NO PRESIDENT IN HISTORY HAS TAKEN
MORE BRIBES (AGAIN) FROM HIS CRIMINAL BANKSTER DONORS THAN BARACK OBAMA. NOT
ONE BANKSTER PRESIDENT HAS GONE TO PRISON!
OBAMA CONTINUES TO SHIFT THE
ECONOMY TO WALL ST!
NO ONE CONS US MORE THAN OBAMA DOES
FOR WALL ST AND LA RAZA ILLEGALS!
IT’S ALL HE DOES! ONE CON JOB AFTER
ANOTHER!
THE ENTIRE REASON OUR BORDERS ARE
LEFT OPEN IS TO KEEP WAGES DEPRESSED WITH HORDES OF ILLEGALS. AN ILLEGAL FROM
MEXICO WITH A STOLEN SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER WILL BE MAKING 8XS MORE THAN HE
WOULD HAVE IN MEXICO, PLUS HE GETS “FREE” ANCHOR BABY BIRTHING AND WELFARE, “FREE”
EMERGENCY ROOM MEDICAL, “FREE” EDUCATION, AND AS MANY “DREAM ACTS” AS THE LA
RAZA FACTIONS IN STATE LEGISLATURES CAN PULL OFF.
IN MEX-OCCUPIED CA, THE LA RAZA
SUPREMACY PARTY PASSED A LAW MAKING IT ILLEGAL FOR EMPLOYERS TO USE E-VERIFY.
THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN MEXICO IS UNDER 5%. IN PARTS OF CALIFORNIA IT IS
NEARLY 30%.
Corporations and their
mouthpieces in the political establishment and media rail against the supposed
unfair tax burden on big business, despite the fact that US income inequality
continues to grow. The share of the US national income that goes to workers in
the form of wages has fallen to its lowest level since records began after
World War II.
Obama administration proposes
corporate tax cut
By Kate Randall
23 February 2012
23 February 2012
The
Obama administration has released preliminary details of a proposed overhaul of
corporate taxes that would lower the tax rate for companies from the present 35
percent to 28 percent, and down to 25 percent for US manufacturers.
Administration officials say that the revenue lost as a result of the cut would
be recouped by eliminating dozens of loopholes utilized by corporations to
lower their rates and avoid paying taxes.
In fact, the administration’s
proposal to slash corporate taxes is a major step toward the forging of a
bipartisan agreement after the November elections, whichever party wins the
presidency, to shift the tax burden even further from the corporate elite to
the general population.
Announcing the plan on
Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that the US corporate tax
rate “is now on pace to become the highest among all developed economies.” In
reality, the current 35 percent rate exists only on paper. According to data
from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), US
corporations actually pay about half the tax rate of companies in other
major economies.
Statistics
presented in the administration’s proposal do indeed show that “effective
actual corporate tax rates”—i.e., what corporations really pay—are nowhere near
the 35 percent rate. For instance, in 2007-2008, transportation and warehousing
businesses were taxed at 19 percent, mining companies at 18 percent, and
utilities at only 14 percent.
Corporations and their
mouthpieces in the political establishment and media rail against the supposed
unfair tax burden on big business, despite the fact that US income inequality
continues to grow. The share of the US national income that goes to workers in
the form of wages has fallen to its lowest level since records began after
World War II.
As workers’ wages have
plummeted, corporate profits have soared. Economic
Policy Institute figures show that profits in the corporate sector are 25-30
percent higher than they were before the current slump. Any decrease in the
corporate tax rate will only increase the chasm between the wealthy elite and
the vast majority of the population.
“The
President’s Framework for Business Tax Reform” has five elements. The first
would lower the tax rate to 28 percent, while eliminating loopholes and
subsidies “to reform the business tax base to reduce distortions that hurt
productivity and growth.” When the
plan finally makes it to Congress for debate, talk of “closing loopholes” will
inevitably provoke a frenzy of lobbying to defend tax breaks for varying
business interests.
The
second component of the plan would reduce the effective tax rate on US
manufacturing to no more than 25 percent, and even lower for research and
development and the “green” industry sector. The false claim is made that
“Encouraging manufacturing investment and production supports higher wage
jobs.” This comes from an
administration that has held up the auto industry’s “recovery”—based on the
halving of workers’ wages—as a model to be emulated throughout the country.
