By: Dr. J. P. Hubert
The JFK Assassination is the key to understanding what is currently transpiring in the United States. One of the reasons why President John F. Kennedy was murdered is that he wanted to end the Cold War through negotiation with the Soviet Union rather than “win it” [which was the position of the war hawks in his own administration as well as the private corporations which were then part of the military industrial complex (MIC)]. Then as now the defense contractors were making incredible sums of money on armament production and loathed the idea that it might come to an end.
Today the so-called Global War on Terror (GWT) has replaced the “Cold-War” as a justification for continued massive military/intelligence spending that still inures to the benefit of the MIC (now the MIMIC). The basic arrangement is the same. The Regime creates a plausible justification for placing the country on a constant war footing and then proceeds to invent reasons why the war(s) must continue.
The actual reason a state of constant war has become "necessary" is that given our loss of traditional manufacturing base the US economy is critically dependent on creating a demand for the production of armaments. Munitions manufacturing after all is the only industry in which the US still leads the world. Virtually everything else has already been off-shored and out-sourced to third world countries where slave labor wages are utilized by US multinational corporations for the creation of immoral and obscene profits, the ill-gotten gains obtained in large part from the killing of innocent non-combatants in foreign wars.
The US economy then, is being artificially propped-up through the continual starting and prosecuting of unnecessary and immoral wars of aggression. The current situation benefits the private armament manufacturers and insures that no nation or combination thereof is able or willing to challenge American hegemony, thus perpetuating the status quo. This scenario will continue until the USA is recognizably bankrupt as a result of its total inability to service the now astronomically massive national debt. The powerful elites will then simply move on to another geographical location (read host nation) where they can repeat their rapacious activities having long since moved their bounteous personal assets off-shore. This is the real meaning of the vaunted "New World Order."
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Chris Hedges: US Corporate Coup d'état Underway in Slow Motion
Exclusive: US Empire Could Collapse At Any Time, Pulitzer Winner Tells Raw Story
By Nathan Diebenow
December 17, 2010 "Raw Story" -- America's military and economic empire could collapse at any time, but predicting the precise day, week or month of its potential demise is unattainable, according to a former New York Times war correspondent who spoke with Raw Story.
"The when and how is very dangerous to predict because there's always some factor that blindsides you that you didn't expect," Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges said in an exclusive interview. "It doesn't look good. But exactly how it plays out and when it plays out, having covered disintegrating societies, it's impossible to tell."
He explained that he learned this lesson as events unfolded around him in the fall of 1989. Then, members of the opposition to the Soviet Empire told him that they predicted travel across the Berlin Wall separating East from West Germany would open within the year.
"Within a few hours, the wall didn't exist," he said.
Hedges was one of roughly 135 activists who participated in an act of civil disobedience that resulted in their arrests outside the White House yesterday, even as Obama was unveiling a new report on progress of the war in Afghanistan.
Speaking to Raw Story on Wednesday night, he said the signs of US collapse are plain to see and compared the country's course through Afghanistan to Soviet Russia's.
"We're losing [the war in Afghanistan] in the same way the Red Army lost it," he said. "It's exactly the same configuration where we sort of control the urban centers where 20 percent of the population lives. The rest of the country where 80 percent of the Afghans live is either in the hands of the Taliban or disputed."
One day after this interview was conducted, reports hit the global media noting the CIA's warning to President Obama, that the Pakistan-supported Taliban could still regain control of the country.
Hedges predicted that President Obama's war report released Thursday would "contradict not only [US] intelligence reports but everything else that is coming out of Afghanistan."
His prediction came startlingly true: the CIA's own assessment was said to stand in striking contrast with President Obama's report. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, insisted that the US controlled more territory in Afghanistan than it did a year ago.
"Foreigners will not walk the streets of Kabul because of kidnapping, and journalists regularly meet Taliban officials in Kabul because the whole apparatus is so porous and corrupt," he said.
'A corporate coup d'état in slow motion'
Hedges said he attended the protest and planned to get arrested because he is against the corporate powers that have enveloped the nation.
