturers make money during war. So how do they make money? By starting wars. How do oil companies make money? By causing kaos in the Middle East. Remember Iraq and the huge increase in oil prices? Remember Libya and the huge increase in oil prices? Well watch how much a war with Iran skyrockets the oil prices. Of course all this is just speculation because it all gets planned in total secrecy. We can only speculate. But don't believe anything the government tells us. The government tells the media these lies, and the media tells us these lies. But the media doesn't know they are lies. How are they supposed to know?
http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?230809-Saudi-Royal-Family-and-...
saudi royal family , and its secret jewish roots......
King FAISAL AL-SAUD at that time could not deny his family's kindred with the JEWS when he declared to the WASHINGTON POST on Sept. 17, 1969 stating: "WE, THE SAUDI FAMILY, are cousins of the Jews: we entirely disagree with any Arab or Muslem Authority which shows any antagonism to the Jews; but we must live together with them in peace. Our country (ARABIA) is the Fountain head from where the first Jew sprang, and his descendants spread out all over the world." That was the declaration of KING FAISAL AL-SAUD BIN ABDUL AZIZ!!!!!
here we have the most holy place in islam , guarded by jews......is anyone starting to smell the coffee yet? just because someone says they are a muslim, and they speak arabic and they pretend to be muslims does not necessarily mean they are in fact arabic or muslim for that matter. the arabs, like the amerikans are lead around by the nose and they do not stop to reason and rationalize what is going on and they do not understand what is truely happening in that part of the world. but this too is changing. the internet is here and the internet is there. with over a a billion converts, islam is continually split up and manipulated and muslim fights muslim......gee i wonder why?
Utter nonsense. stop chasing the bullfighter's cape.
ps. the msm is pushing this big time. i think they are going to see if they can throw this fast ball down the middle and see if we swing at it.....i am not sure if it will work though.........too many people are getting wise to these tactics....
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/10/12/mossad-caught-in-phony-terrorass...
more discussion oh phony assassination plot....
Amen. Whoever was behind 9.11 and other attacks achieved their goal: confidence in the state has been seriously compromised. That's the classic purpose of terrorism, so if a bunch of coke sniffing Arabs did it, congrats, mission accomplished. Ten years on, millions fewer Americans trust their government, and you were a big help in that (planes allowed to fly over NYC? Incompetence at best). If the other guys did it, they've succeeded in developing a hardened internal enemy - patriots who see evil and willl resist it - a potential patsy to justify an expanded internal police state. Now DHS paints white fed haters as the enemy of everything good. The humanity haters who control western governments would really love to see a racial conflict in this country. If the commentators on here are close to right, TPTB need something big to happen soon, before the economic collapse, so the collapse can be blamed on white fed haters. As the OK City investigations, the 1993 WTC center investigations and others show, some 'radical' groups are rife with government infiltrators and agitators; plans are surely in the works. The level of distrust is so high that any event will be considered by many 'awake' people to be a false flag event, given past history, and distrust can only ratchet up. This can still end well, but only if blame is laid where it belongs. When the collapse comes, the propaganda campaign to blame others will be heavy and relentless, like war drums.
We don't know anything about 9/11 except what the government tells us. They also told us that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman in the JFK assassination. Speaking of the Lone Gunmen, check out "The Lone Gunman" on google videos. It was some sort of X-files episode which came out 6 months before 9/11. It is about an airplane which took off from Logan International Airport, was taken over by remote control, and headed towards the world trade center. I personally believe the airplanes which flew into the trade center and pentagon were taken over by remote control. Everything was too perfect. I believe that tower 1, 2, and , yes, tower 7, which makes 3 buildings being taken down by only 2 airplanes, were taken down by controlled demolition after the planes did their damage. Like I said, everything was too perfect. I don't believe amateur pilots executed this plot in such a perfect way. This is like saying that a dumb bomb dropped from 30,000 feet was able to land on a dime. Only smart bombs can do this.
There are two possibilities to describe people who accept the bulk of the official 9/11 story:
1. They choose not to think for themselves, or
2. they have not investigated it with any rigor.
There are hundreds of holes in the official story, some of them independently disqualfy it. I can accept the idea that fires melted the steel, even to the point of it pouring in molten form from the building (riiiighht), but not from a window six feet away from a lady waving a hanky. How is the steel molten six feet from her and she's not a charcoal briquette? Being charitable: the official story is amateurish and reliant upon intellectual laziness of the highest order.