The
third element of the plan would establish a new minimum tax on foreign
earnings. The report notes that corporations utilize offshore tax havens and
deferral of income to evade paying taxes. One chart shows that in Bermuda, US
company profits amount to 646 percent of the island nation’s total gross
domestic profit.
The
proposal states: “The President believes we must prevent companies from reaping
the benefits of locating profits in low-tax countries… and help end the race to
the bottom in corporate tax rates.” The proposal does not specify the actual
rate of this new “minimum tax” or how much the Internal Revenue Service expects
to bring in by implementing it.
This
promotion of US manufacturing is, in part, a sop to the trade union
bureaucracy, whose bread and butter is economic nationalism, which
simultaneously pits US workers against their class brothers and sisters
internationally and lines them up behind “their” American bosses.
The
fourth element of the proposal is aimed at simplifying and cutting taxes for
small businesses, which would be allowed to expense up to $1 million in
investments. Businesses with up to $10 million in gross receipts would also be
allowed to utilize cash accounting methods.
Finally,
the administration claims that the tax overhaul would promote fiscal
responsibility and “not add a dime to the deficit.” Although the White House
originally said that the proposal would be deficit neutral, the Financial
Times reports that administration officials now say it is expected to raise
an additional $250 billion over 10 years.
To
put this in perspective, in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, the US
expects to collect $236.8 billion in corporate taxes, which is only about 1.5
percent of the gross domestic product. This means that even if all the
proposals in the president’s “framework” were implemented, only about one
year’s worth of the minuscule level of corporate tax revenues would be gained.
Obama’s tax proposal is one
element of an agenda designed to shift an ever-greater proportion of wealth
from the working class to the super-rich. The only component of the plan that stands a good chance of
surviving congressional debate is the proposal to cut the overall corporate tax
rate.
The
cut from 35 to 28 percent is already being attacked as too small. Among the
Republican presidential candidates, Mitt Romney is calling for the rate to be
cut across-the-board to 25 percent, while New Gingrich calls for slashing it to
12.5 percent.
While Obama’s proposal would cut taxes for big business, there
have been no serious proposals forthcoming from either the Democrats or
Republicans for reducing the tax burden on working class families. One proposal coming out of
the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, commissioned by
the president in 2010, would eliminate the mortgage interest deduction for
millions of middle- and low-income homeowners and raise what they owe in taxes,
in many cases by thousands of dollars a year.
There
is no doubt that the tax code needs an overhaul—but in the opposite direction
of that proposed by the Democrats and Republicans. As the Socialist Equality
Party states in its program:
“Immediate
measures must be taken to promote social equality and a radical redistribution
of wealth, including a progressive income tax that places the burden of
taxation on the rich, while lowering taxes for the vast majority of the
population. Taxes on the profits of all major corporations must also be sharply
increased.”
The Obama administration,
which claims with this proposal to “even the playing field” and promote
“fairness” in the tax code, in fact represents the interests of a corporate and
financial aristocracy that stands in opposition to the most basic social needs
of working people.
A political system that defends the interests of a narrow corporate elite
cannot tolerate even a modest reform of the tax system that would benefit the
majority of people.
*
OBAMA IS BUSH’S THIRD TERM!
*
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.
*
Every time it seems is if the
Obama Administration cannot sink any lower in its efforts to deceive the
American taxpayer, the limbo stick comes out, and Americans get to see, once
again, just how low the Obama Administration can go. Team Obama's Regulations
Review seems to be a colossal fraud, during the course of which, agencies are
actually increasing the regulations affecting individuals and businesses.
*
Banks, hedge funds and other
financial firms lavishly backed his presidential bid, giving him considerably
more than they gave to his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain.
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).
*
There was some press
speculation that Daley’s departure was related to Obama’s decision to base his
reelection campaign on attacking congressional Republicans for obstructing his
supposed jobs initiatives, combined with doses of populist rhetoric about
defending the middle class and fighting Wall Street. Whatever electoral
calculations may have been involved, however, the shift in White House
personnel does not reflect any change in the right-wing, pro-corporate policies
of the Obama administration.
On the contrary, the
appointment of Lew underscores the incestuous relationship between the Obama
White House and Wall Street. All three of Obama’s chiefs of staff—Rahm Emanuel
(2009-2010), Daley (2011-2012) and Lew—are multi-millionaires who made their
fortunes as top executives of major banks.