"We've undergone a corporate coup d'état in slow motion," he said. "Our public education system has been gutted. Our infrastructure is corroding and collapsing. Unless we begin to physically resist, they are going to solidify neo-feudalism in this country."
"If we think that Obama is bad, watch the next two years because these corporate forces have turned their back on him," Hedges warned.
Hedges, author of "Death of the Liberal Class," said that his vision of America is one with a functioning social democracy, which stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of the corporate state.
"American workers, as they are repeatedly told, will have to become competitive with prison labor in China," he said. "That's where we're headed, and all the pillars of the liberal establishment are complicit in this."
"At least if you get sick in the UK, you don't go bankrupt or die," he added.
Hedges said that another pressure point is the US dollar, which he pointed out had been dropped by Russia and China in favor of modified ruble/renminbi exchanges.
"A few more deals like that, and our currency becomes junk," he said.
Hedges continued, "As long as we have relative stability, these lunatic fringe movements can be held at bay, but if we don't undertake serious structural reform, which we're not doing, then it is inevitable that we will come to a tremendous crisis - economic and political as well as environmental."
By Nathan Diebenow
December 17, 2010 "Raw Story" -- America's military and economic empire could collapse at any time, but predicting the precise day, week or month of its potential demise is unattainable, according to a former New York Times war correspondent who spoke with Raw Story.
"The when and how is very dangerous to predict because there's always some factor that blindsides you that you didn't expect," Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges said in an exclusive interview. "It doesn't look good. But exactly how it plays out and when it plays out, having covered disintegrating societies, it's impossible to tell."
He explained that he learned this lesson as events unfolded around him in the fall of 1989. Then, members of the opposition to the Soviet Empire told him that they predicted travel across the Berlin Wall separating East from West Germany would open within the year.
"Within a few hours, the wall didn't exist," he said.
Hedges was one of roughly 135 activists who participated in an act of civil disobedience that resulted in their arrests outside the White House yesterday, even as Obama was unveiling a new report on progress of the war in Afghanistan.
Speaking to Raw Story on Wednesday night, he said the signs of US collapse are plain to see and compared the country's course through Afghanistan to Soviet Russia's.
"We're losing [the war in Afghanistan] in the same way the Red Army lost it," he said. "It's exactly the same configuration where we sort of control the urban centers where 20 percent of the population lives. The rest of the country where 80 percent of the Afghans live is either in the hands of the Taliban or disputed."
One day after this interview was conducted, reports hit the global media noting the CIA's warning to President Obama, that the Pakistan-supported Taliban could still regain control of the country.
Hedges predicted that President Obama's war report released Thursday would "contradict not only [US] intelligence reports but everything else that is coming out of Afghanistan."
His prediction came startlingly true: the CIA's own assessment was said to stand in striking contrast with President Obama's report. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, insisted that the US controlled more territory in Afghanistan than it did a year ago.
"Foreigners will not walk the streets of Kabul because of kidnapping, and journalists regularly meet Taliban officials in Kabul because the whole apparatus is so porous and corrupt," he said.
'A corporate coup d'état in slow motion'
Hedges said he attended the protest and planned to get arrested because he is against the corporate powers that have enveloped the nation.
"We've undergone a corporate coup d'état in slow motion," he said. "Our public education system has been gutted. Our infrastructure is corroding and collapsing. Unless we begin to physically resist, they are going to solidify neo-feudalism in this country."
"If we think that Obama is bad, watch the next two years because these corporate forces have turned their back on him," Hedges warned.
Hedges, author of "Death of the Liberal Class," said that his vision of America is one with a functioning social democracy, which stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of the corporate state.
"American workers, as they are repeatedly told, will have to become competitive with prison labor in China," he said. "That's where we're headed, and all the pillars of the liberal establishment are complicit in this."
"At least if you get sick in the UK, you don't go bankrupt or die," he added.
Hedges said that another pressure point is the US dollar, which he pointed out had been dropped by Russia and China in favor of modified ruble/renminbi exchanges.