And getting it - that this was an engineered event meant to turn the tide of world history in a new direction - is critical to understanding the world. Our government is controlled by evil people, and it goes beyond debt and fiat slavery. That's only part of the 'control grid'.
Possibility number three: the official story is mostly factual.
Not that I believe that, but how do you explain the people that took credit for the act of terrorism? Wouldn't it be better for them to disavow responsibility and point the finger back to the US government? That would get them much more political mileage worldwide... I'm looking for the truth, not bashing you.
Who said they took credit, our intelligence community? We see made up stuff all day long on TV. Every movie is made up stuff. The claims that the alleged terrorists took credit for these attacks came from the same source that said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They convinced the whole world of this. We all believed their bullshit. We all fell for it, just like we fell for the intelligence communities official account of 9/11. Yes, I myself am just starting to wake up to these lies.
Yids gone wild. They are totally drunk with power now. Its just absurd.
One of your best posts... there IS common ground...
First time I can ever recall agreeing with anything George wrote.
So George, how about backing a balanced budget amendment to rein in big government?
It really ain't that tough, when private debt creation started to fall in 2008, the Fed.gov had to pick up the slack to avoid a deflationary collapse.
Creating debt money as a basis of society will only benefit the banksters and those who sleep with them.
pods
And I'm not done...Jonathon Silver had control over DOE loans being doled out to these half assed companies...where is he drawing a paycheck from now?
Third Way. OK, who the hell is Third Way and which way do they lean? Who owns them?
Third Way is a partially owned subsidiary, prime owner AmWay. Minority owner NoWeigh Weight Loss Clinics.
WSJ: Australia Makes Third Way Easier on Passports
WTF!?! Has Australia been neutered already by the fluoride in the water?
WSJ: Australia Makes Third Way Easier on Passports
There's a lot to be said for the way the Taliban deal with this sort of thing ... just sayin
what is happening is australia? perhaps a simple video will clear it up for you.
man arrested for hate speech , because he posted a anti yid video on youtube from australia......
sentenced to 3 years in prison.........
and believe me, this is not the only example of this there....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y2pQcXUPdE
let us be very clear here shall we. we here in the states , at least so far, enjoy what is just about the only free speech left in the world, as the voices of dissent are squelched one way or the other....
What do you expect when the Prime Minister lives in a defacto relationship with a Jewish-zionist, and Gillard openly admits being supported by the Melbourne zionista from the beginning of her political career? She is a Crypto-Jew who pretends to be Welsh/Australian.
This krud is far worse in Oz than in the USA. The ultra-left, mostly fags with a major chip on their shoulder, and brainless-greenies and assorted academic bludgers (often all three simultaneously) have been Jack-boot stamping a totally unmerited extreme 'tollerance', and a paradigm of [fake/false/imaginary] 'equality' in an uber 'safety'-conscious nanny security-state, for decades.
As a result, this country is almost as screwed up as some West European quasi-states.
This is a minority Gillard Govt.
This extreme leftist zionista grouping hold the balance and key to power and for the most part have the legislative agenda by the ballz.
This is a culmination of deliberate methodical policy agendas, and warped social legislation, to create just this sort of parabolic insanity, where the guy telling the factual truth, that they are a fifth column, a band of organized crooks and infiltrators - he is the one who gets investigated, on the flimsy basis of hearsay and an assertion of prejudice.
If I have information that a person is a literal murderer, there's a very good chance I am going to be prejudiced against them, in many subtle ways.
That's just reality, it doesn't matter what religion or cult you identify with, I am NEVER going to treat you like everyone else.
And when I find a cult or group that clearly are committed to being dangerous, and criminally up to no good, you can be sure I am going to prejudge them, similarly.
That's just reality. They only use the 'prejudice' claim, not to deny their behaviour and attituders, but to silence the discovery of what they are about, by others. That is what they most fear, that a critical mass of people will come to understand them, and know their ways, means and motivations. And then will react against them. It's about hiding their intents, not about protecting their sensibilities.
But I also know some who have been close friends for many years, and who are not cultish zionists at all and totally reject the whole Jewish identity and its kulture indoctrination, but still could easily be prejudiced, due to the active criminal zionists.
When I was a boy we were repeatedly told, by the older generation, that WWII was about absolutely guaranteeing our free-speech, and our "way of life"", free of "dictators".