*
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.
*
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.
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. In this explosive book, Carney reveals:
* The
Great Health Care Scam—Obama’s backroom deals with drug companies spell
corporate profits and more government control
* The Global Warming Hoax—Obama has bought off industries with a pork-filled bill that will drain your wallet for Al Gore’s agenda
* Obama and Wall Street—“Change” means more bailouts and a heavy Goldman Sachs presence in the West Wing (including Rahm Emanuel)
* Stimulating K Street—The largest spending bill in history gave pork to the well-connected and created a feeding frenzy for lobbyists
* How the GOP needs to change its tune—drastically—to battle Obamanomics
* The Global Warming Hoax—Obama has bought off industries with a pork-filled bill that will drain your wallet for Al Gore’s agenda
* Obama and Wall Street—“Change” means more bailouts and a heavy Goldman Sachs presence in the West Wing (including Rahm Emanuel)
* Stimulating K Street—The largest spending bill in history gave pork to the well-connected and created a feeding frenzy for lobbyists
* How the GOP needs to change its tune—drastically—to battle Obamanomics
If
you’ve wondered what’s happening to our country, as the federal government
swallows up the financial sector, the auto industry, and healthcare, and enacts
deficit exploding “stimulus packages” that create make-work government jobs,
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.
*
Praise for Obamanomics
Praise for Obamanomics
“The
notion that ‘big business’ is on the side of the free market is one of
progressivism’s most valuable myths. It allows them to demonize corporations by
day and get in bed with them by night. Obamanomics is conservative
muckraking at its best. It reveals how President Obama is exploiting the big
business mythology to undermine the free market and stick it to entrepreneurs,
taxpayers, and consumers. It’s an indispensable field guide to the Obama
years.”
—Jonha Goldberg, LA Times columnist and best-selling author
—Jonha Goldberg, LA Times columnist and best-selling author
“‘Every
time government gets bigger, somebody’s getting rich.’ With this astute
observation, Tim Carney begins his task of laying bare the Obama
administration’s corporatist governing strategy, hidden behind the president’s populist
veneer. This meticulously researched book is a must-read for anyone who wants
to understand how Washington really works.”
—David Freddoso, best-selling author of The Case Against Barack Obama
—David Freddoso, best-selling author of The Case Against Barack Obama
“Every
libertarian and free-market conservative who still believes that large
corporations are trusted allies in the battle for economic liberty needs to
read this book, as does every well-meaning liberal who believes that expansions
of the welfare-regulatory state are done to benefit the common people.”
—Congressman Ron Paul
—Congressman Ron Paul
“It’s
understandable for critics to condemn President Obama for his ‘socialism.’ But
as Tim Carney shows, the real situation is at once more subtle and more
sinister. Obamanomics favors big business while disproportionately punishing
everyone else. So-called progressives are too clueless to notice, as usual,
which is why we have Tim Carney and this book.”
—Thomas E. Woods, Jr., best-selling author of Meltdown and The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to American History
—Thomas E. Woods, Jr., best-selling author of Meltdown and The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to American History
*
·
Hardcover: 256 pages
·
Publisher: Regnery Press (November 30,
2009)
·
Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 1596986123
·
ISBN-13: 978-1596986121
*
He was brought in, replacing
interim White House head Peter Rouse, to reassure the corporations and banks
that Obama would fully implement their agenda of deregulation and austerity and
to conciliate the Republicans. His appointment signaled a further shift to the
right by the Obama administration.
Daley resigns as White House chief
of staff
By Barry Grey
11 January 2012
11 January 2012
President
Barack Obama on Monday announced the resignation of his chief of staff, William
Daley, and the appointment of the current budget director, Jacob Lew, to
replace him. Daley is expected to become
co-chair of Obama’s reelection campaign, where he will use his Wall Street
connections to raise millions in campaign cash from the financial industry.
More than 5 million households had their wealth wiped out
since 2005
By Andre Damon
28 July 2011
28 July 2011
The
typical US household lost 28 percent of its wealth during the economic crisis,
with one third of these being totally wiped out, according to a recent analysis
of Census Bureau data carried out by the Pew Research Center, “Wealth Gaps Rise
to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics”.
