Looking very Presidential indeed, Barack and Michelle visited the White House. What once was a three month lame duck interregnum has been condensed into an afternoon of niceties; there is no time to lose in addressing the problems the US faces. Their visit coincided with fresh news about secret authorisation in 2004 of raids on a number of countries not at war with the US. Obama has promised to close Guantanamo, and is already hard at work managing the transition, and discouraging Bush from further pen strokes that will have to be undone. A list of quickly reversible decisions is being drawn up, to be swiftly signed out of existence after his inauguration.
The biggest ticket items will of course have to wait until a full Cabinet is in place, but Obama is already getting ready to signal his top priorities. It is gratifying, in an ominous way, to read in Foreign Policy magazine some of the same complaints that I have blogged: the issues that the candidates didn’t raise during the election, including the violence in Mexico and the global food crisis. I wish Obama well, and have some faith in his ability to draw on a wider circle of advice than the defective incumbent. However, these unspoken issues are likely to creep up on the new administration, and their actions, like Rudd’s, will probably be too little, too late. I venture to predict that within the four years of his presidency the topic of greatest public concern will switch to ‘it’s the environment, stupid.’
But that won’t happen tomorrow, this is a time for relishing the achievement of getting rid of Bush, and not having Sarah Palin as Vice President. As mayor, she expressed interest in eliminating certain books from the public library system, and fired the librarian who stood up to her. The librarian was reinstated following public outrage, but Palin’s post-election behaviour confirms that she is not just ignorant, but a nasty piece of work besides.
The environment can be shunted aside for a while yet. There are still roadsides on New Jersey highways where more strip malls could and no doubt will be built. A friend took me to the cafe where the final episode of the Sopranos was filmed, a nondescript spot just down the road from a playing field with artificial turf. These are not healthy for children, but the good denizens of NJ don’t seem to know or care. The state retains the title of Cancer Capital, and a number of toxic sites are capped with only industrial strength plasic before building begins.
An article about belt-tightening included a quote from a woman saying ‘I don’t get my nails done anymore.’ Is that their concept of hard times? Lucky me, I’m out of here tomorrow, back by Sunday for a civilised brunch with friends in Sydney before heading back to Canberra. Like the Pope, I kiss the tarmac every time I return, and watch for a glimpse or sniff of frangipani flowers. The environmental stews are brewing in Australia too, and if the honey bees continue to decline at 30% per year the food crisis will soon enough wake people from their stupor.
More immediately pressing is the fate of public pension money invested in CDOs and other shonky financial instruments, encouraged by the likes of Bear Stearns. Pensions are not any more secure than the financial system that underpins them. In 2005 United Airlines defaulted on some of its pensions to former employees, and now Argentina has nationalised its pension funds so it can use the money. One article said the ‘monkey in the middle’ is the average tax payer who worked, paid off the mortgage, saved for retirement, and now is seeing those funds evaporate. No money for the bailing out the good guys. And most of us are good guys.
How Obama handles the financial crisis is top of the list, and he can’t afford the luxury of the next three months before negotiating the next act in that farce. If more bad news continues to pour out of the financial markets, he could find his parade in January spoiled by a real hard rain.
November 05, 2008 | Ronda Jambe
Barack Obama’s big day out
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The first thing Obama must do is get congress to establish a Govt Reserve Bank that is owned by the people,print their own greenbacks and and sack the Federal Reserve.Presently the US Govt is borrowing from the Federal Reserve a privately owned banking cartell and giving this money to the likes of Freddie May etc.
The greedy directors and CEOs are again milking the system.The tax payer will again pay for this greed.
They have to help the mortagees by reducing their rates and creating job stability.
The bubble economy must be left to rot and all effort must be put into saving the real economy.
I don’t think that Obama has the experience to cope with such a crisis.He has to have the wisdom to surround himself with intelligent trustworthy people.Are there any left in the Democrats?
