Wednesday, February 27, 2013

"I'll do anything to put my LA RAZA into Gringo Jobs!" Sequestration cuts: Obama cites Navy threat, immigrants freed as cuts loom

Sequestration cuts: Obama cites Navy threat, immigrants freed as cuts loom


BARACK OBAMA HAS SQUANDERED BILLIONS PROTECTING THE BORDERS OF MUSLIM DICTATORS WHILE OUR BORDERS WITH NARCOMEX ARE LEFT OPEN and UNDEFENDED… OBAMA IS BUILDING HIS LA RAZA PARTY BASE of ILLEGALS.


DHS approves 29 illegal immigrants for deportation reprieve

Published September 14, 2012

Associated Press

With less than two months to go before the Nov. 6 election, the Obama administration has approved applications from 29 illegal immigrants hoping to avoid deportation and get a work permit, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.

Spokesman Peter Boogaard said that as of Friday, U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services had received about 82,000 applications from illegal immigrants hoping to qualify for the administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The first immigrants to win the reprieve were notified this week. They will be allowed to stay in the United States for up to two years and be given permission to work; applications can be renewed every two years.

USCIS started accepting applications for the program on Aug. 15. The first approvals came well ahead of the department's own internal estimates that it could take four to six months for an application, including fingerprints and a background check, to be fully reviewed.


 

Republican lawmakers have decried Obama's policy, saying it is tantamount to "backdoor amnesty" for as many as 1.7 million illegal immigrants.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., earlier this week questioned the timing of the first wave of approvals.

"The speed at which the deferrals are being granted continues to raise severe concerns about fraud and the administration's ability to verify items like age of entry, educational status and even current age," Sessions said.

President Obama and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the program in June. To be eligible, applicants have to prove that they arrived in the United State before they turned 16, are 30 years old or younger, be high school graduates or in school, or have served in the military. They also cannot have a serious criminal record or otherwise pose a threat to public safety or national security.

The program closely tracks with the failed DREAM Act, a bill would have provided a path to legal status for many young illegal immigrants. The new policy does not provide legal status for the immigrants, but does protect them from deportation for two years.



“…and was denounced by several Republicans as evidence that the Obama administration was weakening enforcement and making it easier for illegal immigrants to remain in the country.”

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HISPANDERING: 

“The memo encourages ICE officers and lawyers to use their authority to dismiss those cases, canceling the deportation proceedings, if they determine that the immigrants have no criminal records and stand a strong chance of having their residence applications approved.”
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Rep. Barletta Seeks Answers from Attorney General over Backdoor Amnesty


Freshman Congressman Lou Barletta (R-PA) sent U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder a letter last Friday demanding answers regarding the Administration's use of prosecutorial discretion to grant backdoor amnesty to certain illegal aliens up to the age of thirty.  This policy was announced in Secretary Napolitano's June 15 memorandum ordering Department of Homeland Security personnel to grant deferred action to illegal aliens meeting criteria similar to that of the failed DREAM Act.

In his letter to the Attorney General, Rep. Barletta charged the Administration with usurping Congressional authority. Noting that Congress had repeatedly rejected the DREAM Act, Rep. Barletta wrote, "[W]hen similar measures that would implement these same policies were presented to Congress, Congress rejected them. The implementation of the new immigration policy that is contrary to the expressed will of the Congress violates the Constitution."

Rep. Barletta also asked Attorney General Holder whether he believed Secretary Napolitano's memorandum was constitutional. "As the most senior lawyer in our country, I would like to know your opinion about the constitutionality of Secretary Napolitano's actions." Barletta inquired. Holder's Justice Department has yet to comment on the Administration's use of prosecutorial discretion to grant deferred action to broad categories of illegal aliens. Stay tuned to FAIR for more details...



 

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CECILIA MUNOZ IS ONE OF OBAMA’S MANY LA RAZA SUPREMACIST OPERATING OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE. NO ADMINISTRATION IN HISTORY HAS BEEN SO INFESTED WITH A FOREIGN BASED POLITICAL PARTY AS OBAMA’S.

THE FASTEST GROWING POLITICAL PARTY IN AMERICAN IS THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA – THE PARTY of ILLEGALS AND MEXICAN SUPREMACY. THEIR GOAL IS OBAMA AMNESTY OR CONTINUED NON-ENFORCEMENT, NO E-VERIFY, OPEN BORDERS AND DE FACTO CITIZENSHIPS WITH DRIVERS’ LICENSES!

VIVA LA RAZA! YOU ARE! OBAMA HAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THE FUNDING TO EXPAND MEXICAN SUPREMACY IN OUR BORDERS!

On Thursday, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Cecilia Muñoz blogged that the Department of Homeland Security will review its entire deportation caseload - that's 300,000 cases - to "clear out low priority" cases and "make more room to deport people who have been convicted of crimes or pose a security risk."

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FAIRUS.org  - get on their e-news!

President Obama’s Record of Dismantling Immigration Enforcement

President Obama’s Record of Dismantling Immigration Enforcement


 Foreword

Click here to read the full report in PDF.

President Barack Obama came to office in 2009 and pledged that during his first year of office he would enact amnesty legislation for illegal aliens living in the United States. That, of course, did not happen — not because of any lack of ideological commitment on the part of the President, but because of pragmatic considerations. Only two years earlier, President Obama, then Senator Obama, watched as President George W. Bush tried to toss the American people into the boiling cauldron of comprehensive amnesty in 2007. It didn't work. Voters angrily crashed the Capitol switchboard on the day the Senate was set to vote and as a result, fourteen Democrats joined thirty-nine Republicans to vote down the amnesty legislation.1  The President concluded, correctly, that there just is not an appetite in Congress for another politically bruising fight over comprehensive amnesty.