While
the study headlines racial disparities, the most striking findings concern the
general impoverishment of all sections of the population. The percent of US
households who have a net worth of zero dollars or below—meaning they have more
debts than assets—grew from 15 percent in 2005, to 20 percent in 2009. This
means that 5.6 million households, or about 15 million people, had their wealth
totally wiped out during the first part of the economic downturn. These figures
come from an analysis of Census Bureau survey data for 2005 and 2009.
The
study found that, after adjusting for inflation, the median wealth of US
households fell from $96,894 in 2005 to $70,000 in 2009, a drop of 28 percent.
The majority of this is attributable to the precipitous fall in real estate
values, by about 30 percent between 2006 and 2009 and even more since.
The
fall in home values has been compounded by falling wages. Between 2005 and
2009, workers’ average hourly earnings fell, on an inflation-adjusted basis, by
5 percent, according to the Labor Department.
Indebtedness
has grown as rapidly as wealth has fallen. Between 2005 and 2009, unsecured
liabilities grew 33 percent for the population as a whole, the study found.
Meanwhile,
the share of household wealth held by the wealthiest ten percent of households
grew from 49 percent in 2005 to 56 percent in 2009.
Racial
minorities have been particularly hard hit, including by the fall in housing
values. The net worth of Hispanic households fell by a staggering 66 percent,
from $12,124 in 2005 to $5,677 in 2009. The net worth of black households has
likewise tumbled 53 percent. Among Hispanics, unsecured debt grew by 47
percent.
The
level of inequality between whites, blacks, and Hispanics is now at the highest
level in 25 years, and no doubt longer. The racial differentiation is partly
attributable to geography. While whites saw the values of their own homes fall
by 18 percent and blacks by 23 percent, the home values of Hispanics fell by
more than half.
As
the report notes, “In 2005, more than two-in-five of the nation’s Hispanic and
Asian households resided in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada,
the five states with the steepest declines in home prices.” For Hispanics
living in these states, the report noted, “median net worth tumbled from
$51,464 in 2005 to $6,375 in 2009, a loss of 88 percent.”
These
racial divergences, however, mask the more fundamental growth of inequality
between the working class and the wealthy of all races. The report notes that
the wealthiest 10 percent of blacks now controls 67 percent of the wealth for
that group, compared to 59 percent before the downturn. For Hispanics,
likewise, the wealthiest 10 percent controlled 72 percent of wealth in 2009, up
from 59 percent in 2005.
The
number of unemployed, meanwhile, grew from 7.9 million to 15.2 million between
2005 and 2009. Rising unemployment, too, has disproportionately affected
minorities. Unemployment has affected blacks and hispanics disproportionately,
with the unemployment rate for blacks currently at 16.5 percent and 11.6
percent for hispanics.
The
staggering fall in wealth has had an transformative effect on American society,
contributing to the millions of foreclosures and personal bankruptcies. According
to figures from Realtytrac.com, there were 10 million foreclosures between 2005
and 2009, the years covered by the survey.
*
UNDER OBAMA, THE RICH GET RICHER, AND JOBS GO TO HIS LA RAZA
PARTY BASE!
ONE WAY OBAMA SERVICES HIS CORPORATE PAYMASTERS IS TO ASSURE
THEM THAT HE WILL SABOTAGE E-VERIFY, HOLD OUR BORDERS OPEN FOR HORDES OF
ILLEGALS HEADED FOR OUR JOBS, AND CONTINUE NON-ENFORCEMENT OF LAW PROHIBITING
THE EMPLOYMENT OF ILLEGALS. IN FACT, OBAMA’S SEC. of LABOR IS A LA RAZA
SUPREMACIST HILDA SOLIS WORKING FOR ILLEGALS, MEXICANS THAT IS.
THERE IS A REASON WHY OBAMA, THE LA RAZA DEMS, MEXICO AND
THE U. S. CHAMBER of COMMERCE WANT OPEN BORDERS…it’s all about keeping wages
DEPRESSED!
*
As dozens of major
corporations announced increased second-quarter profits this week, the US
working class was hit with a disastrous new round of mass layoffs.
*
Profits soar amid mass layoffs
By Andre Damon
23 July 2011
23 July 2011
As dozens of major
corporations announced increased second-quarter profits this week, the US
working class was hit with a disastrous new round of mass layoffs.
