On Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 2:41 PM, John Wesley <godisamethodist at yahoo.com>wrote:
> He's also the scumbag who cost taxpayers billions in the S & L bailout of
> the
> Eighties.
> If I'm not mistaken, the lucky SOB was also ultimately acquitted of all
> criminal
> charges.
>
> Mike G.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Chuck Grimes <c123grimes at att.net>
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Sent: Thu, April 7, 2011 4:36:23 PM
> Subject: [lbo-talk] Stiglitz today
>
>
> ``Charles Keating was asked by a congressional committee whether the $1.5
> million he had spread among a few key elected officials could actually buy
> influence. "I certainly hope so," he replied. The Supreme Court, in its
> recent
> Citizens United case, has enshrined the right of corporations to buy
> government,
> by removing limitations on campaign spending. The personal and the
> political are
> today in perfect alignment. Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the
> representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they
> arrive,
> are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they
> serve
> the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they
> leave office. By and large, the key executive-branch policymakers on trade
> and
> economic policy also come from the top 1 percent. When pharmaceutical
> companies
> receive a trillion-dollar gift-through legislation prohibiting the
> government,
> the largest buyer of drugs, from bargaining over price-it should not come
> as
> cause for wonder. It should not make jaws drop that a tax bill cannot
> emerge
> from Congress unless big tax cuts are put in place for the wealthy. Given
> the
> power of the top 1 percent, this is the way you would expect the system to
> work...'' Joseph Stiglitz
>
> http://warorpeace.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/joseph-stiglitz-vanity-fair/
>
> -----------
>
> Stiglitz was on Democracy Now this morning and gave a rough outline of the
> article.
>
> What makes this a good article is it connects the dots in a simple way.
> Unfortunately, I don't think a thing is going to change. The logic of the
> Citizens United case that money is equivalent to free speech is correct.
> Those
> who have money get all the free speech they can buy. Those without money
> can't
> afford free speech. And that is pretty much the end of a democratic
> republic
> that represents the people.
>
> I just thought of a tactic that government employees could organize if they
> are
> shut down. When the Democrats cave-in on some puke-budget, just stay out
> and
> issue a list of demands. They can start with back pay for those days, lift
> the
> freeze on pay and hiring, no reprisal firings or demotions, and whatever
> else
> they want.
>
> I heard the federal government is the second largest employer in the
> country. It
> should be obvious that cutting government spending or shutting it down or a
> walk
> out would start economic shit, I can't imagine. What's with these people?
>
> As Michael Moore said the other week, the US is not broke. The problem is
> the
> rich have all the money and the US government gave them even more.
>
> Just like Wisconsin, the Feds, California ain't broke either. So I looked
> around
> for today's buried news on the Golden State:
>
> ``Gov. Jerry Brown has suggested further spending cuts to decrease
> California's
> remaining $15.4 billion budget deficit could include a doubling of
> University of
> California tuition.''
>
> http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/04/uc-tuition-cost-could-increase
>
> It's basically the same story. The democrats are pretending the repugnants
> are
> holding them hostiage. Further down I read this:
>
> ``The facebook group CSU, UC and California Community College students
> against
> budget cuts created a group of almost 10,000 members in an `attempt to
> organize
> students from as many California public universities and colleges as
> possible so
> as to create a more unified movement against budget cuts. Hopefully we can
> create a network which will connect student leaders from all campuses so
> that
> protests and other demonstrations can be felt at the statewide level.'''
>
> I don't have much faith they will stop anything. The general reason is that
> most
> students don't seem to really understand what they have to be willing to
> risk.
> That youthful idea that `it can't happen to me' is a double edged sword.
> You
> need to believe you have a good chance at a good life. On the other hand,
> you
> have to toss that belief to get out in the street and make a difference.
>
> I think this psychological factor is stewing around in their brains. They
> are
> not as desparate as the youth movements in the Middle East. Also the US
> students
> have to join with unemployed cohorts who have discovered they have no life
> and
> no future unless they act, and they have to act together. But the latter
> groups
> have another psychological problem, which is no doubt massive depression,
> with
> the who cares, and why bother factors stewing around in their brains.
>
> Keep an eye on what the metro community college students do. Many are in
> both
> camps, being students, underemployed or unemployed, and high minority mix.
> Also
> these systems are run by the local school districts, so you should be able
> to
> shutdown whole district operations.
>
> CG
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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