Steven Brill, "The Best Laws Money Can Buy" On lobbyists and their power.
Brill writes for Time magazine. His comments were very balanced.
There was a great deal of discussion of the huge size and comlexity of recent legislation. Brill noted that (some government agency, I've forgotten which, back in 1930s?) was created by legislation covering 8 pages; he compared it to current legislation that sprawls over 2000 pages of dense and complex clauses and protections of this or that special interest.
Perhaps the most important observation Brill made, toward the end of the interview, was that the act that created the department of homeland security, which was Joe Lieberman's project, even if he stood aside to let another put his fingerprints on it, is NOT a new legislative initiative but a cobbling together of existing criminal statutes, under one central and comprehensive authority.
Jews, of course, excel at this sort of talmudic, pilpul discourse; Elizabeth Warren calls the deliberate complexification of contract terms, "tricks and traps." Perhaps it is not a specifically or exclusively Jewish practice, but it's difficult to avoid the recognition that Jews are at the forefront of lobbying on recent key legislation -- bank bailout, finance reform, homeland security, patriot act, wiretap, health care, and also that Jews and Israel are prominent stakeholders in the industries favored to benefit from the "tricks and traps" built into these talmudic laws.
Counterpoint: Ariely's discussion and the thesis of his book, "Irrational," and the reality of Jews' deep understanding of how to twist human psychological responses.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Tucker Carlson, Wash Journ June 22 2010
Tucker Carlson was guest on C Span Washington Journal in the 8:45 am slot. His performance was lackluster, jerky.
The last comment of his interview was a response to an email question:
Question: "Where do you think the US is headed?"
Carlson: Many people believe US is on the wrong track. In a few years we'll have debt that's greater than our GDP -- that's not a nation that's third world. Something will have to give -- Social Security and Medicare will have to be cut. And we've lost the willingness to take risks -- there's a kind of greyness about America. We're all going to die, so why not live a little more fully? We should be more like Israel.
Does C Span prepare its guests to mention Israel favorably? Has Carlson been on a trip to Israel, like my next door neighbor who came back from a trip to Israel hugely impressed, because Israel sent out representatives to overwhelm him with pro-Israelness. A love-bomb.
The last comment of his interview was a response to an email question:
Question: "Where do you think the US is headed?"
Carlson: Many people believe US is on the wrong track. In a few years we'll have debt that's greater than our GDP -- that's not a nation that's third world. Something will have to give -- Social Security and Medicare will have to be cut. And we've lost the willingness to take risks -- there's a kind of greyness about America. We're all going to die, so why not live a little more fully? We should be more like Israel.
Does C Span prepare its guests to mention Israel favorably? Has Carlson been on a trip to Israel, like my next door neighbor who came back from a trip to Israel hugely impressed, because Israel sent out representatives to overwhelm him with pro-Israelness. A love-bomb.
Monday, June 14, 2010
"An American Killed by a Stray Bullet" - C Span June 14 2010
John Negroponte was guest on Washington Journal.
At about 8:15 am, a caller said "looking at the video it's obvious that the passengers were intending violence. Israel is always criticized; the Muslim street is inflamed. A stray bullet killed an American.
Isn't there some way US can work with moderate Muslims?
Negroponte: "When I was in UN Israel constantly criticized. We had to use a few votes to oppose the anti-Israel resolutions...."
8:27 am: Call pushing back against Negroponte's comment about Israel in the UN.
Negroponte deflects it: "there were resolutions against Israel in the UN stacked up like airplanes on the runway. It's a question of balance: Palestinians do bad things too, they fire rockets.
9:20 am, Ryan Crocker. First Question: Hezbollah: "we must engage them; best way to mess with their minds."
9:48 am: caller, Lech: I am a Polish American, I just listened to Polish news; Poland is pulling its troops out of Afghanistan because the war is being managed badly. Instead of killing people we need to be building the country and giving the people control over their own country.
9:50 am: caller: We gave nukes to Pakistan, India, Israel, but condemn Iran.
Crocker: "We sanctioned Pakistan; we disengaged and 9/11 happened. It was a failure of engagement based on a failure of imagination. "we know how that movie goes and I don't want to see it again."
9:55 am: "I am infuriated with our country. Our troops are protected the drug lords. We started the Taliban, Israel started Hamas. [says something obscene, is cut off.]
9:56 am: I love Bush, most people feel there were weapons in Iraq, Bush should have done something sooner. Just because they didn't find WMD doesn't mean they weren't there.... I hope the school does well.
9:57 am: "Papa Bush started this by bombing Reagan created Osama...fact that you can casually defend your ridiculous behavior no business
we're using israel as our hezbollah [cut off]
Crocker: I was director of Iraq task force, I take a different view: Bush decision to liberate Kuwait was a critical step in establishing that US would be decisively engaged in a post Cold war world order: we would not stand back and emphasize that adversaries of our would Persian Gulf war was important, Papa bush got it exactly right and I'm glad he did."
At about 8:15 am, a caller said "looking at the video it's obvious that the passengers were intending violence. Israel is always criticized; the Muslim street is inflamed. A stray bullet killed an American.
Isn't there some way US can work with moderate Muslims?