Comment by Arjay — November 13, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
Very interesting, I had no idea the Fed Reserve was privately owned. Good luck to Obama! The head kicker (although also a former dancer) he has signed on as head of staff will give some indication of where he goes with choosing advisors.
Comment by Ronda — November 13, 2008 @ 9:07 pm
Rhonda,it was Woodrow Wilson in 1913 who signed away the rights of his own Govt to print currency.All the extra money beyond taxes is supplied by the Fed Res.It was actually against the US constitution which stated that only Congress has the power to issue currency.
Both Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy tried to print their own greenbacks.They were both assassinated.
The power of the US Federal Res is enormous.The Rothschilds for eg back in 1860 were worth over $6 billion.They are thought today to be worth $100 trillion.They have enough power to buy entire countries.
When Woodrow Wilson signed that agreement back in 1913 it was the Rothschilds,Morgans and Rockefellers who were the power brokers.What chance has Obama got?
Do your own research,since I don’t want to be accused of being biased or a perveyer of conspiracy theories.
What is happening in the US at the moment is extremely destabilising globally.
Comment by Arjay — November 13, 2008 @ 9:48 pm
Some more interesting tidbits.Prescott Bush,George H.W Bush’s father was vice president and on the board of directors of the Union Bank.J Edgar Hoover head of the FBI took control of this bank and confiscated it’s funds because they were funding the Nazis during WW2.
Hoover left a very damning memo stating that George Bush was an active member of the CIA when JFK was assassinated.Bush denied it and they found a very minor analyst of the same name to assume the mantle of the Hoover reference.Why would Hoover make reference in a memo to such an unimportant employee?Why was Bush made head of the CIA if he had no intrinsic knowledge of it’s operations many years later?
There is no way that Lee Harvey Oswald have had the position or opportunity to kill Kennedy.All leads point to the Marfia and Richard Nixon.Now many are also pointing G.H.W Bush who was involved in the CIA which Kennedy did not back when they with their own private army tried to invade Cuba.They expected that the invasion would force Kennedy’s hand and he would send in the airforce.The CIA were routed.[Bay of Pigs]Kennedy wanted to dismantle the power of the CIA and they were out to get him.
Comment by Arjay — November 15, 2008 @ 7:58 pm
Hi Rhonda,
The Fed Res is not strictly privately owned. Check my article http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=8053
for a comprehensive understanding of the FS and how it operates.
I agree with Arjay it needs to be dismantled.
Obama has little chance in changing much in the US.
The real power presently lies with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid(?) in Congress and with the Fed. Res.. Rham Immanuel is the Congressional Democrats man in the White House. The Fed Res man in Cabinet is Paulson. It is likely his replacement ie Obama’s choice of Treasurer and choice of Chairman of The Board of Governors of the Fed Res will be selected and come from the environs of The New York Regional Federal Reserve …as usual.
Obama will do as he’s told. Bush, Clinton and Bush senior did the same.
My hero Ronnie Reagan attempted to ‘buck the system’ and was somewhat successful until his attempted assassination and the later appointment of Alan Greenspan as head of the Federal Reserve.
If you accept my article commentary as accurate you will understand the significance of Arjay’s question regarding the competemce of the Congressional Democrats.
While I’m generally supportive of Republicans I’m somewhat disappointed with their performance in congress during the first 5 years of Bush’s term and during the years of Clinton when they had control of Congress.
I think Palin is a breath of fresh air and someone who with more maturity will do a marvellous job as a future President. She’s been terribly unfairly treated by the US media elites, other commentators and comedians. It’s appropriate these are all grouped together as their commentary of her has been of equal quality and depth.
Regards Keith Kennelly
Comment by Keith Kennelly — November 15, 2008 @ 8:15 pm
Keith is was a good article but there are many important agreements between the Govt Board and the private banks which make up the Fed Res that are not readily disclosed.