Understanding that Members of Congress ultimately would not ignore the unequivocal objections of their constituents to amnesty, the Obama Administration opted to adopt a strategy of dismantling immigration enforcement in order to achieve the same ends.  The Administration hoped that while the American people were focused on unemployment, crashing real estate values, banking scandals, health care reform, foreign policy crises, and countless other issues, they would not notice just what was actually taking place.

This report details how the Obama Administration has carried out a policy of de facto amnesty for millions of illegal aliens through executive policy decisions. Since 2009, the Obama Administration has systematically gutted effective immigration enforcement policies, moved aggressively against state and local governments that attempt to enforce immigration laws, and stretched the concept of "prosecutorial discretion" to a point where it has rendered many immigration laws meaningless. Remarkably, the Administration has succeeded in doing all this with barely a peep of protest from Congress.

Thus, despite the fact that the U.S. Constitution grants Congress plenary authority over immigration policy, the Executive Branch is now making immigration policy unconstrained by constitutional checks and balances. This report chronologically highlights the process that has unfolded over the past three and half years. A review of the Obama Administration's record shows:

·         The Administration's conscious effort to end policies that effectively enforce and deter illegal immigration. This includes the cessation of meaningful worksite enforcement against employers who hire illegal aliens and the removal of the illegal workers. It also includes ending effective partnership programs with state and local governments, such as the 287(g) program, that provide a structure through which state and local agencies may enforce immigration laws.

·         The Administration's intimidation of state and local governments determined to enforce federal immigration laws. President Obama has turned the Department of Justice into the Administration's attack dog, filing lawsuits against states that pass their own immigration enforcement laws. When lawsuits fail, the Department's Civil Rights division launches meritless investigations designed to harass local governments and officials who attempt to enforce the law.

·         The Administration's dependence on illegal alien advocates to make U.S. immigration policy for the Executive Branch. President Obama has placed strident amnesty advocates in key positions throughout his Administration. These appointees have worked openly with advocacy groups to shape a series of policies that amount to backdoor amnesty.

·         Outright deception on the part of the Administration designed to convince the American public that immigration laws are being vigorously enforced. The Obama Administration repeatedly engages in efforts to inflate its record of deporting illegal aliens. These deceptive practices include the release of data that is later exposed to be inaccurate. The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security carefully select data to claim that our "borders are more secure than ever," even as violence along the southern border escalates to alarming proportions.

The Obama Administration's strategy is to count on the fact that the public and the media will not take notice of each individual and incremental step they are taking to undermine immigration enforcement and grant de facto amnesty to as many illegal aliens as possible. This report exposes the strategy and the policy objectives behind it.

 

July 2012

 

Obama's lowest priority: some deportation cases



Tuesday, August 23, 2011


President Obama is in a pickle. Immigration enforcement actually is working - or, at least, it was working.

Under the Obama administration, the government has removed almost 400,000 illegal immigrants annually. That's 4 percent of the 10 million illegal immigrants estimated to be living in America - and it sends a warning to those thinking of illegally entering the United States.

Thanks to the Secure Communities program, which requires local law enforcement to share arrestees' fingerprints with Washington, about half of those deported have criminal records. According to the administration, the vast majority of the rest either re-crossed the border after deportation or were recently caught.

So what did the White House announce last week? On Thursday, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Cecilia Muñoz blogged that the Department of Homeland Security will review its entire deportation caseload - that's 300,000 cases - to "clear out low priority" cases and "make more room to deport people who have been convicted of crimes or pose a security risk."

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told the New York Times that the policy would protect youths with clean criminal records whose parents brought them into the country when they were minors. That is, he likened the Obama policy to his proposed legislation, the Dream (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act.

Actually, the Obama policy goes much further than shielding minors. Under the guise of "prosecutorial discretion," a Department of Homeland Security memo advises officials to consider a number of "positive factors" before prosecuting offenders. "Positive factors" include military service, "long-time lawful permanent" residency, "minors and elderly individuals," nursing, pregnant and disabled.

On the one hand, the policy seems smart - let the government concentrate on deporting threats to public safety.

On the other hand, the White House essentially has announced that individuals who break federal immigration law are a "low priority" and unlikely to face legal consequences. So much for deterrence.

Worse, the new policy will allow individuals who have been caught up in a Secure Communities' review to apply for work permits. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the pro-enforcement Center for Immigration Studies, said that the new policy makes getting arrested equivalent to winning the lottery: "Their fellow illegal aliens who were not arrested don't get work authorization."

Krikorian calls the new policy "administrative amnesty." Obama failed to persuade Congress to change the law. Now with the 2012 presidential election looming, he changed policies implemented in the Clinton and George W. Bush years by fiat.

Bush's Secure Communities program enabled Obama to boast that his administration delivered the greatest number of illegal immigrant removals ever - 395,165 - in Fiscal Year 2009. In 2010, the number fell. Last month, he told the National Council of La Raza, "Here's the only thing you should know. The Democrats and your president are with you."

Re-election, after all, is his highest priority.



 

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FROM JUDICIAL WATCH

GET ON THEIR E-NEWS!