Negroponte: "When I was in UN Israel constantly criticized. We had to use a few votes to oppose the anti-Israel resolutions...."
8:27 am: Call pushing back against Negroponte's comment about Israel in the UN.
Negroponte deflects it: "there were resolutions against Israel in the UN stacked up like airplanes on the runway. It's a question of balance: Palestinians do bad things too, they fire rockets.
9:20 am, Ryan Crocker. First Question: Hezbollah: "we must engage them; best way to mess with their minds."
9:48 am: caller, Lech: I am a Polish American, I just listened to Polish news; Poland is pulling its troops out of Afghanistan because the war is being managed badly. Instead of killing people we need to be building the country and giving the people control over their own country.
9:50 am: caller: We gave nukes to Pakistan, India, Israel, but condemn Iran.
Crocker: "We sanctioned Pakistan; we disengaged and 9/11 happened. It was a failure of engagement based on a failure of imagination. "we know how that movie goes and I don't want to see it again."
9:55 am: "I am infuriated with our country. Our troops are protected the drug lords. We started the Taliban, Israel started Hamas. [says something obscene, is cut off.]
9:56 am: I love Bush, most people feel there were weapons in Iraq, Bush should have done something sooner. Just because they didn't find WMD doesn't mean they weren't there.... I hope the school does well.
9:57 am: "Papa Bush started this by bombing Reagan created Osama...fact that you can casually defend your ridiculous behavior no business
we're using israel as our hezbollah [cut off]
Crocker: I was director of Iraq task force, I take a different view: Bush decision to liberate Kuwait was a critical step in establishing that US would be decisively engaged in a post Cold war world order: we would not stand back and emphasize that adversaries of our would Persian Gulf war was important, Papa bush got it exactly right and I'm glad he did."
Sunday, June 13, 2010
"I'm a veteran. If I lose my ", we will do what Uncle Sam trained us to do" June 13 2010
C Span Washington Journal, Sunday June 13 2010 Steve Scully
Karim Sadjapour spewing absolute bullshit with unquestioning validation from Scully.
last segment: representative of pensions board. Many government pension funds defaulting. To pay pension obligations, municipalities will be forced to cut back on schools, libraries, etc.
caller: I'm a veteran. We are the generation that made this country great. We made it possible for Bill Gates to make a fortune. Then he goes to China, takes our jobs away. If I lose my pension, we will do what Uncle Sam trained us to do.
--> what would veterans think if they knew that 'Uncle Sam' spends more money on Israel than on PTSD treatment for returning vets?
Karim Sadjapour spewing absolute bullshit with unquestioning validation from Scully.
last segment: representative of pensions board. Many government pension funds defaulting. To pay pension obligations, municipalities will be forced to cut back on schools, libraries, etc.
caller: I'm a veteran. We are the generation that made this country great. We made it possible for Bill Gates to make a fortune. Then he goes to China, takes our jobs away. If I lose my pension, we will do what Uncle Sam trained us to do.
--> what would veterans think if they knew that 'Uncle Sam' spends more money on Israel than on PTSD treatment for returning vets?
Monday, June 7, 2010
re Helen Thomas: Pavlov's Dog Didn't Bark June 7 2010
June 7 2010
Question of the morning on Wash Journ was, Should Helen Thomas be asked to resign from the White House press pool because of her response to an anonymous blogger's question about Jews in Israel.
C Span pivoted from a statement by Lani Davis that Thomas was an anti-Jewish bigot. In other words, C Span focused on whether Thomas could continue as an impartial reporter from the White House because she made a statement that was not supportive of Jews.
I think the question about Helen Thomas's capacity to report from the White House should be whether she is mindful of American interests, rather than Jewish or Israel's interests.
I further think that the Question and reaction of the blogger who asked the question is an essential part of the story. After Ms. Thomas made her first statement, that Jews should leave Palestine because they were occupying land stolen from Palestinians, the blogger said, "Whoa...." He did not anticipate that response. In other words, his was not a question to elicit an authentic opinion, it was the lab technician checking on whether Pavlov's dog was still trained. He rang the bell, Helen Thomas did not bark.
That non-bark, that failure of the 63 years of Jewish sensitivity training of the American people is the silence heard round the country.
C Span moderator was out of his depth as a journalist; his listeners and callers were far better informed than he is. For example, the Moderator tried several times to beat back the caller who stated that a member of AIPAC spies on the US. The caller said, "I read it in the Washington Post; don't you know about that?" He said, "It's Steve Weissman" [actually Keith Weissman]." Which is correct.
The Moderator terminated the call at that point.
The question is, can C Span be educated?
If not C Span, then WHO can guide the United States through an honest and vigorous discussion of the US relationship with Israel, with AIPAC, with Jews in the United States, with zionism?
To stifle that conversation is precisely the approach that will result in more, not less, harm to Jews in America. Most people will automatically point to Germany as an example of a situation where "antisemitism got out of hand and resulted in the Holocaust of 6 million Jews." That would be inaccurate. That response would be the Pavlovian response.
Hitler's first major piece of writing was an exploration of "principled antisemitism." Renan's was much the same. Why were the German people resentful of Jews? Both Renan and Hitler concluded that the old, religious issues, that "Jews killed Christ," were bogus. The complaints of the German people involved economic and financial issues, matters of Jewish dominance of German institutions and media. Hitler tried to defuse the anger of the people.