When the US economy increases it’s GDP every yr,more money needs to be produced to equal that GDP.Does the US Govt share in that new money produced to equal GDP or does the Fed Res own the productivity?
According to Woodrow Wilson the Cartell of private banks assume ownership of that new productivity and then loan it back to the US Govt who then tax the people for the priviledge of working hard.
What I cannot find out is the detail of this GDP ownership arrangement.
Our RBA is owned by the people and the profits they make actually help reduce our taxes.There is much secrecy about the US Fed Res probably with good reason.
Having Govt members on a board of private banks means little in terms of a real balance of power.You cannot be half pregnant,nor can the US people tolerate any longer the atrosity and abomination of the self serving Federal Reserve which has brought the US to it’s knees.
Comment by Arjay — November 16, 2008 @ 4:24 pm
Hi Arjay
Everything about the Board is secret!
Our thinking is similar but I don’t subscribe to the conspiracy theories … it’s dangerous ground for many reasons.
But the most significant event since the bailout points to who has the real power. Of the first $250 billion most all went to members of the New York Regional Federal Reserve except for a little that went to two Washington Banks.
I somehow gained an impression that the Fed Res (Greenspan)had tied money supply to asset values of shares and Real Property … but I haven’t been able to confirm that. I’d like your view and any information source if you know?
If it’s true then inflation, due to oversupply of money, will be Zimbabwe-like.
And Thank you.
Comment by Keith Kennelly — November 17, 2008 @ 2:41 pm
Keith with the need for the funding of the Iraq war ,I’ve seen figures of 15% more money injected into the US economy of which 12% was totally inflationary.The Fed Res wins no matter who is in power.
If you look at the logic of the arms race,what is the point of spending billions on arms if you cannot profit from them?So logically you need a number of small wars that exclude armageddon in order to justify the expense of R&D and help control world populations.The banks during WW2 and WW1 financed both sides.It was all about profit.
Our own Prime Minister Robert Menzies[Pig iron Bob]sold scrap metal to the Japanese while we fought them during WW2.
Until recently I disgarded theories about 911 being an inside job,but after careful analysis it seems that it was orchestrated.Building 7 which housed CIA,FBI and evidence of Enron’s criminality was brought down with controlled explosives.The Buildings directly underneath the twin towers did not totally collapse even under the full impact of the tower’s mass.WTC 7 when down under minimal impact.
Larry Silverstein who owned the Towers had them fully insured against terrorism and made a huge profit at the expense of their demise.He also had the rights to totally rebuild them.They were full of asbestos and legal controlled demolition by way of implosion was impossible, so the expense of conventional demolition would have cost the same as building them.
Why did Silverstein declare that he had the Fire Dept “Pull WT Building 7” [a demolition term for pulling the foundation via explosives ]and latter deny it stating he wanted to pull the fire firefighters out when they weren’t even in the building?
There are numerous explosives experts who have sworn that the only way that WTC Building 7 could have gone down was through controlled demolition.I have since spoken to an expert in this industry and many modern building have been built with the cavities to accommodate explosives to make them cheaper to “pull”.The twin Towers could have been laced with explosives months before hand.Steel melts at 2400 dg F and jet fuel will only burn to a temp of half that.There is no way that the internal steel structure would have melted under these conditions.These are the only 3 buildings in history to fail under fire.All past fires in high rise buildings have burnt for many hours longer under more intense heat and have not failed structurally.
WTC building 7 went down 5 hrs after the others and there was no time for experts to place the necessary explosives to bring it down that afternoon.
80% of Americans believe that 911 was a put up job.I have now joined them.
Comment by Arjay — November 18, 2008 @ 8:19 pm
The plot thickens! Sorry for my delay in replying, I’ve been sick upon my return to OZ.
Keith, interesting bit of research you did for your article about the fed res for OLO, certainly the Dems were in it to the eyeballs.
Not sure what you find refreshing about Palin, however.
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Comment by Guethanna — June 4, 2010 @ 3:08 am