On
Monday, book seller Borders announced that it would liquidate all of its
stores, laying off 10,700 workers. That same day, Cisco, the telecom equipment
maker, said it would cut its workforce by 11,500. Within 24 hours, Lockheed
Martin, the aerospace company, announced that it would eliminate 6,500 jobs.
At
the same time, Caterpillar, the maker of construction equipment, said its profits
were up 44 percent in the second quarter compared to last year. Office
equipment maker Xerox saw its profits grow 41 percent in the same time.
General
Electric’s profits were up 17 percent, PepsiCo’s were up by 18 percent, and
McDonald’s, the fast food company, saw a 19 percent increase, reaching a new
record.
The
energy and mining companies did even better, benefiting from rising gas prices,
which reduced the real incomes of American workers by billions of dollars.
Halliburton, the oil contractor, said its profits were up by 53 percent in the
second quarter compared to a year earlier, while fellow oil contractor
Schlumberger said its profits were up by 64 percent.
Most
of the major banks likewise said their profits were up significantly in the
second quarter. Goldman Sachs announced $1.09 billion in profits, up 57 percent
from last year. But even this huge increase was considered a “disappointment”
for traders.
JPMorgan
said its second-quarter profit was up by 13 percent, despite setting aside a
$1.3 billion charge-off for lawsuits it expects in relation to its trafficking
of fraudulent mortgages. Citigroup reported a profit of $3.34 billion, up 24
percent from a year ago.
This
renewed growth in profits comes at the same time as the sharpest growth in
unemployment since 2009. Between March and June, the unemployment rate grew by
0.4 percentage points, to 9.2 percent. In the same period, the number of
unemployed people grew by 545,000.
Apple,
the world’s largest music retailer and a leading manufacturer of mobile
electronics, announced a 95 percent increase in profitability. In its earnings
statement, the company said that it was sitting on a cash hoard of $76 billion.
This staggering sum, amassed by a single company controlled by a few large
shareholders, could put two million people to work full-time for a year.
US
corporations have combined cash reserves of $2 trillion. That is enough money
to put all the unemployed people in the United States to work for four years,
even without any profit generated from their labor.
But
fresh off of what is for many a record-breaking second quarter, the companies
are refusing to use their newly accumulated cash to hire. In fact, planned mass
layoffs have only accelerated.
Even
after the disastrous second quarter, the jobs situation is getting worse.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc, the executive placement company, said
earlier this week that the number of planned job cuts grew by 11.6 percent,
reaching 41,432 last month. This was the second consecutive monthly increase in
planned mass layoffs.
New
claims for unemployment benefits have likewise moved upwards. After dipping in
April to 385,000, the lowest level since 2007, they have steadily grown,
reaching 418,000 last week.
The
disastrous employment conditions in the private sector are only exacerbated by
the aggressive budget cutting carried out by state and local governments, under
the whip of cuts to federal assistance.
State
and local governments have cut 165,000 jobs so far this year, on top of the
quarter million workers they laid off in 2010. But this is only the beginning:
analysts expect hundreds of thousands more layoffs this year as cuts in federal
aid intensify.
These
planned layoffs will only be compounded by the massive federal spending cuts
currently being discussed between the Congress and the White House, which would
eliminate between $3 and $4 trillion from federal spending. This would mean
hundreds of thousands of federal job cuts.
The
fact that American corporations were able to accumulate record profits while
hundreds of thousands were thrown into the ranks of unemployment is not a
coincidence. These profits were generated through the impoverishment of
workers, who, desperate for any work available, have increasingly accepted
lower wages and worse conditions.
Despite
the abysmal employment conditions, mass joblessness has disappeared as a
political issue in the United States, with the entire political establishment
pushing for cuts to government spending. This absurd and irrational setup is a
product of the monopolization of political life in the United States by the
super-rich, who are carrying out a full-scale assault on the social conditions
of the working class.
In
contrast to the ruling class’s anti-social and destructive policy, the working
class must present its own political program. The trillions of dollars sitting
on the balance sheets of the corporations must be expropriated and used to
provide jobs and desperately-needed social services.
This
program requires a new mass political movement, completely independent of the
Democrats and Republicans, to break the political stranglehold of the
corporations, and reorganize society on the basis of social need, not private
profit.
*
OBAMA’S AMERICA: Open & Undefended Borders!
