Wednesday, December 01, 2010

The 'Bailouts' were Frauds and Shakedowns

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

The wrong people got the bailouts. One can find daily confirmation of that. Most recently, according to the L.A. Times, the Fed predicted that higher jobless rates, may become a long-term fixture, perhaps a permanent characteristic of the U.S. economy. This bad news follows the Commerce Department's revised estimate of third-quarter growth, up half a percentage point from 2 percent --nothing to write home about.
In fact, some Fed policymakers on Tuesday raised the specter of a permanently higher jobless rate for the U.S. economy, suggesting that many more workers will struggle to get back on their feet even as the economy continues to grow.

The Fed's forecast is an acknowledgment that the "healing process in the economy has slowed to a crawl," said Ethan Harris, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The central bank's predictions were released Tuesday as part of the minutes of its early November meeting, when the institution also approved its controversial bond-buying program to spur economic growth.

The nation's unemployment rate has been stuck at 9.6% since August.

Just a few months ago, Fed officials were more optimistic about the road ahead — for jobs and the overall economy. But now they see the economy growing by about 2.5% this year, not enough to make a dent in unemployment.

--Gloomy Fed employment forecast overshadows upbeat GDP data
To be expected, consumer spending will drop. People who have less money or, worse, no job at all, will cut spending. They have no choice. The very, very rich i.e, the ruling 1 percent, are just fine, thank you for asking! You made it possible. But --the party is over.

The wrong people got the bailouts! By 'wrong people' I mean the big banks, insiders, fat cats and leeches. By wrong people, I mean those who game the system, make a living by moving funny money around or --even worse --your money! In passing, I must ask: do you really think it a good idea to literally 'give' these shysters the monies that you have paid in to the Social Security Trust Fund? My quick response: not a chance!

An effective bailout would have put money into the hands of real people --not legal abstractions or Wall Street insiders. An effective bailout would have increased the supply of real money in circulation. A real bailout would have created jobs and stimulated real industries --not money changers, Wall Street shysters, insiders or funny money men!
Confidence remains low, and unemployment benefits, which have helped prop up spending, probably won't be extended by lawmakers, given the new political sensitivity to big government deficits. Hundreds of thousands of jobless workers will see their benefits expire this month.

But the biggest single drag on growth may be the state of the labor market. Even the more optimistic independent economists say unemployment will decline slowly, starting most likely in the second half of next year.

--Los Angeles Times, Gloomy Fed employment forecast
This is the 'ruling elite' so favored of late by bailouts and Wall Street. We should have driven the money changers from the Temple! Instead, we bailed out this 'New World Order', patted the money changers on their heads as we greased their extended palms.
So help me, I can perceive nothing but a conspiracy of rich men procuring their commodities in the name and title of the commonwealth

--St. Thomas More, Utopia
This is not an isolated case. This is not a temporary screw-up. This is a fundamental flaw in the system. This is a flaw that favors crooks and fast-buck artists, latter-day 'Enrons', money changers, the 'new world order'. The entire financial system of the United States is a Ponzi scheme, a scam: 'You give me real money and I will give you a worthless piece of paper in exchange'.
In a sad reminder of the sorry state of our country and in particular the sorry, heartless state of the modern Republican Party today Unemployment Insurance will end for hundreds of thousands of workers left out in the cold by Republican policies that crashed the economy. Yes, fresh off a victory in which the American electorate showed mass amnesia the very folks who crashed our economy are cutting off the aid to those folks who have suffered most for their policies. Even more outrageous than this is the priorities shown by Republicans after the election. You see, while they will let the unemployed suffer their incompetence, the one folks they constantly watch out for is their own, the very wealthy. Yes, Republicans have chosen to side with those who crashed the economy over those who suffer it.

--The Unemployed Suffer the Real Cause of Deficits
As John Maynard Keynes had said of 'pound notes' in England, the U.S. government might have done better had it put the $billions$ in mason jars, buried them in a land fill and let 'private enterprise' (real people) dig them up. Had that been done, real people would have spent those monies in ways that might have revived an economy on life support.