Obama Starts Suspending Deportations

Last Updated: Tue, 08/23/2011 - 4:14pm

Keeping its promise to suspend deportations for a broad class of illegal immigrants, the Obama Administration has officially started the process that’s expected to spare tens of thousands from removal in the coming months.

Among the first illegal aliens to benefit from the president’s backdoor amnesty plan is a Mexican man living in Florida. He got busted a few years ago after applying for a work permit and was earmarked for deportation. Earlier this month local media portrayed the man, Manuel Guerra, as a desperate undocumented worker trying to build a new life after fleeing violent street gangs in his native Mexico.   

This week the 27-year-old, who has lived in the U.S. illegally for more than a decade, became the poster child for Obama’s newly implemented amnesty program. Federal immigration authorities officially suspended his deportation, according a mainstream newspaper report that says Guerra had been caught in a “tortuous and seemingly failing five-year court fight against deportation.”

Guerra was spared after a working group from the departments of Homeland Security and Justice met to start reviewing 300,000 deportation cases pending before immigration courts nationwide. Under Obama’s new plan, authorities will have wide discretion to halt deportations and will be encouraged to do so in cases where illegal immigrants attend school, have family in the military or are primary bread winners.  

The stealth amnesty plan was first introduced last year in case Congress doesn’t pass legislation to legalize the nation’s 12 million undocumented immigrants. Earlier this year political appointees at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), actually issued a directive to enact “meaningful immigration reform absent legislative action.” The plan includes delaying deportation indefinitely (“deferred action”), granting green cards, allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. indefinitely while they seek legal status (known as “parole in place”) and expanding the definition of “extreme hardships” so any illegal alien could meet the criteria and remain in the country.

This goes hand in hand with the president’s new blueprint for immigration reform, which was recently issued by the White House. Titled “Building A 21st Century Immigration System,” the plan strives to strengthen the U.S. economy and “competitiveness” by creating a legal immigration system that reflects the nation’s “values and diverse needs.” After all, it claims that the “overwhelming majority” of people living in the U.S. with “no legal status” are “simply seeking a better life for themselves and their children.”

The president’s new plan, which has already allocated $8 million to community groups that operate immigrant “integrational programs,” also expands “anti discrimination provisions of immigration law” and provides more “comprehensive anti-retaliation protections.”

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 FROM JUDICIAL WATCH
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/jun/nclr-funding-skyrockets-after-obama-hires-its-vp

NATIONAL COUNSEL OF LA RAZA – THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY IN U.S.

NCLR Funding Skyrockets After Obama Hires Its VP
06/17/2011
A Judicial Watch investigation reveals that federal funding for a Mexican La Raza group that for years has raked in millions of taxpayer dollars has skyrocketed since one of its top officials got a job in the Obama White House.

OBAMA'S BANKSTER INFESTED ADMINISTRATION: Senate panel votes to approve Jack Lew's nomination to Treasury - The Hill's On The Money

Senate panel votes to approve Jack Lew's nomination to Treasury - The Hill's On The Money


OBAMA’S BANKSTER LOOTERS:

According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York City, nearly $6 trillion in property value has simply been erased due to the mortgage crisis.  

46% Think Obama's Policies Are Too Hostile Toward Small Business - 99% Know Obama's Bank Donors are Still Looting the Nation - Rasmussen Reports

46% Think Obama's Policies Are Too Hostile Toward Small Business - Rasmussen Reports™


OBAMA’S BANKSTER LOOTERS:

According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York City, nearly $6 trillion in property value has simply been erased due to the mortgage crisis.  

 
A FEW BASIC FACTS ABOUT OBAMA:
“Behind the thin rhetoric about reigniting a “thriving middle class,” Obama made clear that the administration’s policies in its second term will be subordinated entirely to the interests of big business, beginning with plans to slash hundreds of billions more from health care programs.”

Only 41% View Economy As Fair to Those Willing to Work Hard - Fully 98% View Obama's Banksters as Criminal Looters - Rasmussen Reports™

Only 41% View Economy As Fair to Those Willing to Work Hard - Rasmussen Reports™


OBAMA’S BANKSTER LOOTERS:

According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York City, nearly $6 trillion in property value has simply been erased due to the mortgage crisis.  

OBAMA and HIS BANKS: Their Profits, Looting and Crimes Soar


ARE OBAMA’S CRIMINAL BANKSTER DONORS DOIN’ WELL??? YOU BET! THAT’S BECAUSE THEY INVESTED SO MUCH IN BARACK OBAMA.

NO ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN SO INFESTED WITH BANKSTER-CONNECTED CRIMINALS THAN OBAMA’S! IN FACT YOU MUST BE A BANKSTER OR LA RAZA SUPREMACIST TO BE PART OF OBAMA’S CULTURE OF CORRUPTION.

 

OBAMA’S BANKSTER LOOTERS:

According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York City, nearly $6 trillion in property value has simply been erased due to the mortgage crisis.  

 

Obamanomics: How Barack Obama Is Bankrupting You and Enriching His Wall Street Friends, Corporate Lobbyists, and Union Bosses


 

BY TIMOTHY P CARNEY 

Editorial Reviews

Obama Is Making You Poorer—But Who’s Getting Rich?

