What the Federal Reserve is doing behind our backs

Thanks to an audit conducted last year (reported by Senator Bernie Sanders), it has now been confirmed that the Fed secretly handed out $16 Trillion. Before It's News puts that number in perspective:

$16,000,000,000,000.00 had been secretly given out to US banks and corporations and foreign banks everywhere from France to Scotland. From the period between December 2007 and June 2010, the Federal Reserve had secretly bailed out many of the world’s banks, corporations, and governments. The Federal Reserve likes to refer to these secret bailouts as an all-inclusive loan program, but virtually none of the money has been returned and it was loaned out at 0% interest. Why the Federal Reserve had never been public about this or even informed the United States Congress about the $16 trillion dollar bailout is obvious – the American public would have been outraged to find out that the Federal Reserve bailed out foreign banks while Americans were struggling to find jobs. To place $16 trillion into perspective, remember that GDP of the United States is only $14.12 trillion. The entire national debt of the United States government spanning its 200+ year history is “only” $14.5 trillion. The budget that is being debated so heavily in Congress and the Senate is “only” $3.5 trillion. Take all of the outrage and debate over the $1.5 trillion deficit into consideration, and swallow this Red pill: There was no debate about whether $16,000,000,000,000 would be given to failing banks and failing corporations around the world.

Continue ReadingWhat the Federal Reserve is doing behind our backs

Media reluctance to expose and criticize Barack Obama’s many constitutional violations

Obama Administration’s is waging a war on the Constitution, but you'll barely hear anything about it in the mass media. At Truthout, John Cusack of Truthout recently interviewed law professor Jonathan Turley. It's an extended interview that raises many serious points. They explore at depth the moral quandary many voters SHOULD feel, but won't, when enter the voting booth. In a related matter, they suggest that many Obama supporters are followers of a personality cult. And repeatedly, the mass media is going Obama license to do more of the same, despite the lies, despite the trashing of the U.S. Constitution. Here are two excerpts from the long interview:

CUSACK: I hate to speak too much to motivation, but why do you think MSNBC and other so-called centrist or left outlets won't bring up any of these things? These issues were broadcast and reported on nightly when John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzalez and Bush were in office. TURLEY: Well, there is no question that some at MSNBC have backed away from these issues, although occasionally you'll see people talk about – CUSACK: I think that's being kind, don't you? More like "abandoned." TURLEY: Yeah. The civil liberties perspective is rarely given more than a passing reference while national security concerns are explored in depth. Fox is viewed as protective of Bush while MSNBC is viewed as protective of Obama. But both presidents are guilty of the same violations. There are relatively few journalists willing to pursue these questions aggressively and objectively, particularly on television. And so the result is that the public is hearing a script written by the government that downplays these principles. They don't hear the word "torture." They hear "enhanced interrogation." They don't hear much about the treaties. They don't hear about the international condemnation of the United States. Most Americans are unaware of how far we have moved away from Nuremberg and core principles of international law. [More . . . ]

Continue ReadingMedia reluctance to expose and criticize Barack Obama’s many constitutional violations

Cost of running for U.S. Senate: $782 per hour.

I already assumed that Senators need to raise a lot of money to run a campaign, but I didn't know it was THIS MUCH: $782 per hour. Here's the infographic from United Republic: I can't get over these numbers: To run a campaign for Senator, you need to raise $782 PER HOUR for six years. There is no mystery as to why the system is so corrupt. Even the consciences of most good-hearted people will wilt in this terrible environment.

Continue ReadingCost of running for U.S. Senate: $782 per hour.

Bill Moyers: Congressional rejection of DISCLOSE is a disgrace

Do you care about saving your Democracy even one-tenth as much as you care about the Olympics, or going to the movies, or eating your favorite food? I challenge you to spend five minutes watching this video by Bill Moyers, and then acting on it like you really and truly give a damn. It's time to take back America. [Addendum] A friend watched this video, but asked "What can we do about this?" Here's what I suggested: Good question. For starters, we need to make a LOT of noise. Let's embarrass politicians for their inaction. Any time we have contact with politicians in public places, we need advocate for public financing of campaigns and for a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United. Raise this topic with friends and family who would rather talk about movies and sports. Educate them one by one as to what is at stake. We can support great organizations such as Common Cause, Public Citizen and United Republic. Support media reform by supporting organizations such as Free Press (I attend their annual conferences) Here are some of the many candidates for an Amendment to the Constitution. http://unitedrepublic.org/amendments-guide/ For further inspiration, watch this short video featuring Dylan Ratigan and his guests from United Republic.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Continue ReadingBill Moyers: Congressional rejection of DISCLOSE is a disgrace

Colin Beavan runs for Congress

Colin Beavan became made his mark as No Impact Man (and see here). That was his first grand experiment, and it taught me how threatening it is to most people to suggest that we should take concrete steps to live in a truly sustainable way. Now Beavan has begun his second grand experiment: to run for Congress as a member of the Green Party. Beavan is not a polished politician; rather he talks like you and me. He speaks from the heart and with thoughtfulness. He bemoans that Americans lack meaning and purpose. He notes that we've lost our ideals. He repeatedly points out that our warmongering country is run by the people who have most of the money and that they will do anything to keep it through the use of their financial resources and their lobbyists. Here is the question that haunts me. Assume that we didn't have a history of two main parties (Beavan calls them the "old-fashioned parties) running on corporate money and warmongering, and assume that it was NOT the case that one of those two parties invariably prevailed in Presidential elections. Assume, then, that you were asked to vote from one of the slick candidates with the heavy corporate ties, or for a thoughtful candidate who is not beholden to corporate money and who stands for the ideals listed below. In that case, it would be my belief that Colin would have a substantial chance to win the election based on his ideas and his utter lack of corruption and corporate ties. The problem is that he doesn't have hundreds of millions of dollars or a slick party machine, and he is not buffeted along by that intractable American assumption that it is preordained that one of the old-fashioned party candidates will be the winner. Immediately below, you'll see Colin's 18-minute speech at the Green Party National Convention. Below that video, you'll see Beavan's main talking points, which he sent to me today in a mass emailing.

Here is the speech I made at the Green Party National Convention on Saturday. It's 20 minutes long so if you don't want to watch it but you want to know the themes: 1. Democracy works on the principle that wisdom is collected from a group in order to make decisions that result in the greatest good for the greatest number. 2. The two old-fashioned parties have betrayed that ideal and are so frightened by the crises that face us that they no longer trust the people. 3. Instead, they meet behind closed doors with their corporate campaign contributors and make decisions from there how our country should move forward. [More . . . ]

Continue ReadingColin Beavan runs for Congress