"A few more deals like that, and our currency becomes junk," he said.
Hedges continued, "As long as we have relative stability, these lunatic fringe movements can be held at bay, but if we don't undertake serious structural reform, which we're not doing, then it is inevitable that we will come to a tremendous crisis - economic and political as well as environmental."
Doomsday for the US Dollar: Post Mortem for the World's "Reserve Currency"
by Mike Whitney
Global Research
December 14, 2010
"...Public confidence in US markets has steadily eroded as one scandal follows the other and the people involved are never held accountable. So far, not one CEO or CFO of a major investment bank or financial institution has been charged, arrested, prosecuted, or convicted in what amounts to the largest incident of securities fraud in history. In the much-smaller Savings and Loan investigation, more than 1,000 people were charged and convicted. As Volcker points out, the system is broken and the old rules no longer apply. The small gains that were recently made in Dodd-Frank financial regulation, are now under attack by the new majority in congress. The GOP has pledged to either roll back entire provisions of the bill or do what they can to make the law unenforceable." MORE...
Global Research
December 14, 2010
"...Public confidence in US markets has steadily eroded as one scandal follows the other and the people involved are never held accountable. So far, not one CEO or CFO of a major investment bank or financial institution has been charged, arrested, prosecuted, or convicted in what amounts to the largest incident of securities fraud in history. In the much-smaller Savings and Loan investigation, more than 1,000 people were charged and convicted. As Volcker points out, the system is broken and the old rules no longer apply. The small gains that were recently made in Dodd-Frank financial regulation, are now under attack by the new majority in congress. The GOP has pledged to either roll back entire provisions of the bill or do what they can to make the law unenforceable." MORE...
Friday, December 17, 2010
Israel Never Really Wanted Peace
By Elie Podeh
December 16, 2010 "Haaretz" -- Peace may be a dream - but it is not our dream. The time has come to recognize the fact that Israel uses the rhetoric of peace, but does very little on the practical level toward achieving it. Anyone still clinging to the axiom that "we'll leave no stone unturned" needs to take a good look in the mirror. Is Israel truly laboring with determination and persistence to reach peace?
The announcement by both the United States and Israel that the efforts to renew direct negotiations failed, less than six months after being launched in Washington, is direct proof that Israel is not doing so. This country deserves most of the blame: History will not forgive those who considered the issue of extending the construction moratorium in the settlements, even for three months, more important than continuing the talks and reaching a diplomatic solution.
One could, of course, blame U.S. President Barack Obama on the grounds that he did not lean hard enough on the two sides, particularly Israel, and that he did not sufficiently exercise the economic and political leverage at his disposal to "persuade" them of the benefits of continuing the talks. But history teaches that no peace, or even a framework for negotiations, has ever succeeded unless the warring parties were actually ready for genuine dialogue.
The peace with Egypt and with Jordan, the Oslo Accords and the talks over the years with Syria and other parties took place and moved forward based on the interests of the adversaries themselves, with the superpowers generally playing the role of conciliator and mediator. Incentives offered by the mediator were effective only when the parties themselves were willing to reach an agreement.
Thus it is the rival sides who bear the blame, but not equally. There is no doubt that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet are largely responsible for the latest failure. The prime minister is a hard nut to crack: In his kickoff speech to the talks, delivered in Washington in September, Netanyahu twice repeated the following phrase: "History has given us a rare opportunity to end the conflict between our peoples." He also used the word "peace" 14 times during that address. While it is clear that politicians use rhetoric to promote their agendas, these measures and this language create a dynamic of expectations that, when not met, lead to frustration and eventually to a breakdown.
To a great extent, Netanyahu and his cabinet are representative of Israeli society today. Public opinion polls point to increasing extremism, bordering on racism, in Jews' opinion of Arabs, as well as to alienation and a distrust of the other side's goals and intentions. Given these circumstances, it's no wonder there is no public pressure on the government to advance the peace process and that there was no significant public response to the dramatic announcement that the talks had been suspended.