Goldman Sachs, GE, Pfizer, the United Auto Workers—the same “special interests” Barack Obama was supposed to chase from the temple—are profiting handsomely from Obama’s Big Government policies that crush taxpayers, small businesses, and consumers. In Obamanomics, investigative reporter Timothy P. Carney digs up the dirt the mainstream media ignores and the White House wishes you wouldn’t see. Rather than Hope and Change, Obama is delivering corporate socialism to America, all while claiming he’s battling corporate America. It’s corporate welfare and regulatory robbery—it’s Obamanomics.

 

Banks post near-record earnings as sequester looms

By Vicki Needham - 02/26/13 03:46 PM ET



U.S. banks reported near-record earnings last year, the best performance since before the financial crisis crippled the economy in 2008.

Banks posted $141.3 billion in total earnings, a 19.3 percent improvement over 2011 and the second-highest level ever reported by the industry since the $145.2 billion earned in 2006, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) reported on Tuesday. 

Despite the improvement, the American Bankers Association (ABA) argues that banks will feel the pressure if economic growth is slowed by $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that are set to go into effect on Friday.

"All businesses, including banks, will suffer if the economy slows dramatically because of sequestration," said James Chessen, ABA's chief economist. 

"It will increase uncertainty, making businesses more reluctant to borrow and consumers more reluctant to spend."

FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said the nation's slow but steady economic recovery has been a contributing factor to the industry's rebound during the past three years and the sequester could certainly hamper that improvement. 

"We're watching it closely," Gruenberg said at a press conference Tuesday. 

Because the pace of earnings growth is not likely to continue at this level, Gruenberg said and banks will depend on increased credit by the industry because "troubled loans, problem banks and bank failures remain at elevated levels, while growth in lending and revenue remains sluggish.”

“Going forward, we think the industry earnings are really going to depend on increased credit,” Gruenberg said.

Total loan balances rose $118.2 billion, or 1.6 percent, in the quarter, led by 3.7 percent growth in commercial loans, according to the FDIC.

“There’s not a lot of great opportunities out there at these rates,” Chessen said. 

Banks posted a 12 percent growth in year-over-year business lending, and will need to similarly increase consumer lending to bolster revenues, especially if a sequester goes into effect and stymies economic growth. 

Chessen said that "even more promising is the broad-based increase in most loan categories, with real estate and auto loans continuing to rise as consumers become more confident in their finances."

In fact, the 18.2 percent year-over-year improvement in noninterest income was driven primarily by higher gains on loan sales, increased trading revenue and reduced losses on sales of foreclosed property. 

"Whether businesses continue to seek loans will largely depend on whether there is greater policy certainty surrounding taxes, healthcare costs and government regulations," he said. 

Fourth-quarter net income was $34.7 billion, 36.9 percent better than the $25.3 billion in profits the industry reported in the same period in 2011, and it was the highest total for a fourth quarter since 2006. 

The total for the three-month period that ended Dec. 31 was a decline from $37.6 billion in the third quarter, the FDIC said.

While Chessen said that "it’s not unusual to see fourth quarter earnings come in below previous quarters, the real story is the 37 percent year-over-year gains, which is a significant uptick in a challenging economic environment."

Overall, 60 percent of banks reported year-over-year improvement in quarterly earnings.

"The banking industry recovery continues but remains a work in progress," Gruenberg said. 

Still, he said, "when you look back to where we were just a few years ago, the progress made to date is meaningful."

Bank capital remained near record levels, rising $63 billion last year, putting it at 25 percent higher than 2008 levels. 

Total industry capital is now over $1.6 trillion, providing a buffer against any future economic challenges.

The industry also saw a decrease in problem banks — down to 651 from 694 in the fourth quarter, the best showing since 2008. 

Deposit growth increased by a record $313.1 billion in the fourth quarter although it was mostly boosted by accounts with large balances, the FDIC said.


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SOME ONE HAS TO PAY FOR THE CRIMES OF OBAMA’S CRIMINAL BANKSTER DONORS. OBAMA HAS PUBLICALLY ADMITTED THE WOULD NEVER PROSECUTE ANY BANKSTERS.

HE HAS NOT PUBLICALLY CONCEDED THE TRUTH TO THE FACT THAT OBAMA IS SABOTAGING THE AMERICAN BORDERS WITH MEXICO, SABOTAGING E-VERIFY AND PROMISING HIS LA RAZA PARTY BASE NON-ENFORCEMENT TO EASE MORE “CHEAP” LABOR ILLEGALS INTO OUR JOBS!

THEN THE AMERICA MIDDLE CLASS GETS THE TAX BILLS FOR MEXICO’S LOOTING of AMERICA AS WELL AS OBAMA’S BANKSTERS’ ECONOMIC RAPE OF THIS NATION.

MEANWHILE… OBAMA HAS WORKED HARD FOR ILLEGALS AND THE 1% BILLIONAIRE CLASS HE SO CLOSELY IDENTIFIES WITH.


 

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THE REALITY of OBAMAnomics on AMERICANS:

Since the onset of the recession, the level of individuals above age 50 and out of work has more than doubled, with the average unemployment period skyrocketing to over 17 months. The percentage of individuals able to return to work at equal or higher wages since being laid off is in the single-digits. The film calculates that roughly one-in-five individuals over the age of 50 currently remains out of work in the US.

MEANWHILE… OBAMA HAS WORKED HARD FOR ILLEGALS AND THE 1% BILLIONAIRE CLASS HE SO CLOSELY IDENTIFIES WITH.