*
*
OBAMA HAS FILLED HIS
ADMINSTRATION WITH PRIMARILY LA RAZA PARTY MEMBERS.
Here’s his Sec. Labor, HILDA
SOLIS:
While in Congress, she
opposed strengthening the border fence, supported expansion of illegal alien
benefits (including driver's licenses and in-state tuition discounts), embraced
sanctuary cities that refused to cooperate with federal homeland security
officials to enforce immigration laws, and aggressively championed a mass
amnesty. Solis was steeped in the pro-illegal alien worker organizing movement
in Southern California and was buoyed by amnesty-supporting Big Labor groups
led by the Service Employees International Union. She has now caused a Capitol
Hill firestorm over her new taxpayer-funded advertising and outreach campaign
to illegal aliens regarding fair wages:
*
OBAMA’S A JOB FOR EVERY VOTING ILLEGAL PROGRAM:
The
U.S. Department of Illegal Alien Labor
President
Obama's Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is supposed to represent American workers.
What you need to know is that this longtime open-borders sympathizer has always
had a rather radical definition of "American." At a Latino voter
registration project conference in Los Angeles many years ago, Solis asserted
to thunderous applause, "We are all
Americans, whether you are legalized or not."
That's
right. The woman in charge of enforcing our employment laws doesn't give a hoot
about our immigration laws -- or about the fundamental distinction between
those who followed the rules in pursuit of the American dream and those who
didn't.
*
Obama Administration Challenges Arizona E-Verify Law
The
Obama administration has asked the Supreme Court to strike down a 2007 Arizona law that punishes employers who
hire illegal aliens, a law enacted by then-Governor Janet Napolitano. (Solicitor General's Amicus
Curiae Brief).
Called the “Legal Arizona Workers Act,” the law requires all employers in
Arizona to use E-Verify and provides that the business licenses of those who
hire illegal workers shall be repealed. From the date of enactment, the
Chamber of Commerce and other special interest groups have been trying to undo
it, attacking it through a failed ballot initiative and also through a lawsuit.
Now the Chamber is asking the United States Supreme Court to hear the case (Chamber
of Commerce v. Candelaria), and the Obama Administration is weighing in
against the law.
*
*
Obama's Regulatory Reform Sham Continues
By Lurita Doan
5/30/2011
President
Obama's much-praised efforts at regulatory reform remain a sham. This past
week, while the President traveled overseas, the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) in conjunction with rolled out its review of proposed changes to government regulations.
The
reform will affect at least 30 federal agencies and is designed to "always
consider costs and ways to reduce burdens for American businesses when
developing rules; expand opportunities for public participation and public
comment; and ensure that regulations are driven by real science." An
elegant White House web page, accompanied by an online, explanatory video,
supported by an in-person appearances from OMB Director Jacob Lew and Cass
Sunstein, and countless, premature victory laps around Washington cannot disguise
the emptiness of many of the proposed reforms. For, what has been released is
just the plan for the plan.
According
to the hype, after 120 days of effort, federal agencies have come forward with
"groundbreaking" ideas--not for ways to cut costs to taxpayers by
reducing regulations--but with ideas on how to generate ideas on how to
implement potential regulatory review and reform.
What
a lot of hullabaloo about something that hasn't happened, and which, if the
timelines identified in the 30 agency plans are anything to go by, will
not happen until 2012--long after the current debt ceiling has exploded and too
late to provide significant contributions to the federal budget and deficit
debate.
Any
talk from Sunstein about billions in savings is premature at best and possibly
constitutes a deliberate attempt at fraud since changes will be proposed to be
implemented in 2012 or later--so that it will be difficult to measure
accountability and results until long after the November 2012 presidential
election.
Reading
some of the agency plans housed on the White House website shows that much of
what the White House is calling an "unprecedented, government-wide
review" is little more than a rehash of policies, planning and strategies
proposed during the Clinton and Bush Administrations. Many of those actions,
which were identified by Obama's predecessors, have been left languishing
during the Obama Administration because they called for tough actions.
Every time it seems is if the
Obama Administration cannot sink any lower in its efforts to deceive the
American taxpayer, the limbo stick comes out, and Americans get to see, once
again, just how low the Obama Administration can go. Team Obama's Regulations
Review seems to be a colossal fraud, during the course of which, agencies are
actually increasing the regulations affecting individuals and businesses.