Yeah well, that was thoroughly undermined by these wretched trolls, and political shills, and the police farce, who do their best to act just like complete Jerks in the US police. The one in the video was very tame.
I trust our military, I do not trust our police, at all.
Element, I feel your pain. I had commented earlier in this thread of my home State in New Hampshire and the use of social justice as indirect tax policy. It is probably only the PM mining industry that is keeping Australia from collapse. New Hampshire has collapsed completely.
I am now assisting the legislature in the rebalance of luring capital back after driving it away by destroying famalies. The best part is I get back all the loot stolen from my family by offering VALUE. When you State collapses, then you become in demand as an honest producer. Until then one must eat giant shit sandwiches by moronic instruments of the State otherwise known as Bureaucrats.
Honestly High Planes Drifter: (great movie by the way)
I just don't understand all the hatred toward specific peoples (race/religion/political/sexual persuasions etc...) Doesn't the theme of your Moniker teach a great tale of retribution and revenge results in a zero sum gain...Not trying to pick on you per se but just trying to understand your M.O. dude????
http://vimeo.com/12300687
a nice film for to watch. when done, you can ask me again if you wish...........
Very true. However, one must not forget the Judicial System. This two is a very important institution that needs some investingating.
I strongly feel, and promoting Socialocracy, whereby these institutions are either being obsoleted or greatly affected by the Internet.
Education? Why spend all this money in college? Put everything online.
Law? Cannot AI systems easily look up case law and do forms all submitted via the Internet?
Banks? What are they? Middlemen or gamblers? Hello Internet.
Spying? You spy on us, we spy on you and no secret spy files... either on you or on us.
Budgets? Everything on line and public. Let the ZH Savants sort it all out.
Socialocracy is the solution out of these profound changes.
-j-
The things you wrote above are why we need to get control of our government again. They are going to try to chain us to the old ways where they have their power. They will make it very hard for us to do things better ways.
Be careful what you ask for - you might get it.
I can destroy your knowledge of history in minutes by editing a few PDF's. I can change a picture to implicate somebody, or clear somebody else. A tweet can go viral and destroy a person's reputation in days.
I can watch everything you do, track your movements, listen to everything you say. I can wipe your cell phone remotely, or read everything on it. The internet is a gold mine for control freaks and head gamers.
Impermanence is the nature of the internet. As long as we have a "free" internet, things work to an extent. Take that away (China?) and things change suddenly and drastically.
Permanence can have value. Not in allowing others to abuse us, but to show or to remind us what abuse is.
Ladies & Gents isn't it time to recognize that the challenges we now face aren't the result of "chance"? Really...these forces have been at work very hard for a very long time to extract wealth from the "middle class" along with the spin that we "can't afford" any social money to spend on programs to enhance people's lives or promote education. Instead we're the victim of outrageous healthcare costs and a dollar worth much less than in even 1970, not to mention measuring back to 1913.
The OWS movement has it right; it's time to show the people behind this "extract the wealth" program that we're not going to just "go along to get along" anymore.
Everyone agrees there is corruption but few people think it's the politicians from their own state that are the problem. And that's the problem. People re-elect these same corrupt politicians over and over and over again.
Hey, I'm from Illinois where corrupt politics is an officially sanctioned spectator sport.
Dick Durbin is one of the worst offenders.
"BOA--were taking away 1/2 of your debit card income. Now you DARE to raise fees to make up for the lost revenue! Boycott them!"
How hypocritical can you be?
Whenever the few rule the money, the few will be vulnerable to bribery and threat.
Conservatives don't like big corporations either. Liberals must like them since the majority of the largest banks and corporations are helmed by liberals.
Conservatives want accountability and a fair playing field, ie the allowance of failure. Liberals could care less about accountability and only want a fair playing field where the masses are on one field and the elites can have as many underage hookers as they want.
I'm not talking about the so called conservative politicians in Washington but real conservatives. By definition a conservative doesn't take un-necessary risk that could undermine the security of others. Conservatives actually care about the collective. Liberals say they care about the collective only in a way to protect their own well being.
Even though it is a broad generalization the fundametal argument stands for me. The correct business philosophy is Henry Ford's ideal. Pay your employees enough to afford what they make. Stay private and accountable to your own business not to speculators looking for a payday.