AISH, Rabbi Ken Spiro.... "Jews expect to be persecuted again."
US must do things differently. We must not allow the United States to be led by zionists down the same path that Germany was led by zionists. We must call to account Israel and the Jews in the US who have suborned the interests of the United STates in preference for the interests of Israel.
I suggest several action to take:
1. A truth and reconciliation commission.
2. Seize the assets of zionist billionaires who support activities that work against the interests of the US -- Schusterman, Adelson, Haim Saban,
3. Dismantle the US Treasury office of antiterrorism. US Treasury should be focusing on US economy, not attempting to destroy Iran's economy for the benefit of Israel.
4. Close the Holocaust Museum
5. Demand that lobbyists for Israel register as foreign agents.
6. Include Israel and Israel lobbyists in the Campaign reform rules of _____ .
7.
The question is,
Question of the morning on Wash Journ was, Should Helen Thomas be asked to resign from the White House press pool because of her response to an anonymous blogger's question about Jews in Israel.
C Span pivoted from a statement by Lani Davis that Thomas was an anti-Jewish bigot. In other words, C Span focused on whether Thomas could continue as an impartial reporter from the White House because she made a statement that was not supportive of Jews.
I think the question about Helen Thomas's capacity to report from the White House should be whether she is mindful of American interests, rather than Jewish or Israel's interests.
I further think that the Question and reaction of the blogger who asked the question is an essential part of the story. After Ms. Thomas made her first statement, that Jews should leave Palestine because they were occupying land stolen from Palestinians, the blogger said, "Whoa...." He did not anticipate that response. In other words, his was not a question to elicit an authentic opinion, it was the lab technician checking on whether Pavlov's dog was still trained. He rang the bell, Helen Thomas did not bark.
That non-bark, that failure of the 63 years of Jewish sensitivity training of the American people is the silence heard round the country.
C Span moderator was out of his depth as a journalist; his listeners and callers were far better informed than he is. For example, the Moderator tried several times to beat back the caller who stated that a member of AIPAC spies on the US. The caller said, "I read it in the Washington Post; don't you know about that?" He said, "It's Steve Weissman" [actually Keith Weissman]." Which is correct.
The Moderator terminated the call at that point.
The question is, can C Span be educated?
If not C Span, then WHO can guide the United States through an honest and vigorous discussion of the US relationship with Israel, with AIPAC, with Jews in the United States, with zionism?
To stifle that conversation is precisely the approach that will result in more, not less, harm to Jews in America. Most people will automatically point to Germany as an example of a situation where "antisemitism got out of hand and resulted in the Holocaust of 6 million Jews." That would be inaccurate. That response would be the Pavlovian response.
Hitler's first major piece of writing was an exploration of "principled antisemitism." Renan's was much the same. Why were the German people resentful of Jews? Both Renan and Hitler concluded that the old, religious issues, that "Jews killed Christ," were bogus. The complaints of the German people involved economic and financial issues, matters of Jewish dominance of German institutions and media. Hitler tried to defuse the anger of the people.
AISH, Rabbi Ken Spiro.... "Jews expect to be persecuted again."
US must do things differently. We must not allow the United States to be led by zionists down the same path that Germany was led by zionists. We must call to account Israel and the Jews in the US who have suborned the interests of the United STates in preference for the interests of Israel.
I suggest several action to take:
1. A truth and reconciliation commission.
2. Seize the assets of zionist billionaires who support activities that work against the interests of the US -- Schusterman, Adelson, Haim Saban,
3. Dismantle the US Treasury office of antiterrorism. US Treasury should be focusing on US economy, not attempting to destroy Iran's economy for the benefit of Israel.
4. Close the Holocaust Museum
5. Demand that lobbyists for Israel register as foreign agents.
6. Include Israel and Israel lobbyists in the Campaign reform rules of _____ .
7.
The question is,
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Cracks revealing feet of clay June 3 2010
Psychopathic god June 3, 2010 at 10:32 am
C Span Washington Journal is my ‘beat.’
I consider C Span the ‘Colin Powell’ of cable media: people trust C Span to be impartial.
And yesterday, the tipping point was approached: a caller said,
“oil, oil, oil; that’s all you talk about. It’s very important but the flotilla is extremely important too, why don’t you talk about the flotilla? You cut off callers who say things critical of Israel.”
So today C Span Moderator Susan Swain took the bull by the horns: You, dear listeners, tell us what is most important to you.
Then Swain read the headlines of a number of national newspapers. I lost count; most of them lead with oil spill stories.
C Span Washington Journal frequently explains to its listeners that it tries to be ‘balanced’ by reading NYT AND Washington Times; that is, it thinks its covering the spectrum of print media.
But C Span does not get the larger point: ALL of the media is either bought or cowed to presenting ONLY what certain interests permit to be presented, and only in the way that those interests prefer. Nobody wants to think about it, including trustworthy C Span.
I’m still having a hard time categorizing the calls — twenty of them came in; most mentioned the oil spill as being very important; several mentioned pressing issues like immigration; pressing economic issues including employment/unemployment, finance reform. A few off-the-wall calls occupy the tails of the curve. Perhaps four or five callers mentioned Israel/Gaza and the flotilla.