When it comes to peace, Israel's position today is similar to its position after the wars of 1948 and of 1967: The potential for negotiations was there, but the cost was considered too high. Now, too, maintaining the status quo appears to be preferable to making changes that Israelis perceive as threatening, even if they do not necessarily pose a genuine danger.
In the past decade, Israel has faced a number of Arab initiatives: the Arab League peace plan, Syrian offers to negotiate, Palestinian willingness to move forward and even moderate declarations from Hamas. Successive Israeli governments responded to all of them with restraint and icy indifference (with the exception of the waning days of Ehud Olmert's term as prime minister ).
Israel's listless response to these proposals cannot be understood as coincidental or circumstantial; it is a pattern of behavior. And Israel has never proffered its own initiative that would indicate a desire for peace. This leads us to the unhappy conclusion that Israel - both its government and its people - are not really interested in peace; at most, they make the sounds of peace, but that is not enough (editor's bold emphasis throughout).
The writer is a professor in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
December 16, 2010 "Haaretz" -- Peace may be a dream - but it is not our dream. The time has come to recognize the fact that Israel uses the rhetoric of peace, but does very little on the practical level toward achieving it. Anyone still clinging to the axiom that "we'll leave no stone unturned" needs to take a good look in the mirror. Is Israel truly laboring with determination and persistence to reach peace?
The announcement by both the United States and Israel that the efforts to renew direct negotiations failed, less than six months after being launched in Washington, is direct proof that Israel is not doing so. This country deserves most of the blame: History will not forgive those who considered the issue of extending the construction moratorium in the settlements, even for three months, more important than continuing the talks and reaching a diplomatic solution.
One could, of course, blame U.S. President Barack Obama on the grounds that he did not lean hard enough on the two sides, particularly Israel, and that he did not sufficiently exercise the economic and political leverage at his disposal to "persuade" them of the benefits of continuing the talks. But history teaches that no peace, or even a framework for negotiations, has ever succeeded unless the warring parties were actually ready for genuine dialogue.
The peace with Egypt and with Jordan, the Oslo Accords and the talks over the years with Syria and other parties took place and moved forward based on the interests of the adversaries themselves, with the superpowers generally playing the role of conciliator and mediator. Incentives offered by the mediator were effective only when the parties themselves were willing to reach an agreement.
Thus it is the rival sides who bear the blame, but not equally. There is no doubt that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet are largely responsible for the latest failure. The prime minister is a hard nut to crack: In his kickoff speech to the talks, delivered in Washington in September, Netanyahu twice repeated the following phrase: "History has given us a rare opportunity to end the conflict between our peoples." He also used the word "peace" 14 times during that address. While it is clear that politicians use rhetoric to promote their agendas, these measures and this language create a dynamic of expectations that, when not met, lead to frustration and eventually to a breakdown.
To a great extent, Netanyahu and his cabinet are representative of Israeli society today. Public opinion polls point to increasing extremism, bordering on racism, in Jews' opinion of Arabs, as well as to alienation and a distrust of the other side's goals and intentions. Given these circumstances, it's no wonder there is no public pressure on the government to advance the peace process and that there was no significant public response to the dramatic announcement that the talks had been suspended.
When it comes to peace, Israel's position today is similar to its position after the wars of 1948 and of 1967: The potential for negotiations was there, but the cost was considered too high. Now, too, maintaining the status quo appears to be preferable to making changes that Israelis perceive as threatening, even if they do not necessarily pose a genuine danger.
In the past decade, Israel has faced a number of Arab initiatives: the Arab League peace plan, Syrian offers to negotiate, Palestinian willingness to move forward and even moderate declarations from Hamas. Successive Israeli governments responded to all of them with restraint and icy indifference (with the exception of the waning days of Ehud Olmert's term as prime minister ).
Israel's listless response to these proposals cannot be understood as coincidental or circumstantial; it is a pattern of behavior. And Israel has never proffered its own initiative that would indicate a desire for peace. This leads us to the unhappy conclusion that Israel - both its government and its people - are not really interested in peace; at most, they make the sounds of peace, but that is not enough (editor's bold emphasis throughout).