The
Regulations Review process is adding to the size of government by creating new
review committees, adding to the cost of government because none of these
review bodies operate free of cost, and Sunstein and his team seem to be
banking on the fact that few will read the hollow reports, so that the Obama
Administration can present their "savings" howsoever they choose.
Then
there is the issue of transparency. For example, the Department of Education's report along with 29 others listed
on the White House site can only be commented on by providing personal Facebook
information, thus eliminating commenter anonymity, which will certainly affect
the content of the feedback, and forcing non-Facebook users to search for
alternative means to provide comments to the Obama Administration.
In
another example, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) report of
regulatory reform spends almost approximately 9 pages of its 12-page report
discussing the plan for the plan and spends less than three pages listing
recommended regulations considered for regulatory reform. Of the five reforms
listed, three of the five comprise regulation reforms were begun and completed
during the Bush Administration.
One
of the recommendations (#4, p.10) a review of the GSA Multiple Award Schedule
(MAS) pricing clause was an idea conceived, a Blue ribbon commission formed and funded and with findings
completed during the previous Administration. These findings from the
independent commission have been waiting for the current GSA Administrator to
act upon for the past two years.
Instead,
at no small expense to the American taxpayer, the current team at GSA seems to
be saying: let's just kick that can down the road because confronting the
challenges of this out-of-date, ineffective rule is just too scary. So, in this
plan for the plan, the current team at GSA promises to look at the pricing
clause problem with a date uncertain in 2012 for possible resolution. In the
case of GSA's blatant misrepresentation, claiming credit for proposing new and
"unprecedented" regulatory reform reviews based partly on a
recommendation that the Obama Team will launch the Pricing Clause review is
nothing other than a fraud, and an easily exposed one at that.
By
contrast, the Department of Education report and the Department of Homeland
Security report identify in their reports that much of the to-be-discussed
regulatory reform was initiated during the Bush Administration.
For
the Obama Administration to claim that the Regulatory Review chicanery
comprises a "defining moment" is an insult to the American taxpayer
who has to foot the bill, and the folks in government who have put their names
on these reports should be ashamed.
*
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/05/obama-his-bankster-thugs-running.html
*
OBAMA’S CRONY CAPITALISM, A LOVE STORY BETWEEN THE ACTOR
PRESIDENT, AND HIS BANKSTER DONORS!
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).
*
Well, Obama’s got Bush’s war profiteer whore, Dianne
Feinstein, and the Saudis’ whore Hillary Clinton, why shouldn’t he have Bush’s
architect for BIG BANKERS’ WELFARE, Timmy?
Obama's Wall Street cabinet
6 April 2009
A
series of articles published over the weekend, based on financial disclosure
reports released by the Obama administration last Friday concerning top White
House officials, documents the extent to which the administration, in both its
personnel and policies, is a political instrument of Wall Street.
Policies
that are extraordinarily favorable to the financial elite that were put in
place over the past month by the Obama administration have fed a surge in share
values on Wall Street. These include the scheme to use hundreds of billions of
dollars in public funds to pay hedge funds to buy up the banks’ toxic assets at
inflated prices, the Auto Task Force’s rejection of the recovery plans of
Chrysler and General Motors and its demand for even more brutal layoffs, wage
cuts and attacks on workers’ health benefits and pensions, and the decision by
the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to weaken “mark-to-market” accounting
rules and permit banks to inflate the value of their toxic assets.
At
the same time, Obama has campaigned against restrictions on bonuses paid to
executives at insurance giant American International Group (AIG) and other
bailed-out firms, and repeatedly assured Wall Street that he will slash social
spending, including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
The
new financial disclosures reveal that top Obama advisors directly involved in
setting these policies have received millions from Wall Street firms, including
those that have received huge taxpayer bailouts.
The
case of Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council and Obama’s
top economic adviser, highlights the politically incestuous character of
relations between the Obama administration and the American financial elite.
Last
year, Summers pocketed $5 million as a managing director of D.E. Shaw, one of
the biggest hedge funds in the world, and another $2.7 million for speeches
delivered to Wall Street firms that have received government bailout money.
This includes $45,000 from Citigroup and $67,500 each from JPMorgan Chase and
the now-liquidated Lehman Brothers.