Two calls regarding Israel laid bare the divide; one of those calls represented a major tipping point in US dialog about Israel. That caller said he thought the most important issue the US has to confront is the media. He said that C Span represented the best that the media spectrum has to offer, but that C Span seemed to pull its punches when the topic was Israel. He asked this question twice, and squeezed a response from Ms. Swain: “When C Span producers have their directors’ meetings, do they say, ‘Don’t talk about Israel or Jews?’ Because that what it seems like.”
(Swain replied softly and rather embarrassed, “No, of course we don’t eliminate any topic from discussion.”)
The caller spoke further (and to her credit, Swain was generous with time and did not interrupt or censure): “Many times when people say things critical of Israel, they are accused of antisemitism. Some seem antisemitic. But it is possible to talk about Israel without being antisemitic, and it’s important.”
The caller’s remarks were in the same vein of thought as one of . Stephen Walt’s three question of Peter Beinart:
Some months ago, Michael Scheuer caused a mild stir when he said, on C Span Washington Journal, that Americans needed to, and deserved to, have a frank conversation about the US-Israel relationship. Scott Ritter has said the same thing on numerous occasions, including on C Span.
Starting at least three years ago, a network of some dozens of us low-life low-impact keyboard warriors have tried to raise the issue on numerous fora, perhaps with more passion than tact; we’ve been banned, censored, and vilified as vicious antisemites.
Who knows how many Palestinians, who knows how many Afghanis, who knows how many American soldiers, have died since Michael Scheuer and Scott Ritter stirred the waters.
Three days ago nine more people died– is it nine? we don’t know! Israel retains control of bodies, wounded, information, evidence, and the right to be its own judge and jury, by decree of Hillary Clinton, who is in thrall to Haim Saban who has stated that “he’s a one-issue guy and that issue is Israel,” and that he cares for the US so little that his businesses are incorporated in Cayman Islands so that he can avoid US taxes.
It’s time. NOW. Time for a vigorous all-American debate on the US-Israel relationship.
Pray that the conversation can remain a conversation and not a confrontation.
C Span Washington Journal is my ‘beat.’
I consider C Span the ‘Colin Powell’ of cable media: people trust C Span to be impartial.
And yesterday, the tipping point was approached: a caller said,
“oil, oil, oil; that’s all you talk about. It’s very important but the flotilla is extremely important too, why don’t you talk about the flotilla? You cut off callers who say things critical of Israel.”
So today C Span Moderator Susan Swain took the bull by the horns: You, dear listeners, tell us what is most important to you.
Then Swain read the headlines of a number of national newspapers. I lost count; most of them lead with oil spill stories.
C Span Washington Journal frequently explains to its listeners that it tries to be ‘balanced’ by reading NYT AND Washington Times; that is, it thinks its covering the spectrum of print media.
But C Span does not get the larger point: ALL of the media is either bought or cowed to presenting ONLY what certain interests permit to be presented, and only in the way that those interests prefer. Nobody wants to think about it, including trustworthy C Span.
I’m still having a hard time categorizing the calls — twenty of them came in; most mentioned the oil spill as being very important; several mentioned pressing issues like immigration; pressing economic issues including employment/unemployment, finance reform. A few off-the-wall calls occupy the tails of the curve. Perhaps four or five callers mentioned Israel/Gaza and the flotilla.
Two calls regarding Israel laid bare the divide; one of those calls represented a major tipping point in US dialog about Israel. That caller said he thought the most important issue the US has to confront is the media. He said that C Span represented the best that the media spectrum has to offer, but that C Span seemed to pull its punches when the topic was Israel. He asked this question twice, and squeezed a response from Ms. Swain: “When C Span producers have their directors’ meetings, do they say, ‘Don’t talk about Israel or Jews?’ Because that what it seems like.”
(Swain replied softly and rather embarrassed, “No, of course we don’t eliminate any topic from discussion.”)
The caller spoke further (and to her credit, Swain was generous with time and did not interrupt or censure): “Many times when people say things critical of Israel, they are accused of antisemitism. Some seem antisemitic. But it is possible to talk about Israel without being antisemitic, and it’s important.”
The caller’s remarks were in the same vein of thought as one of . Stephen Walt’s three question of Peter Beinart:
Second, Beinart’s essay is primarily directed at the American Jewish community, which is understandable. Yet I’m curious as to whether he thinks this is a topic that all Americans should engage with, or whether he thinks (as some do) that it is a topic on which non-Jews should remain largely silent. My own view is that the special relationship has a profound impact on American foreign policy and therefore it is a subject that all Americans should care about very much and be able to discuss openly — without being unfairly attacked — even if they a critical of Israel’s actions and America’s unconditional support for them. No group should enjoy a privileged position in that debate. I wonder if Beinart would agree.
Some months ago, Michael Scheuer caused a mild stir when he said, on C Span Washington Journal, that Americans needed to, and deserved to, have a frank conversation about the US-Israel relationship. Scott Ritter has said the same thing on numerous occasions, including on C Span.
Starting at least three years ago, a network of some dozens of us low-life low-impact keyboard warriors have tried to raise the issue on numerous fora, perhaps with more passion than tact; we’ve been banned, censored, and vilified as vicious antisemites.