If we are going to talk about 'true' conservatives or liberals then the 'true' liberals I know spend their time on defense of the 1st Amendment. Conservatives focus on the second Amendment. The concepts of Truth and Liberty will always be remembered, because the cycle of the Robber forces it to occur. Endless macro and micro cycles of evolution. It gets to where 1/2 will blatantly rob and half will oppose. Then the pendulum swings the other way. The world has many wounds to heal from the last forty years but first the grand finale to the end of this 250 year cycle.
It is ultimately fear that propels crimes to cover previous crimes that sparks world wars.
Left, Right, Left, Right, Left Right...
Fail.
pods
left, right , left, right, left, right, 2/4 time, get in step,don't think, keep moving,left, right.........:
hey, wait, what happened to my money?
What happened to my country?
What happened ?
Its easy to be distracted. The powers that be are counting on it.
Corruption is corruption.
The children want justice.
Let's talk about liberty and what this means to you. I don't hear it from the Left because to them liberty is given to the people by the government. We're born free folks.
Well said. Perhaps the difference today is the number of lawyers, encouraged by a society that marks success at all levels by who can game the system best. Now we have the Ultimate Game....keep your money before it gets taken away in the mkt or inflated away to cover for bad policies.
The common ground between liberals and conservatives will be the sledge hammer that shatters the incestuous relationship between government and corporations. Fascism does not sit well upon people told that their government is founded in liberty.
5 days until Black Monday II
"Fascism does not sit well upon people told that their government is founded in liberty."
And this.
See, you are focusing your message on point. Unfortunately, I have heard person after person interviewed from the OWS protests and thay cannot make this simple point - that the problem is cronyism, easy money, too big to fail corporations/banks. How hard is it to say "Easy money from the bailouts and the Fed allows these banks to grow monstrously fat. We need to stop the easy money". Is that such a hard point to make or understand?
Instead they are spouting class warfare and class division, which are symptoms of the real problem. Forget "We are the 99%". How about "We are the ones who play by the rules. Make them fair. All we want is a fair shot".
But Herman Cain said the fed is fine..........
"Instead they are spouting class warfare and class division, which are symptoms of the real problem. Forget "We are the 99%". How about "We are the ones who play by the rules. Make them fair. All we want is a fair shot".
This.
Careful what you wish for. If you ask for a fair shot, they'll probably give you one in the middle of your back while you are walking away.
They know why people are pissed, they've been screwing them mercilessly since they were born. Course they won't say that in public. No it's all "more tax cuts for the job creators" and "trickle down this" and "trickle down that" until yer brain explodes.
These people wont give up easy...........utube vid on Petrodollars.........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnvEpxuJ4mk
excellent!
ps. dodd is now propaganda czar (lobbyist?) chairman & ceo "motion picture association of america",... whereas frank, (the fat-man)is the shill for the de`
just saying
And Dodd...his ole lady working the offshore gig as he opines on cronyism.
Here's an idea...lets have two of the most corrupt SOB's in Congress ramrod the passage of "financial reform" while we can...egggsellent.
So, if liberals and conservatives are in general agreement on the above issues but no effective legislation is passed that solves them, then it is logical to believe CONgress is a front organization for TPTB.
AND, if a proposal was ever considered, the resulting legislation would undoubtedly protect the very thing it was meant to solve. We call it reform.
The lawyers love reform.
Crony bitchez!!!
"How did a failing California solar company, buffeted by short sellers and shareholder lawsuits, receive a $1.2 billion federal loan guarantee for a photovoltaic electricity ranch project—three weeks after it announced it was building new manufacturing plant in Mexicali, Mexico, to build the panels for the project.
The company, SunPower (SPWR-NASDAQ), now carries $820 million in debt, an amount $20 million greater than its market capitalization. If SunPower was a bank, the feds would shut it down. Instead, it received a lifeline twice the size of the money sent down the Solyndra drain.
Two men with insight into the process are SunPower rooter Rep. George R. Miller III, (D.-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee and the co-chairman of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, and his SunPower lobbyist son, George Miller IV."
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46761
Obama is just showing off his arrogance. He knows he can do anything he wants, no matter how rediculous it is, and we can't do a thing about it except question or ridicule it. Hell, George Bush got his revenge on Sadaam for trying to kill his daddy back in '93 at the expense of 4000 American solders dead (not including casualties). Even when we learn these truths, there still isn't a damn thing we can do about it, and they know it. That's why they keep doing it.