The writer is a professor in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Michael Hudson: Why Government is More Afraid of Debt than Depression
Editor's NOTE:
This short clip by Michael Hudson is one of the most accurate and truthful yet easily understandable explanations I have ever heard of the financial crisis facing America.
Hudson has concluded as I have written on this site in the past that the oligarchs are attempting to ring every last dime out of the sytem in the form of huge bonuses now before the entire system imploads due to failure to service the massive debt which has been created. They are moving more and more of their money off-shore and will be in position to simply flea the country before the "ship of state" finally sinks beneath the waves of time.
Those Americans who have the ability to do so must at least consider emigrating before it is too late. No one in the ruling Regime will tell us that however. They prefer we remain onboard the listing vessel until it is no longer possible to escape. Think of it this way. They have the last remaining available life-boats already commandeered. We will have to find other ways to exit the scene if we wish to survive.
In the alternative, those who must remain will need to begin insuring that their food and other necesssities of life are available through the creation of local networks and cooperatives by which they can subsist as long as necessary. This should include material articles of value which could be bartered such as precious metals, preserved foodstuffs etc.
--Dr. J. P. Hubert
Michael Hudson: Deficit Hawks Want a One Two Punch Against the Economy.
By Real News
December 16, 2010
Professor Hudson Says:
"The rats (Financial Services Industry) are jumping ship."
"American workers are now one paycheck away from homelessnes."
"All the growth has gone exclusively to the banking industry."
"Instead of industrial captalism, we have fianance capitalism which is nothing but neo-feudalism."
"The financial sector is a dumb parasite; the host is the US economy. The financial sector wants to bring on a depression by driving down wages."
"The financial sector also wants to cut taxes and social spending and to get rid of the progressive policies of Roosevelt."
"Most of the QE 2 (second round of quantitative easing) money has gone abroad primarily to the BRIC countries. Major US banks are investing their capital almost completely overseas."
"The game is over; the ability to pay debts is virtually nil."
"The Fed has said we need to restore the bubble economy. Greenspan said that debt has cured the labor problem in that it has created steadily decreasing wages."
"Real wages have actually gone down for the past 25 years. All the increase in productivity has gone to managment."
"The current situation is not sustainable, the banking parasites (if left unchecked) will devour their American host and then move on to new hosts" elswhere e.g. Asia, allowing the US economy to completely implode."
This short clip by Michael Hudson is one of the most accurate and truthful yet easily understandable explanations I have ever heard of the financial crisis facing America.
Hudson has concluded as I have written on this site in the past that the oligarchs are attempting to ring every last dime out of the sytem in the form of huge bonuses now before the entire system imploads due to failure to service the massive debt which has been created. They are moving more and more of their money off-shore and will be in position to simply flea the country before the "ship of state" finally sinks beneath the waves of time.
Those Americans who have the ability to do so must at least consider emigrating before it is too late. No one in the ruling Regime will tell us that however. They prefer we remain onboard the listing vessel until it is no longer possible to escape. Think of it this way. They have the last remaining available life-boats already commandeered. We will have to find other ways to exit the scene if we wish to survive.
In the alternative, those who must remain will need to begin insuring that their food and other necesssities of life are available through the creation of local networks and cooperatives by which they can subsist as long as necessary. This should include material articles of value which could be bartered such as precious metals, preserved foodstuffs etc.
--Dr. J. P. Hubert
Michael Hudson: Deficit Hawks Want a One Two Punch Against the Economy.
By Real News
December 16, 2010
Professor Hudson Says:
"The rats (Financial Services Industry) are jumping ship."
"American workers are now one paycheck away from homelessnes."
"All the growth has gone exclusively to the banking industry."
"Instead of industrial captalism, we have fianance capitalism which is nothing but neo-feudalism."
"The financial sector is a dumb parasite; the host is the US economy. The financial sector wants to bring on a depression by driving down wages."