As I have reported: the U.S. economy --not gold --supports our currency But what happens when the economy is no longer producing, no longer employing the population? That is, in fact, the case as confirmed by the CIA's own World Fact Book. The U.S. is on the bottom of the list with the World's Largest negative Current Account Balance; China, who owns us, is on top with the world's largest positive Current Account Balance. If it had not been in China's interest over the short term to prop us us so that it might dump its goods on our shores thus robbing us of jobs, the house of cards might have collapsed already. That cozy arrangement was set up by Bush in advance of Nixon's infamous but largely ceremonial visit to the Forbidden City back in the 70s. The deal may be nearing the end of its usefulness to China. When China no longer benefits from this arrangement, it will pull the plug on the dollar.
Just look at us. Everything is backwards. Everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information, and religion destroys spirituality."

--Micheal Ellner
Another lesson that might have been learned but will not be is that neither banks nor governments create 'wealth'. Wealth --as every credible economist from the conservatives Adam Smith and Ricardo to the left-leaning Karl Marx has said --is created by labor. That's worth repeating: labor creates wealth. Else, capitalists could not have made profits and fortunes upon the backs of those whose labor in fact created the wealth in the first place. Investments are made after the fact, by those wishing to skim some of the wealth off the top but only after it has been created and the major 'stockholders' made happy.


12 comments:

Cirze said...

Even worse.

"You give the U.S. your current labor and savings, and it gives you back an increasingly worthless piece of paper."

'You give me real money and I will give you a worthless piece of paper in exchange'.

But no longer in this country obviously as the population has been tagged long ago as fodder for the war cannons, and not a productive population meriting investment.

Investments are made after the fact, by those wishing to skim some of the wealth off the top but only after it has been created and the major 'stockholders' made happy.

Thanks for all your efforts and reporting of the facts!

Suzan

Unknown said...

Suzan sez....

But no longer in this country obviously as the population has been tagged long ago as fodder for the war cannons...

Sure sounds like slavery to me. We work to enrich our MASSUHS (masters) and they keep us indebted to the 'company stoh'. I'm sick of it. We need a revolution and a NEW paradigm!

Anonymous said...

the freaky twist on this is: it's not enought that wealth is disproportionately accumulated to an extreme, there's an insatiable **need** for the rest of us to be destitute.

ps: in the US, the Fed is a private central bank that charges interest on money printed. China isn't gifted with kind of arrangement. How much is "democracy" worth if the government and population is a slave to debt?

Unknown said...

Re: the freaky twist on this is: it's not enought that wealth is disproportionately accumulated to an extreme, there's an insatiable **need** for the rest of us to be destitute.

Well put and you are absolutely correct. Even European aristocracy often felt an obligation to society as a whole. But NOT the axis of GOP-U.S. ELITES. They are defined by their perverse hate for anyone DARING to be poor though it is MOST OFTEN their policies that cause it.

Peerless Cynic said...

The Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef was recently interviewed on Democracy Now and he had many observations you might find interesting. One of his postulates was that people should not serve the economy (a wage/slave economy), but the economy must serve the people. In other words, the system is currently standing on its head.

Great post by the way.

Unknown said...

Peerless Cynic said...

...people should not serve the economy (a wage/slave economy), but the economy must serve the people...In other words, the system is currently standing on its head.

I ABSOLUTELY agree with that. Thanks for sharing.

Clearly --American politicians in both parties have forgotten that but I am still convinced the GOP is the worst offender. I have often accused THE gop/right wing (justifiably) thinking backward, i.e, working BACKWARD from conclusions already drawn, prejudices, and 'theories', primarily 'theories' that have the effect of making them feel good about themselves. I can see their point; if I were a borderline moron of super-rich parents whose only legacy left me was/is a fucked-up materialistic and utterly shallow set of phony values, I might have need of a 'feel-good' myself. But I don't!

Everyone is responsible for his/her own attitude. I believe that the economist you cite is RIGHT ON THE MONEY. Great comment --and THANKS : )

Abe said...

Len -
I am writing to ask for your help in a survey of bloggers being conducted by the University of Michigan. This study looks at how the blogging community thinks about and responds to important issues and current events. As the author of The Existentialist Cowboy, you are invited to visit the link below and complete the survey. It will only take about 20 minutes.

I apologize for contacting you this way -- I couldn't find an email address on your blog, and it is only by hearing from nearly everybody in the sample that we can be sure the results are truly representative. Your responses will be kept strictly confidential, and I will be happy to share results with you once the study is complete.