A theme visited throughout the documentary is the issue of home mortgages. The film provides statistics showing that since 2007 nearly 5 million homes have been lost to foreclosure, with market analysts expecting between 3 million and 8 million more to come in the ensuing period. According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York City, nearly $6 trillion in property value has simply been erased due to the mortgage crisis. The film is dotted with scenes of abandoned neighborhoods and homes, some with signs hanging outside looking to sell for as cheaply as $350.

In this, one sees the director pulling her punches at just the point where she should begin exploring. Sipprelle herself admits that due to budget cuts enacted under the administration of President Obama, many of the federal and state programs upon which these workers rely are now being phased out. The reality is that both political parties at federal, state and municipal levels of government are pursuing austerity policies and are responsible for the deepening social misery being inflicted on the working class as a whole.

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wsws.org

Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)

Set for Life: The effects of recession on an older generation

By Nick Barrickman
27 February 2013

Set for Life, a documentary by directors Susan Sipprelle and Samuel Newman, focuses on the effects that the economic crisis of 2007-2008 has had on the generation of Americans 50 years and older. The film is compiled from dozens of interviews obtained across the country, often gotten on the spot at unemployment offices. These videos are stored for viewing at the multimedia web site www.overfiftyandoutofwork.com. Set for Life has won multiple awards since first appearing in January at the New Jersey Film Festival and is currently being screened in limited viewings around the country.

The documentary focuses mainly on the lives of three workers, selected probably to represent various sectors of the economy, from private and public sector “blue-collar” workers to an information technology specialist, all trying to survive after having lost their jobs during the collapse of the US economy in 2007-2008.

The film is interspersed with images of family videos from an earlier period, picturing the happier times that existed in American society at this time, contrasted with up-to-date shots of idled factories in the American heartland. One individual describes the “feeling of calm” he experienced in his younger years, believing that working for AT&T was a guaranteed ticket to a secure life, “like having a government job,” he says. This is contrasted with a clip of a woman saying that even the “most loyal, paternalistic companies are not like that anymore,” recalling the cold and impersonal way in which she and many others have been laid off.

The film shows Joe Price, a third generation steel worker from Weirton, West Virginia. Particularly proud of his 30-plus-year career, Joe at one point revisits his long-idled former job site, holding up a steel rod while asking the camera, “What is wrong with a man making a living by working with his hands?” The scene captures the feeling of loss many have experienced. Now, Joe and many others like him face the prospect of searching for work from employers who view older age as a detriment to hiring.

In this, the film delivers some of its most striking moments, as one gets a sense that the vast shift in society has left a substantial portion of the population simply unable to cope in today’s economic situation. Many interviewees recall the dreadful experience of putting out hundreds of resumes to receive no reply from job providers. Holding onto the hope of achieving the “American dream,” many of the workers evince a sense of determination to get back on their feet, though many have given up on the prospect of ever retiring.

The tragedy of George Ross, Jr., an IT worker fallen victim to California’s misfortune, is compounded when he is informed that his son, a Marine, has been left crippled by an improvised explosive device while serving in Afghanistan. Owing nearly $200,000 on a mortgage he had refinanced before losing his job in 2008, George is forced to put his job search on hold in order to care for his son.

In one scene, George and his wife Linda attend a debt-consolidation workshop while driving a Wounded Warrior charity van in hopes of persuading the hosting firm to take up their case. The attempt fails. Linda, in tears while speaking to the camera, says that to her, the “American dream” has been simply “erased.” In these scenes, one can’t help but note a parallel between the condition of the Ross’s war-damaged son and the images of the once-great industrial heartland, now an idled and rusting shell of its former self.

Somewhat scant, statistically speaking, the film relies heavily on the anecdotal experiences of its subjects. Those figures it does provide, however, are staggering.

Since the onset of the recession, the level of individuals above age 50 and out of work has more than doubled, with the average unemployment period skyrocketing to over 17 months. The percentage of individuals able to return to work at equal or higher wages since being laid off is in the single-digits. The film calculates that roughly one-in-five individuals over the age of 50 currently remains out of work in the US.

A theme visited throughout the documentary is the issue of home mortgages. The film provides statistics showing that since 2007 nearly 5 million homes have been lost to foreclosure, with market analysts expecting between 3 million and 8 million more to come in the ensuing period. According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York City, nearly $6 trillion in property value has simply been erased due to the mortgage crisis. The film is dotted with scenes of abandoned neighborhoods and homes, some with signs hanging outside looking to sell for as cheaply as $350.

One former GM employee, Stan Bednarczyk, informs the interviewer of his incurring a $40,000 loss on a home due to having to relocate from Ohio to Michigan, only to later wind up with a mortgage that was nearly $150,000 underwater in Detroit. Including the total taxes owed between the two homes, Bednarczyk informs the audience that it cost him nearly $400,000 simply to break even, “and there’s no write-off in our income system for that,” he adds.

The film concentrates on age, dedicating a certain amount of its time to the idea of “agism,” in which workers feel they are being discriminated against strictly on that basis. This is perhaps due to the director’s own perceptions, as Sipprelle, a baby-boomer herself who sought to switch careers in mid-life, felt this issue in particular needed covering. The result is somewhat narrow, tending to fuel the filmmakers’ perception that the “Great Recession” is simply a generational issue.

Other limitations emerge. In a Q&A session at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington DC, Sipprelle, when questioned about the film’s general lack of a political focus, expressed her preference to see political divisions “left out” of the documentary, wanting to obtain the “widest appeal possible” because the issue was so pressing.