Who knows how many Palestinians, who knows how many Afghanis, who knows how many American soldiers, have died since Michael Scheuer and Scott Ritter stirred the waters.
Three days ago nine more people died– is it nine? we don’t know! Israel retains control of bodies, wounded, information, evidence, and the right to be its own judge and jury, by decree of Hillary Clinton, who is in thrall to Haim Saban who has stated that “he’s a one-issue guy and that issue is Israel,” and that he cares for the US so little that his businesses are incorporated in Cayman Islands so that he can avoid US taxes.
It’s time. NOW. Time for a vigorous all-American debate on the US-Israel relationship.
Pray that the conversation can remain a conversation and not a confrontation.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Eric Cantor at Heritage Foundation, "Protect America" May 4 2010
Connecting the wrong dots.
10:00 - 10:45 am May 4 2010
Protect America month
Eric Cantor's opening statement sounded very much like Flynt Leverett.
Intense Iran bashing.
socialism: from the floor, statement/question about socialism and how socialism moves to totalitarianism.
find the Ephraim Sneh quote that Israel is deviating from its socialist intentions.
find a transcript of Cantor's speech, carefully review the Q AND A
Cantor invoked Sharansky. counter with Dimitri Simes on the Bolsheviks. show how zionism is bolshevism/trotskite.
re audience question re Shariia law, which questioner posed relative to Wall Street investing, Cantor answered by invoking Thomas Jefferson, freedom of religion,
####
Dr Kim Holmes, VP Foreign Policy, Davis Institute at Heritage. Hates UN.
10:00 - 10:45 am May 4 2010
Protect America month
Eric Cantor's opening statement sounded very much like Flynt Leverett.
Intense Iran bashing.
socialism: from the floor, statement/question about socialism and how socialism moves to totalitarianism.
find the Ephraim Sneh quote that Israel is deviating from its socialist intentions.
find a transcript of Cantor's speech, carefully review the Q AND A
Cantor invoked Sharansky. counter with Dimitri Simes on the Bolsheviks. show how zionism is bolshevism/trotskite.
re audience question re Shariia law, which questioner posed relative to Wall Street investing, Cantor answered by invoking Thomas Jefferson, freedom of religion,
####
Dr Kim Holmes, VP Foreign Policy, Davis Institute at Heritage. Hates UN.
Michael Greenberger, May 4 2010, Teabaggers & Teaboxes; Ants Spiders Bees; Joseph interpreting Dreams
Michael Greenberger, May 4 2010, Teabaggers & Teaboxes; Ants Spiders Bees; Joseph interpreting Dreams
in re Jerry Z Muller, Capitalism and the Jews; Niall Ferguson, Rothschilds;
In the 8:45 am slot, Greenberger explained how derivative/insurance worked in the finance meltdown: firms like Goldman in effect bought insurance on someone else's house, in the hope/bet that the house would burn down and that Goldman would collect the insurance proceeds on an asset they did not own.
The insurance policy in turn was securitized and sold.
caller: 8:56 Booksley Born was driven out of government, in 1997 and 1999 Greenberger and Born worked together and tried to create regulation for the kind of instruments that brought down Greece.
Robert Rubin & Larry Summers and Greenspan were not sympathetic to Born and Greenberger & Born's viewpoint.
Sheila Baer at 8:58 Greenberger mentions the people in decision making roles who are inching toward
PBS Frontline, "The Warning." early 1998 Born & Greenberger saw the lack of transparency, the fact that no capital to back up the bets.
Economics of Destruction an anonymously written article in WSJ.
Larry Summers called Brooksley Born in 1998 re
see book, 13 Bankers
Rubin, Summers, Greenspan, Levitt one by one took Born to task and asked Born not to pursue her agenda. She
see 9:03 am
contrast Greenberger's comments with yesterday's Wolfowitz appearance on C Span.
caller: Rutland VT:
Greenberger: problem with the ratings agencies: situation is the student pays the student for the grades.
Lawrence from Stern School, NYU, forget about the agencies; burden to explain to the investing public why investments are sound, not just a grade....
"the casinos didn't have the capital to pay off their debt, the banks blew a giant hole in the market, taxpayers ended up bailing out the gamblers."
The casino atmosphere does not capitalize
go back to old fashioned american ingenuity that makes things, not slips of paper that represent bets...
THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF JEWISH CAPITALISM: BETTING ON EMPTY BOXES.
caller: "ALL of the bankers were doing it, not... 9:10
Greenberger: most people are made to think the problem is the mortgagees who can't pay their loan but that's not the greatest problem, it's the BETTING on the loans that caused the problem.
...credit card scores another gaming system....
the gambling that characterizes subprime can also affect commercial loans, etc
keep your eye on what is going on in Southern Europe; it's rippling: it started w Greece buying a package from Goldman in order to get into WTO. keep your eye on the euro.... (at 9:13 - 9:14)
caller: the people making money on these scams knew exactly what was going on; it's not that complicated. EXACTLY: it is deliberately complexified, a shell game with moves to confuse the sucker.
Greenberger: taxpayers paid AIG 100% so that AIG could pay off its bets.