For
a speech to Goldman Sachs executives, Summers walked away with $135,000. This
is substantially more than double the earnings for an entire year of
high-seniority auto workers, who have been pilloried by the Obama
administration and the media for their supposedly exorbitant and
“unsustainable” wages.
Alluding
diplomatically to the flagrant conflict of interest revealed by these
disclosures, the New York Times noted on Saturday: “Mr. Summers, the
director of the National Economic Council, wields important influence over Mr.
Obama’s policy decisions for the troubled financial industry, including firms
from which he recently received payments.”
Summers was a leading
advocate of banking deregulation. As treasury secretary in the second Clinton
administration, he oversaw the lifting of basic financial regulations dating
from the 1930s. The Times article notes that among his current
responsibilities is deciding “whether—and how—to tighten regulation of hedge
funds.”
Summers is not an exception.
He is rather typical of the Wall Street insiders who comprise a cabinet and
White House team that is filled with multi-millionaires, presided over by a
president who parlayed his own political career into a multi-million-dollar
fortune.
Michael
Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs,
worked for Citigroup and received more than $7.4 million from the bank from
January of 2008 until he entered the Obama administration this year. This
included a $2.25 million year-end bonus handed him this past January, within
weeks of his joining the Obama administration.
Citigroup
has thus far been the beneficiary of $45 billion in cash and over $300 billion
in government guarantees of its bad debts.
David
Axelrod, the Obama campaign’s top strategist and now senior adviser to the
president, was paid $1.55 million last year from two consulting firms he
controls. He has agreed to buyouts that will garner him another $3 million over
the next five years. His disclosure claims personal assets of between $7 and
$10 million.
Obama’s
deputy national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, was paid $3.9 million by a
Washington law firm whose major clients include Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and
the private equity firm Apollo Management.
Louis
Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, made $227,155 last year
from IndyMac Bancorp, the California bank that heavily promoted subprime
mortgages. It collapsed last summer and was placed under federal receivership.
The
presence of multi-millionaire Wall Street insiders extends to second- and
third-tier positions in the Obama administration as well. David Stevens, who
has been tapped by Obama to head the Federal Housing Administration, is the
president and chief operating officer of Long and Foster Cos., a real estate
brokerage firm. From 1999 to 2005, Stevens served as a top executive for
Freddie Mac, the federally-backed mortgage lending giant that was bailed out
and seized by federal regulators in September.
Neal
Wolin, Obama’s selection for deputy counsel to the president for economic
policy, is a top executive at the insurance giant Hartford Financial Services,
where his salary was $4.5 million.
Obama’s
Auto Task Force has as its top advisers two investment bankers with a long
resume in corporate downsizing and asset-stripping.
It
is not new for leading figures from finance to be named to high posts in a US
administration. However, there has traditionally been an effort to demonstrate
a degree of independence from Wall Street in the selection of cabinet officials
and high-ranking presidential aides, often through the appointment of figures
from academia or the public sector. In previous decades, moreover,
representatives of the corporate elite were more likely to come from industry
than from finance.
In
the Obama administration such considerations have largely been abandoned.
This
will not come as a surprise to those who critically followed Obama’s election
campaign. While he postured before the electorate as a critic of the war in
Iraq and a quasi-populist force for “change,” he was from the first heavily
dependent on the financial and political backing of powerful financiers in Chicago.
Banks, hedge funds and other financial
firms lavishly backed his presidential bid, giving him considerably more than
they gave to his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain.
Alongside
Wall Street, the Obama cabinet is dominated by the military, including three
recently retired four-star military officers: former Marine General James Jones
as national security adviser; Admiral Dennis Blair as director of national
intelligence, and former Army Chief of Staff Erik Shinseki as secretary of
veterans’ affairs.
These
are the deeply reactionary political and class interests that are represented
by the Obama administration.
Friday’s
financial disclosures further expose the bankruptcy of American democracy.
Elections have no real effect on government policy, which is determined by the
interests of the financial aristocracy that dominates both political parties.
The working class can fight for its own interests—for jobs, decent living
standards, health care, education, housing and an end to war—only through a break
with the two parties of American capitalism and the development of a mass,
independent socialist movement.
Tom
Eley and Barry Grey
*
Obama’s Economic Advisers:
International Socialists, Union Thugs, NBC Execs, Soros Scholars, Subprime
Lenders, Amnesty Shills, and Campaign CroniesPosted on February 24, 2011 by Ben Johnson
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