In this, one sees the director pulling her punches at just the point where she should begin exploring. Sipprelle herself admits that due to budget cuts enacted under the administration of President Obama, many of the federal and state programs upon which these workers rely are now being phased out. The reality is that both political parties at federal, state and municipal levels of government are pursuing austerity policies and are responsible for the deepening social misery being inflicted on the working class as a whole.

The power of Set for Life lies in its drawing on the real lives of workers. Despite its weaknesses, the film deserves a wide audience.

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Obama combines sequester cuts with demagogy

By Andre Damon
27 August 2014

As the deadline approaches for triggering $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts, the indications are that the White House and congressional Republicans intend to allow the so-called “sequester” to take effect. The crisis over the program of cuts, set to begin on March 1 unless an alternative plan to slash the deficit is reached, is entirely manufactured, the result of previous deals reached by the Obama administration and the Republican leadership.

The impact of these cutbacks will be borne overwhelmingly by working and poor people, with billions slashed from education, anti-poverty programs, health care and other vital services. Once enacted, these cuts will never be fully restored. In effect, a new baseline will have been established for the ongoing onslaught on social programs upon which millions of working people depend.

Behind the stage-managed partisan bickering, there is a tacit consensus between the two parties that the cuts in domestic discretionary spending, estimated to reach $1.2 trillion over the next decade, can be used to create more favorable conditions for bullying the public into accepting immensely unpopular cuts in the basic social programs remaining from the reforms of the 1930s and 1960s—Medicare and Social Security.

The unstated agenda behind the demagogy of Obama and the Republicans is to deliberately create a crisis atmosphere and inflict painful cuts in order to claim, weeks or months down the road, that the only way out is a longer-term assault on the basic social “entitlement” programs.

The sequester cuts will have harsh consequences for working people, including:

* A 9.4 percent reduction in benefits for recipients of federally-funded long-term unemployment insurance.

* A loss of federal education funding affecting 1.2 million students and resulting in the possible layoff of 30,000 teachers and education staff, plus a $598 million cut in funding for special education programs.

* The removal of between 600,000 and 775,000 low-income women and children from the WIC food assistance program.

* A cut in federal housing assistance that will deprive up to 125,000 families of aid.

* Unpaid furloughs of up to 15 days of meat and poultry inspectors at the Agriculture Department, resulting in $10 billion in production losses.

* The closure of as many as 100 air traffic control towers and furlough of controllers, resulting in widening flight delays.

On Sunday, the White House released reports on the potential impact of the sequester on all 50 states and Washington DC. California, for instance, “will lose approximately $87.6 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 1,210 teacher and aide jobs at risk.”

The pre-school Head Start program will be cut for 8,200 California children, $2.6 million will be cut from public health, and the state will lose $5.4 million in funding for food assistance for low-income families.

Depending on the federal agency, the cuts will amount to between 5 and 9 percent of the budget for the year.

These cutbacks will have a severe impact on the US economy as a whole. Stephen S. Fuller, a professor at George Mason University, found in a study last year that the sequester will cost 2.14 million jobs and increase the unemployment rate by 1.5 percentage points.

The sequester also includes $42.7 billion in cuts to military spending. The Pentagon has threatened to furlough 800,000 civilian Defense Department employees, beginning as early as April.

The slated military cuts have prompted howls of protest from the military brass and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who claim that they will “hollow out” the US military machine and threaten “national security.” One way or another, the Pentagon, whose base budget has soared since 9/11 from $397 billion to $557 billion, will be shielded from any significant cuts.

At the same time, the proposed cuts in defense and security spending will be used for fear-mongering propaganda about the terrorist threat. Already on Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called a press conference to declare that the cuts will make the US more vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

President Obama is continuing his demagogic campaign to place the entire blame for the sequester on the Republicans and posture as the advocate of a “fair” and “balanced” program of deficit-reduction that will “protect the middle class” and make the rich pay their “fair share.”

On Tuesday, he made an appearance at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia, a facility that is directly tied into the military and dependent on contracts from major defense contractors. In selecting this site for his latest speech on the sequester, Obama, speaking in front of a giant submarine propeller, signaled his opposition to any significant cuts in military spending.

He blamed congressional Republicans for blocking his proposal for a combination of spending cuts and token increases in taxes for corporations and the wealthy. The Republicans are insisting that there be no tax increases in any new budget deal.

“All we’re asking,” Obama declared, “is that they close loopholes for… hedge fund managers and oil companies... so we can avoid laying off workers, or kicking kids off Head Start, or reducing financial aid for college students.” The cynicism of this claim to be fighting for higher taxes for the rich is exposed by Obama’s support for a “comprehensive tax reform” that includes a cut in corporate taxes from 35 to 28 percent.

The real substance of Obama’s agenda, behind the pseudo-populist rhetoric, was indicated by his reiteration of support for cuts in entitlement programs. In a line meant to reassure his real constituency—Wall Street and corporate America—he said, “Democrats like me… have said we’re prepared to make some tough cuts and reforms, including to programs like Medicare.”

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A FEW BASIC FACTS ABOUT OBAMA:

“Behind the thin rhetoric about reigniting a “thriving middle class,” Obama made clear that the administration’s policies in its second term will be subordinated entirely to the interests of big business, beginning with plans to slash hundreds of billions more from health care programs.”


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“In concluding the pittance of a settlement, a fraction of the billions taken in by the banks from the sub-prime mortgage racket, the Obama administration is once again letting the banks get away with massive crimes that have had devastating social consequences, while giving them a green light to continue similar practices.”