Credit rating agencies will not go away. "There is a market for people who can provide intelligent, sophisticated common sense assessment of investments."
in re Jerry Z Muller, Capitalism and the Jews; Niall Ferguson, Rothschilds;
In the 8:45 am slot, Greenberger explained how derivative/insurance worked in the finance meltdown: firms like Goldman in effect bought insurance on someone else's house, in the hope/bet that the house would burn down and that Goldman would collect the insurance proceeds on an asset they did not own.
The insurance policy in turn was securitized and sold.
caller: 8:56 Booksley Born was driven out of government, in 1997 and 1999 Greenberger and Born worked together and tried to create regulation for the kind of instruments that brought down Greece.
Robert Rubin & Larry Summers and Greenspan were not sympathetic to Born and Greenberger & Born's viewpoint.
Sheila Baer at 8:58 Greenberger mentions the people in decision making roles who are inching toward
PBS Frontline, "The Warning." early 1998 Born & Greenberger saw the lack of transparency, the fact that no capital to back up the bets.
Economics of Destruction an anonymously written article in WSJ.
Larry Summers called Brooksley Born in 1998 re
see book, 13 Bankers
Rubin, Summers, Greenspan, Levitt one by one took Born to task and asked Born not to pursue her agenda. She
see 9:03 am
contrast Greenberger's comments with yesterday's Wolfowitz appearance on C Span.
caller: Rutland VT:
Greenberger: problem with the ratings agencies: situation is the student pays the student for the grades.
Lawrence from Stern School, NYU, forget about the agencies; burden to explain to the investing public why investments are sound, not just a grade....
"the casinos didn't have the capital to pay off their debt, the banks blew a giant hole in the market, taxpayers ended up bailing out the gamblers."
The casino atmosphere does not capitalize
go back to old fashioned american ingenuity that makes things, not slips of paper that represent bets...
THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF JEWISH CAPITALISM: BETTING ON EMPTY BOXES.
caller: "ALL of the bankers were doing it, not... 9:10
Greenberger: most people are made to think the problem is the mortgagees who can't pay their loan but that's not the greatest problem, it's the BETTING on the loans that caused the problem.
...credit card scores another gaming system....
the gambling that characterizes subprime can also affect commercial loans, etc
keep your eye on what is going on in Southern Europe; it's rippling: it started w Greece buying a package from Goldman in order to get into WTO. keep your eye on the euro.... (at 9:13 - 9:14)
caller: the people making money on these scams knew exactly what was going on; it's not that complicated. EXACTLY: it is deliberately complexified, a shell game with moves to confuse the sucker.
Greenberger: taxpayers paid AIG 100% so that AIG could pay off its bets.
Credit rating agencies will not go away. "There is a market for people who can provide intelligent, sophisticated common sense assessment of investments."
Monday, May 3, 2010
C Span May 3 2010 Paul Wolfowitz, Rusty Barber (in his last weeks w US Institute of Peace
guest is Bill Richardson. Moderator is _____
Richardson is gov of New Mexico, he discusses New Mexico economy, 'illegal' immigrants. A caller says, "it's a national security issue to close the because Middle Easterners can come into the country."
Moderator sets up negative cloud around Iran: "Former UN ambassador John Bolton says US must stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. What do you think, as a former UN ambassador?"
Richardson says Obama admin is "doing the right thing; must sanction Iran; must not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. Different and better than Bush policy in that US is trying to get other nations to join in sanctioning Iran."
8:35 am: Paul Wolfowitz is guest.
question 1, Greece:
at about 8:56 am a caller spoke very strongly about Wolfowitz's role in Iraq. What was fascinating about W's reaction/response: he was absolutely stoney through the caller's entire speech; I watched his face closely, he did not allow a single muscle to twitch, his eyes did not move, he was in another place entirely; I suspect he turned off his hearing. When the caller stopped speaking, Wolf became animated again, he began and continued a discussion totally unrelated to anything the caller said -- something about banks and IMF, etc. He talked at length, uninterrupted. When he stopped, the Moderator said somewhat sheepishly, "Do you wish to comment on anything the caller addressed?" I forget W's response; it was noncommittal. I think he may have said, "Everybody voted for it...."
Later, a caller from Montana stated with some passion that W was responsible for the deaths of his Montana friends who died in Iraq. Caller said W should not be on tv he should be in jail. W did defend a bit. He once again used the "we relied on intelligence; intelligence was flawed; everybody did it...."
Third caller re W role in Iraq said we all know of your role. She said, no relation between 9/11 and Iraq. She was quite agitated and not very effective. W rolled out the standard defense: "Kerry voted for war; Hillary thought Saddam was dangerous," etc.
next guest, Rusty Barber of US Institute of Peace, to talk about Iraq. at 9:28 a caller mentioned the looting of Iraq's treasures. Then he said that C Span should disinfect the seat Wolfowitz sat in. He said Wolfowitz should have been arrested. Caller said the person who planted a bomb in an SUV in New York will be hunted to the ends of the earth, but Wolfowitz was permitted to walk out the side door; he is a war criminal.
The moderator responded lamely: "We invite all voices."
I say, NOT SO. Not if it's a voice critical of Israel or of Jews.