"The financial sector also wants to cut taxes and social spending and to get rid of the progressive policies of Roosevelt."
"Most of the QE 2 (second round of quantitative easing) money has gone abroad primarily to the BRIC countries. Major US banks are investing their capital almost completely overseas."
"The game is over; the ability to pay debts is virtually nil."
"The Fed has said we need to restore the bubble economy. Greenspan said that debt has cured the labor problem in that it has created steadily decreasing wages."
"Real wages have actually gone down for the past 25 years. All the increase in productivity has gone to managment."
"The current situation is not sustainable, the banking parasites (if left unchecked) will devour their American host and then move on to new hosts" elswhere e.g. Asia, allowing the US economy to completely implode."
Wikileaks did not commit a crime, House Judiciary chairman says
By Sahil Kapur
December 16, 2010 "Raw Story" - -The chairman of the House judiciary committee defended Wikileaks on Thursday, arguing that the controversial actions of the anti-secrecy outlet are protected under free speech.
Speaking at a hearing to explore whether Wikileaks violated the Espionage Act -- which the Obama administration claims its editor-in-chief violated -- Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) said that "America was founded on the belief that speech is sacrosanct" and dismissed calls for censorship of media outlets publishing leaked documents.
"As an initial matter, there is no doubt that WikiLeaks is very unpopular right now. Many feel that the WikiLeaks publication was offensive," Conyers said, according to prepared remarks. "But being unpopular is not a crime, and publishing offensive information is not either. And the repeated calls from politicians, journalists, and other so-called experts crying out for criminal prosecutions or other extreme measures make me very uncomfortable."The Obama administration and members of Congress from both parties have called for the prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange after the unauthorized leak of State Department cables, portraying him as a threat to national security.
But legal experts have pointed out the extraordinary difficulties in legally targeting the anti-secrecy outlet, and warned that doing so would set a dangerous precedent in which newspapers could be prosecuted for revealing unflattering information about the government.
"And so whatever you think about this controversy, it is clear that prosecuting Wikileaks would raise the most fundamental questions about freedom of speech, about who is a journalist, and about what the public can know about the actions of its own government," Conyers said.
The crime Wikileaks would be charged with involves obtaining classified government information and disseminating it to the public, which journalists have done in the past without being prosecuted (editor's bold emphasis throughout).
In a parallel example, the leak of the Pentagon Papers -- passed to the New York Times by government whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg -- was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court in the 1971 case New York Times Co. v. United States.
Calls for prosecuting Wikileaks have picked up steam in Washington, and a majority of the US public deems the leak of diplomatic cables harmful to public interest and supports legal action against Assange, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll released Tuesday.
"But let us not be hasty, and let us not legislate in a climate of fear or prejudice," Conyers closed, referring to the calls for new laws criminalizing the actions of Wikileaks. "For, in such an atmosphere, it is our constitutional freedoms and our cherished civil rights that are the first to be sacrificed in the false service of our national security."
December 16, 2010 "Raw Story" - -The chairman of the House judiciary committee defended Wikileaks on Thursday, arguing that the controversial actions of the anti-secrecy outlet are protected under free speech.
Speaking at a hearing to explore whether Wikileaks violated the Espionage Act -- which the Obama administration claims its editor-in-chief violated -- Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) said that "America was founded on the belief that speech is sacrosanct" and dismissed calls for censorship of media outlets publishing leaked documents.
"As an initial matter, there is no doubt that WikiLeaks is very unpopular right now. Many feel that the WikiLeaks publication was offensive," Conyers said, according to prepared remarks. "But being unpopular is not a crime, and publishing offensive information is not either. And the repeated calls from politicians, journalists, and other so-called experts crying out for criminal prosecutions or other extreme measures make me very uncomfortable."The Obama administration and members of Congress from both parties have called for the prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange after the unauthorized leak of State Department cables, portraying him as a threat to national security.
But legal experts have pointed out the extraordinary difficulties in legally targeting the anti-secrecy outlet, and warned that doing so would set a dangerous precedent in which newspapers could be prosecuted for revealing unflattering information about the government.