Another sweetheart bank settlement on mortgage fraud

By Andre Damon
9 January 2013

Ten major financial firms agreed on Monday to pay $3.3 billion in cash to settle allegations of mortgage fraud by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the latest in a string of sweetheart settlements between the major Wall Street banks and their nominal regulators. As usual, there were no criminal charges and no bank officials were held accountable.

The settlement, which nominally totals $8.5 billion, includes $3.3 billion in direct payments to borrowers and $5.2 billion in loan modifications and other forms of “borrower assistance” left largely at the discretion of the banks.

The settlement with the OCC, a branch of the Treasury Department, relates to widespread fraud committed by the banks in their rush to foreclose on as many homes as possible in 2009 and 2010. To expedite the foreclosure process, the banks had employees or contractors sign off on thousands of mortgage documents every month, swearing that they had intimate knowledge of their contents when in reality they had not even read them.

In many cases, banks illegally imposed fees on targeted homeowners or failed to inform them of their rights.

In concluding the pittance of a settlement, a fraction of the billions taken in by the banks from the sub-prime mortgage racket, the Obama administration is once again letting the banks get away with massive crimes that have had devastating social consequences, while giving them a green light to continue similar practices.

In all the scandals relating to the banks’ criminality in the run-up to and aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the government has deliberately avoided bringing cases to trial. This is not only to protect the banks’ activities from further public scrutiny, but also to cover up regulators’ complicity in facilitating the banks’ illegal activities.

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OBAMA and HIS CRIMINAL BANKSTERS – THE LOOTING OF A NATION CONTINUES!

 


 

 

Records show that four out of Obama's top five contributors are employees of financial industry giants - Goldman Sachs ($571,330), UBS AG ($364,806), JPMorgan Chase ($362,207) and Citigroup ($358,054).

Consider the Obama administration's choices for the four most important positions in financial sector law enforcement. The attorney general (Eric Holder) and the head of the Justice Department's criminal division (Lanny Breuer) both come to us from Covington & Burling, a law firm that represents and lobbies for most of the major banks and their industry associations; indeed Breuer was co-head of its white collar criminal defense practice, and represented the Moody's rating agency in the Enron case. Mary Schapiro, the head of the SEC, spent the housing bubble in charge of FINRA, the investment banking industry's "self-regulator," which gave her a $9 million severance for a job well done. And her head of enforcement, perhaps most stunningly of all, is Robert Khuzami, who was general counsel for Deutsche Bank's North American business during the entire bubble. So zero prosecutions isn't much of a surprise, really.

Banking Is a Criminal Industry Because Its Crimes Go Unpunished

07/16/2012

Consider just this month's news in financial services.

First, Barclay's has been manipulating the Libor, the main interest rate upon which most other interest rates and financial transactions are based, since 2005. Moreover, Barclay's traders were colluding with traders in many other banks to assist them in manipulating the Libor too, so that they could all profit from their bets on it.

Second, JP Morgan Chase is having a really great month. Recent reports describe how it is resisting Federal subpoenas related to price-fixing in U.S. electricity markets. It is also accused (by former employees among others) of deliberately inflating the performance of its investment funds to obtain business. And finally, JP Morgan's failed "London whale" trade, which has now cost over $5 billion, is being investigated to determine whether the loss was initially concealed from regulators and the public.

Third, HSBC is paying a fine because it allowed hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of dollars of money laundering by rogue states and sanctioned firms, including some related to terrorist activities and Iran's nuclear efforts. But HSBC is only one of at least 12 banks now known to have tolerated, and in some cases aggressively courted, money laundering by rogue states, terrorist organizations, corrupt dictators, and major drug cartels over the last decade. Others include Barclay's, Lloyds, Credit Suisse, and Wachovia (now part of Wells Fargo). Several of the banks created special handbooks on how to evade surveillance, created special business units to handle money laundering, and actively suppressed whistleblowers who warned of drug cartel activities.

Fourth, a new private lawsuit cites documents indicating that Morgan Stanley successfully pressured rating agencies into inflating the ratings of mortgage-backed securities it issued during the housing bubble.

Fifth, Visa and Mastercard have just agreed to pay $7 billion to settle a private antitrust case filed by thousands of merchants, who alleged that Visa and Mastercard colluded to fix fees and terms of service.

Just another month in financial services. Is it unusual? No, it's not. If we go back just a little further, we have UBS, HSBC, Julius Baer, and other banks actively marketing tax evasion services to wealthy U.S. and European citizens. We have senior executives of several banks (including JP Morgan Chase and UBS) strongly suspecting that Bernard Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme, but deciding to make money from him rather than turn him in. And then, of course, we have the financial crisis and everything that led to it. As I show in great detail in my book Predator Nation, we now possess overwhelming evidence of massive securities fraud, accounting fraud, perjury, and criminal Sarbanes-Oxley violations by mortgage lenders, investment banks, and credit insurers (including senior executives of Countrywide, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, AIG, and Lehman Brothers) during the housing bubble that caused the financial crisis. If we go back to the late 1990s, we have the massively fraudulent hyping of Internet stocks, and several banks (including Merrill Lynch and Citigroup) actively aiding Enron in committing its frauds.

So, July 2012 really isn't abnormal at all. The reason for this is very simple. Over the past two decades, the financial services industry has become a pervasively unethical and highly criminal industry, with massive fraud tolerated or even encouraged by senior management. But how did that happen?