The guest addressed the fact that Iraq's treasures were looted; did mention that some sites are still being looted; said very vaguely that 'legal...should do something about it...."
Moderator mentioned that Wolfowitz said Iraq has second-greatest amount of oil; guest said "enormous amount of work to do to get oil out." Will take agreements between Iraq and Kurds to develop oil in Kurdish area in North of Iraq.
BP is in a project with the Chinese to develop oil fields in southern Iraq.
Caller: Documentary, "No End in Sight." A friend was in Iraq; WE KNOW that Wolfie, Feith, Chalabi cooked the intelligence. Iraqis hate us....
Why do we not count the dead in Iraq?
Twitter: How many civilians were killed in Iraq since US invasion?
Guest: "I don't know. Numbers are not known. ... Trauma that's left over from that is seldom discussed. Our Iraqi staff is very concerned
Most Iraqis think US occupation was terrible for Iraq; US went in without a plan, Iraqis are paying the price for that failure of planning. Uniformly Iraqis feel invasion was a mistake and US needs to withdraw.
Caller: re contractors.
Guest: contractors cannot move as freely around Iraq. Blackwater left a very bad taste; I travelled once with Blackwater, they moved very fast and with a feeling of impunity.
Caller: What is role of Chalabi in current government? I recall he said he would help us in the initial invasion.
Guest: Chalabi was US ally at beginning. Man with 9 lives. He was a contestant in last election. He's head of election accountability commission. He's very controversial; US feels it was badly burned by Chalabi assertions of WMD in Iraq. He holds not insignificant amount of support among Shi ia, in Sadr City.
Mod: Americans expressed concern about wrangling over election.
Caller: US spends more money on defense than any other country. Does US Institute Peace do anything to reduce spending?
Guest: Institute for Peace to try to reduce tensions to resolve conflict.
Caller: On Wolfowitz: W said we would pay for war with Iraqi war revenues. Last night I watched book program on Taliban; we invaded Iraq, left Taliban alone. Totally outrageous to have Wolfie on; he's nothing but a war criminal.
Guest: I think it was fine to have Wolfie on, good to have diverse set of views. We've committed billions and billions of reconstruction money. No question it's hard to fight two wars at the same time. We are drawing down... In terms of paying, no question it was premature.... Iraq owes $20billion to Kuwait in war reparations. International community must get resolution of that. not likely Iraq oil will pay for US expenditure any time soon.
Caller: Will there be a commission to debate why we went into Iraq, like the Chilcoate Commission in England. It's not in my purview to have an opinion on that.
Caller, Hollywood, FL (my guess = zionist) Clinton bombed Iraq; Hillary responded to 'Ladies in Pink' that Iraq had WMD. So if Iraq is investigated, Clintons should be investigated also.
Mod: Is Saddam still a presence in Iraq?
Guest: Yes. There's a 'Saddam' channel from _____. He will always loom over Iraq as a source of great tragedy for Iraq.
Caller: Does US compensate Iraqis for losses, and how is it paid for. Decided on a case by case basis. Range in thousands of dollars. Comes out of military budget.
Caller: I have a friend at University of Kabul. Have you heard anything about people coming down with anthrax in Kabul.
Guest: No.
back to discussion of the vote, resolving the dispute over who takes power, nominate a president, speaker of Parlaiment. Traditionally roles divided along sectarian lines. That system has assured a degree of balance among factions but has now institutionalized the divisions.
Caller: 1998 AIPAC pushed us into war with Iraq. (Jim Morris friend)
Mod: Role of Iran in Iraq, terrorist explosions, is that still happening in Iraq?
Guest: Iraqis
iranian role regarded with a degree of trepidation and suspicion. lot of political parties shuffeling to tehran looking for their support and assistance. in therms of actual weapons my sense is they are still present but not so much. 2007 2008 perception.... present but not active.
Caller: Saddam has been demonized; did he do anything good for Iraq.
Guest: Iraqis say thru authoritarian measures and propaganda, he
except for horrendous war with Iran
saw so much instability when he was toppled. so he's perceived as having kept Iraq stable, keep power on, US opened pandora's box of sectarian conflict.
Richardson is gov of New Mexico, he discusses New Mexico economy, 'illegal' immigrants. A caller says, "it's a national security issue to close the because Middle Easterners can come into the country."
Moderator sets up negative cloud around Iran: "Former UN ambassador John Bolton says US must stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. What do you think, as a former UN ambassador?"
Richardson says Obama admin is "doing the right thing; must sanction Iran; must not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. Different and better than Bush policy in that US is trying to get other nations to join in sanctioning Iran."
8:35 am: Paul Wolfowitz is guest.
question 1, Greece:
at about 8:56 am a caller spoke very strongly about Wolfowitz's role in Iraq. What was fascinating about W's reaction/response: he was absolutely stoney through the caller's entire speech; I watched his face closely, he did not allow a single muscle to twitch, his eyes did not move, he was in another place entirely; I suspect he turned off his hearing. When the caller stopped speaking, Wolf became animated again, he began and continued a discussion totally unrelated to anything the caller said -- something about banks and IMF, etc. He talked at length, uninterrupted. When he stopped, the Moderator said somewhat sheepishly, "Do you wish to comment on anything the caller addressed?" I forget W's response; it was noncommittal. I think he may have said, "Everybody voted for it...."