"And so whatever you think about this controversy, it is clear that prosecuting Wikileaks would raise the most fundamental questions about freedom of speech, about who is a journalist, and about what the public can know about the actions of its own government," Conyers said.
The crime Wikileaks would be charged with involves obtaining classified government information and disseminating it to the public, which journalists have done in the past without being prosecuted (editor's bold emphasis throughout).
In a parallel example, the leak of the Pentagon Papers -- passed to the New York Times by government whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg -- was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court in the 1971 case New York Times Co. v. United States.
Calls for prosecuting Wikileaks have picked up steam in Washington, and a majority of the US public deems the leak of diplomatic cables harmful to public interest and supports legal action against Assange, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll released Tuesday.
"But let us not be hasty, and let us not legislate in a climate of fear or prejudice," Conyers closed, referring to the calls for new laws criminalizing the actions of Wikileaks. "For, in such an atmosphere, it is our constitutional freedoms and our cherished civil rights that are the first to be sacrificed in the false service of our national security."
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Get America Working: We Need a Movement to Solve a Crisis
By: Dylan Ratigan
The Huffington Post
December 15, 2010 10:36 AM
It's time, America. Americans need work. Americans need jobs. And right now, our government's main job must be to help create these jobs. The unemployment rate has lingered 9 percent for 19 straight months; the longest postwar stretch on record. And with our list of challenges ranging from overpriced health care to evaporating manufacturing, where can we start? Here are four steps our country must take now to get Americans back to work. Each tackles a bottleneck to jobs that must be fixed now:
Fair Trade, Not "Free" Trade
First, we must balance our trade deficit by making trade fair. Some of our trading partners, China for example, have become our trading enemies by devaluing their currency, basically giving us their unemployment problem in return for buying our debt. Putting pressure on China to end their currency manipulation and illegal trade practices will immediately lead to more U.S.-based manufacturing -- jobs we desperately need back. I did an interview with Dr. Peter Morici to discuss how our trade and banking policies are costing us jobs.
Make Banking the Practice of Lending to Businesses, Not Gambling or Buying Treasuries
Banks no longer make money from lending to American businesses. With massive bank consolidation due to deregulation, as well as massive bailouts, we now have four mega-banks that couldn't be less interested in lending to businesses. Borrowing has declined 7 straight quarters while bank profits (and bonuses) are at all time highs. We have to break the bankers to bring back jobs. Listen to my Radio Free Dylan with Barry Ritholz and Josh Rosner for more on this problem.
Control Health Care and College Tuition Costs
The US spends 16 percent of GDP (twice as much as countries like the UK) but have worse health care. Much of the brunt of paying for this inefficient health care comes from US-based companies that are (unlike their foreign counterparts) mandated to pay employee health care. The price of college tuition and fees are skyrocketing as well, rising over 439 percent (adjusted for inflation) over the past 25 years.
Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade as prices jumped 8 percent last year alone, meaning college may soon be out of reach for many Americans. Meanwhile, there aren't enough jobs for these students to pay off the debt, with high unemployment and over 17 million college graduates currently doing menial jobs. Listen to my interview with CEPR Director Dean Baker for more on this problem.
Reform the Tax Code
Right now, Warren Buffett's secretary pays a higher percentage of income to taxes than Warren Buffett. That's a very big problem for anyone who isn't the child of a billionaire. We need to reorganize the tax code to promote US investment instead of rewarding overseas investment and aristocracy. Listen to my interview with tax expert and bestselling author David Cay Johnston for more on this problem.
When you have problems as we do, surely there is opportunity for work solving them. But first we must correctly identify the root causes and activate the necessary debate around the actual problems that are costing America its jobs.
For the next three days, I'm going to be traveling the country for the Steel on Wheels tour. We're having a conversation about how to make things in this country again. Join us. We'll be holding Town Halls on each leg of the tour, starting tonight at the University of Rochester. And let me know what you think we need to do to put America back to work on our new collaborative website at SteelOnWheels.com!
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