Simply click on the link below, or cut and paste the entire URL into your browser to access the survey. I hope you will find the survey interesting and enjoyable.

http://umichlsa.qualtrics.com/WRQualtricsSurveyEngine/?Q_SS=7Oje9pIWnJtdW5u_0MWBd6sqVxUnOFC&_=1

Thanks in advance for your willingness to share your ideas and experiences.

Abe Gong
University of Michigan

P.S. If you have questions or comments about this study, you can reach me by email: agong at umich dot edu. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Abe said...

I am writing to ask for your help in a survey of bloggers being conducted by the University of Michigan.

Very interesting survey. Looking forward to seeing the results from among your sample of bloggers.

Anonymous said...

"...the system is currently standing on its head" -PC

Agree, and the economy serving the people is what any enlightened democratic society should strive for (just as our 'elected leadership' whom we subsidize dearly, swears an oath to uphold a document that begins "We the people...")

As Len points out the twisted GOP narrative: 'How dare you not strive for our corrupt wealth' their social Darwinism has moved beyond the pale.
We as a society have claimed greed over common sense, and nature will surly take it's course...you can not subsidize the unproductive & corrupt, while constantly eroding the productive (the real working middle-class), the GOP (and other status quo) will get a rude awakening in real time Darwinism soon enough...problem is they are taking ALL of us down with them.

Len, more great articles! Thank you for your time and efforts, although we are stuck with this broken two-party system, I am glad to see you are still hammering the truly wicked ones...Your Twainian dissections are more then well deserved by these degenerates.

benmerc

Unknown said...

benmerc sez...

Thank you for your time and efforts, although we are stuck with this broken two-party system, I am glad to see you are still hammering the truly wicked ones

thanks for the encouragement,benmerc and, as always, great to see your comments. You are absolutely correct --the TWO PARTY system is the political embodiment of what logicians would call a 'false dichotomy'. When given a choice between tweedle dum and tweedle dumber, there is no way to win. Obama, I am convinced, is a good man given NO wiggle room and that is by design. With BUSH --it made no difference; Bush had sold his soul a long time ago and getting anything resembling statesmanship out of a right wing-nut, dyed-in-the-wool WHOLLY OWNED fascist administration was and remains a wistful dream of Valhalla. It "ain't" gonna happen.

People jumping on Obama are naive to have expected a revolution. CLUE: revolutions are paid for with BLOOD. We will NEVER have one in America. We are basically FUCKED!

Mr. Natural said...

The wealthy, investor class, big business, all accounting these days figures IF THEY DO NOT MAKE MORE MONEY THIS YEAR THAN LAST YEAR, IT IS CALLED LOSING MONEY. A simple profit is not enough any more.

Man, I KNEW better than to stop by here! NOW you got me reading and NOT getting off my butt and busy!

You are so right: Most lately with Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, the ruling class has brazenly TAKEN the resources and MONEY of the unwashed lower classes as perceived as their RIGHT TO DO. The truly ODD thing is how the easily duped citizens follow those thieves and liars.

OF COURSE, we have known for many years now that the lifestyle of America and other "wealthy" nations was unsustainable and have done nothing about it, making the resources of the planet even MORE valuable for the thieves...

I am sure stealing the value of even our homes fits into the plan somewhere.

Unknown said...

Mr. Natural said...

Most lately with Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, the ruling class has brazenly TAKEN the resources and MONEY of the unwashed lower classes as perceived as their RIGHT TO DO.

You are absolutely correct. I share your outrage. I have been screaming about this HEIST for years. I recall the TENT CITIES that sprang up all over Houston during the Reagan years.

To be fair, however, the trend in which wealth FLOWS UPWARD to the ever diminishing elite actually REVERSED briefly in Clinton's second term. It was begun for real with R. Reagan's INFAMOUS TAX CUT of 1982. I thought I was gonna get a tax cut! But I ACTUALLY PAID more as a total percentage of my income than I had EVER PAID before. Not only that, the REAGAN TAX began the bigger trend: rich GOT MUCH MUCH RICHER but fewer and fewer in number.

THE REST OF US GOT FUCKED OVER BIG TIME!

After Clinton, all bets were off. Bush JR has literally ROBBED THE NATION BLIND; the U.S. is bankrupt, the economy that was left OBAMA was already in the shits, train wreck waiting to happen!

But --it was hoped that Obama would take the rap for all this just like Clinton did.