Later, a caller from Montana stated with some passion that W was responsible for the deaths of his Montana friends who died in Iraq. Caller said W should not be on tv he should be in jail. W did defend a bit. He once again used the "we relied on intelligence; intelligence was flawed; everybody did it...."
Third caller re W role in Iraq said we all know of your role. She said, no relation between 9/11 and Iraq. She was quite agitated and not very effective. W rolled out the standard defense: "Kerry voted for war; Hillary thought Saddam was dangerous," etc.
next guest, Rusty Barber of US Institute of Peace, to talk about Iraq. at 9:28 a caller mentioned the looting of Iraq's treasures. Then he said that C Span should disinfect the seat Wolfowitz sat in. He said Wolfowitz should have been arrested. Caller said the person who planted a bomb in an SUV in New York will be hunted to the ends of the earth, but Wolfowitz was permitted to walk out the side door; he is a war criminal.
The moderator responded lamely: "We invite all voices."
I say, NOT SO. Not if it's a voice critical of Israel or of Jews.
The guest addressed the fact that Iraq's treasures were looted; did mention that some sites are still being looted; said very vaguely that 'legal...should do something about it...."
Moderator mentioned that Wolfowitz said Iraq has second-greatest amount of oil; guest said "enormous amount of work to do to get oil out." Will take agreements between Iraq and Kurds to develop oil in Kurdish area in North of Iraq.
BP is in a project with the Chinese to develop oil fields in southern Iraq.
Caller: Documentary, "No End in Sight." A friend was in Iraq; WE KNOW that Wolfie, Feith, Chalabi cooked the intelligence. Iraqis hate us....
Why do we not count the dead in Iraq?
Twitter: How many civilians were killed in Iraq since US invasion?
Guest: "I don't know. Numbers are not known. ... Trauma that's left over from that is seldom discussed. Our Iraqi staff is very concerned
Most Iraqis think US occupation was terrible for Iraq; US went in without a plan, Iraqis are paying the price for that failure of planning. Uniformly Iraqis feel invasion was a mistake and US needs to withdraw.
Caller: re contractors.
Guest: contractors cannot move as freely around Iraq. Blackwater left a very bad taste; I travelled once with Blackwater, they moved very fast and with a feeling of impunity.
Caller: What is role of Chalabi in current government? I recall he said he would help us in the initial invasion.
Guest: Chalabi was US ally at beginning. Man with 9 lives. He was a contestant in last election. He's head of election accountability commission. He's very controversial; US feels it was badly burned by Chalabi assertions of WMD in Iraq. He holds not insignificant amount of support among Shi ia, in Sadr City.
Mod: Americans expressed concern about wrangling over election.
Caller: US spends more money on defense than any other country. Does US Institute Peace do anything to reduce spending?
Guest: Institute for Peace to try to reduce tensions to resolve conflict.
Caller: On Wolfowitz: W said we would pay for war with Iraqi war revenues. Last night I watched book program on Taliban; we invaded Iraq, left Taliban alone. Totally outrageous to have Wolfie on; he's nothing but a war criminal.
Guest: I think it was fine to have Wolfie on, good to have diverse set of views. We've committed billions and billions of reconstruction money. No question it's hard to fight two wars at the same time. We are drawing down... In terms of paying, no question it was premature.... Iraq owes $20billion to Kuwait in war reparations. International community must get resolution of that. not likely Iraq oil will pay for US expenditure any time soon.
Caller: Will there be a commission to debate why we went into Iraq, like the Chilcoate Commission in England. It's not in my purview to have an opinion on that.
Caller, Hollywood, FL (my guess = zionist) Clinton bombed Iraq; Hillary responded to 'Ladies in Pink' that Iraq had WMD. So if Iraq is investigated, Clintons should be investigated also.
Mod: Is Saddam still a presence in Iraq?
Guest: Yes. There's a 'Saddam' channel from _____. He will always loom over Iraq as a source of great tragedy for Iraq.
Caller: Does US compensate Iraqis for losses, and how is it paid for. Decided on a case by case basis. Range in thousands of dollars. Comes out of military budget.
Caller: I have a friend at University of Kabul. Have you heard anything about people coming down with anthrax in Kabul.
Guest: No.
back to discussion of the vote, resolving the dispute over who takes power, nominate a president, speaker of Parlaiment. Traditionally roles divided along sectarian lines. That system has assured a degree of balance among factions but has now institutionalized the divisions.
Caller: 1998 AIPAC pushed us into war with Iraq. (Jim Morris friend)
Mod: Role of Iran in Iraq, terrorist explosions, is that still happening in Iraq?
Guest: Iraqis
iranian role regarded with a degree of trepidation and suspicion. lot of political parties shuffeling to tehran looking for their support and assistance. in therms of actual weapons my sense is they are still present but not so much. 2007 2008 perception.... present but not active.
Caller: Saddam has been demonized; did he do anything good for Iraq.
Guest: Iraqis say thru authoritarian measures and propaganda, he
except for horrendous war with Iran
saw so much instability when he was toppled. so he's perceived as having kept Iraq stable, keep power on, US opened pandora's box of sectarian conflict.
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