Well, deregulation helped, of course. But something else was far more important. It is the one critical factor that unites all of the episodes cited above, including those of this month. This critical unifying factor is the total number of criminal prosecutions of major firms and senior executives as a result of all of these crimes combined.

And what is that number?

Zero.

Literally zero. A number that neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney shows the slightest interest in changing.

Consider the Obama administration's choices for the four most important positions in financial sector law enforcement. The attorney general (Eric Holder) and the head of the Justice Department's criminal division (Lanny Breuer) both come to us from Covington & Burling, a law firm that represents and lobbies for most of the major banks and their industry associations; indeed Breuer was co-head of its white collar criminal defense practice, and represented the Moody's rating agency in the Enron case. Mary Schapiro, the head of the SEC, spent the housing bubble in charge of FINRA, the investment banking industry's "self-regulator," which gave her a $9 million severance for a job well done. And her head of enforcement, perhaps most stunningly of all, is Robert Khuzami, who was general counsel for Deutsche Bank's North American business during the entire bubble. So zero prosecutions isn't much of a surprise, really.

In contrast, what do you think would happen to you if, as a lone individual, you were caught supporting Iran's nuclear program? Do you think that you would get off with a "deferred prosecution agreement" and a fine equal to a few percent of your annual salary? No?

But that's because you don't live right. You probably haven't been to the White House a dozen times since President Obama took office, or attended White House state dinners, like Lloyd Blankfein has. Nor have you probably overseen millions of dollars in lobbying and campaign donations, or hired senior administration officials, or sent your executives into the government in senior regulatory positions, or paid $135,000 for a speech by someone who later became chairman of the National Economic Council. And, well, you get the law enforcement that you pay for.


 

OBAMAnomics: FROM THE MAN THAT HATED AMERICAN BUT LOVED AMERICAN BANKSTERS:


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OBAMA BUILDS THE LA RAZA WELFARE STATE IN OUR BORDERS AS HE CUTS PROGRAMS FOR AMERICANS (LEGALS) TO FINANCE THE CRIMES OF HIS WALL STREET BANKSTERS.


Most Illegal Immigrant Families Collect Welfare

April 05, 2011

Surprise, surprise; Census Bureau data reveals that most U.S. families headed by illegal immigrants use taxpayer-funded welfare programs on behalf of their American-born anchor babies. Even before the recession, immigrant households with children used welfare programs at consistently higher rates than natives, according to the extensive census data collected and analyzed by a nonpartisan Washington D.C. group dedicated to researching legal and illegal immigration in the U.S. The results, published this month in a lengthy report, are hardly surprising. Basically, the majority of households across the country benefitting from publicly-funded welfare programs are headed by immigrants, both legal and illegal.

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WSWS.ORG

The US is the most unequal of all industrialized countries. Yet for three decades, as the wealth of the financial aristocracy has soared and the living conditions of masses of working people have deteriorated, every struggle of the working class has been isolated and defeated. In this, the official trade unions have played the central role.

No open door: White House denies selling access to President Obama to wealthy supporters - Washington Times

Obama campaign raises record sums from the wealthy

By Patrick Martin
15 July 2011


Proving that President Obama is the first choice of Wall Street and the American super-rich, his reelection campaign announced Wednesday that it had broken all previous records for fundraising, raking in $86 million during the second quarter of this year.

 

 

WHO IN THE OBAMA ADMIN IS NOT CONNECTED TO HIS CRIMINAL BANKSTER DONORS, OR A LA RAZA SUPREMACIST PARTY MEMBER?

 


OBAMA HAS TWO AGENDAS. SERVICING BANKSTER DONORS, AND PUSHING OUR BORDERS OPEN FOR MORE ILLEGALS. HE KNOW WE WON’T BE PUNKED BY HIS PERFORMANCES THE SECOND TIME AROUND!

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“Records show that four out of Obama's top five contributors are employees of financial industry giants - Goldman Sachs ($571,330), UBS AG ($364,806), JPMorgan Chase ($362,207) and Citigroup ($358,054).”


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BOOK

Obamanomics: How Barack Obama Is Bankrupting You and Enriching His Wall Street Friends, Corporate Lobbyists, and Union Bosses


 

BY TIMOTHY P CARNEY 

Editorial Reviews

Obama Is Making You Poorer—But Who’s Getting Rich?

Goldman Sachs, GE, Pfizer, the United Auto Workers—the same “special interests” Barack Obama was supposed to chase from the temple—are profiting handsomely from Obama’s Big Government policies that crush taxpayers, small businesses, and consumers. In Obamanomics, investigative reporter Timothy P. Carney digs up the dirt the mainstream media ignores and the White House wishes you wouldn’t see. Rather than Hope and Change, Obama is delivering corporate socialism to America, all while claiming he’s battling corporate America. It’s corporate welfare and regulatory robbery—it’s Obamanomics.

Congressman Ron Paul says, “Every libertarian and free-market conservative needs to read Obamanomics.” And Johan Goldberg, columnist and bestselling author says, “Obamanomics is conservative muckraking at its best and an indispensable field guide to the Obama years.”

If you’ve wondered what’s happening to America, as the federal government swallows up the financial sector, the auto industry, and healthcare, and enacts deficit exploding “stimulus packages,” this book makes it all clear—it’s a big scam. Ultimately, Obamanomics boils down to this: every time government gets bigger, somebody’s getting rich, and those somebodies are friends of Barack. This book names the names—and it will make your blood boil.