World-News

ABC News

02/02/10

The Special Olympics announced Tuesday evening that members of the disabilities rights community will meet Wednesday afternoon with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, after the fiery Chicagoan admitted to having referred to some liberal activists as ‘f—ing retarded.’ Emanuel was quoted in the Wall Street Journal last week making the comment in an August meeting with some liberal activists who were threatening to run TV ads against conservative Democrats hesitant to embrace President Obama’s approach to health care reform...

https://tinyurl.com/yj8dmhy



The Rahm problem

The American Prospect
by Matthew Yglesias

03/04/10

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign had few leaks and little infighting, earning it the reputation of ‘no drama.’ The same spirit has mostly carried through into Obama’s governing phase — we’ve heard very little about whatever fights have occurred inside the White House. But that’s changed lately, most notably with two salvos in The Washington Post — one nominally an opinion column from Dana Milbank and the other nominally a news piece from Jason Horowitz — both arguing that Obama wouldn’t have so many political problems if he had only listened to Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s advice...

https://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_rahm_problem


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Rahm+Emanuel
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=healthcare
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Matthew+Yglesias

Das berauschende Wachstum der US-Wirtschaft im 4. Quartal war fast ausschließlich auf den Lageraufbau zurückzuführen.

https://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/32/32015/1.html



Die Wall-Street-Nebenjobs von CIA-Mitarbeitern

Um Mitarbeiter zu halten, lässt der US-Geheimdienst zur üppigen Aufstockung des Gehalts Mitarbeiter auch bei Investmentbanken oder Hedge-Fonds arbeiten.

https://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/32/32001/1.html



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wall+Street
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Central+Intelligence+Agency

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/02-5

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Obama and the CIA: What Must Be Done

Melvin A. Goodman, Truthout: "New presidents (and President Barack Obama is no exception) fall in love with three Washington institutions: the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency and Camp David. The Camp David love affair makes sense; it contributes to the president's physical and mental health. The infatuation with the military and intelligence communities, however, can create serious problems for both the administration and the nation."

https://www.truthout.org/president-obama-and-cia-what-must-be-done56605



Our Incredible Shrinking Democracy

Robert Reich, RobertReich.org: "I wish conservatives would stop complaining about big government and start worrying about the real problem - small democracy. I wish we'd all worry more about our incredible shrinking democracy."

https://www.truthout.org/robert-reich-our-incredible-shrinking-democracy56603



"If You Can Think Differently, You Can Act Differently"

Leslie Thatcher, Truthout: On Wednesday, January 27, 2010, Leslie Thatcher spoke over the phone with Henry Armand Giroux about his book, "Youth in a Suspect Society." Public pedagogy and the war on democracy were also discussed. He declared, "No category seems to me more central to democratic life - and the ethical and moral underpinnings required to support it. What kind of society will young people inherit? What are we doing to them now? How are we betraying them?"

https://www.truthout.org/if-you-can-think-differently-you-can-act-differently56628

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What are the consequences of Obama’s $3.8 billion budget?

FreedomWorks
by BPeck

Instead of choosing to abandon the Keynesian tax, borrow, and spend philosophy for which he has become notorious, Obama will continue to raise taxes for hard working Americans, increase discretionary spending faster than the tax dollars come in, and therefore create more debt for the current and future taxpayers of America. I’m not exactly sure how this approach exemplifies fiscal responsibility; a priority that Obama emphasized the importance of achieving during last week’s State of the Union Address...

https://tinyurl.com/yj8oexf


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

Budgets, War and Blind Ambition: The Limited Minds of the American Elite
https://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1919-budgets-war-and-blind-ambition-the-limited-minds-of-the-american-elite.html



Neat, Painless, Perpetual War
https://original.antiwar.com/mike-tennant/2010/02/02/neat-painless-perpetual-war/


Informant: Kev Hall

--------

The Limited Minds of the American Elite

War, Budgets and Blind Ambition

By Chris Floyd

The ending of the imperial wars and the dismantling of America's global military empire -- and its global gulag -- would save trillions of dollars in the coming years.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24615.htm

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Deathbed of Keynesian Economics Will Be in U.K.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/spl2/deathbed-of--keynesian-economics.html



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Keynes
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=imperial
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https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=BPeck
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chris+Floyd
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Michael+Tennant
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Leslie+Thatcher

Last year, that budget grew to more than $50 billion - "the largest-ever sum," according to Aviation Week's Bill Sweetman, a longtime black-budget seer. A few more billion were added for wartime operations, for a total of $54 billion. This year'total would be $2 billion higher, a 3.7 percent increase.

https://snipurl.com/u98po



New Defence Strategy Envisions Multiple Conflicts

A report and budget request from the U.S. Defence Department released Monday reveal both new and old priorities for President Barack Obama's Pentagon.

https://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=2822



The Pentagon Runs Amok

Obama is letting the generals and contractors roll over him

By Dan Simpson

The budget line for defense stands at $708 billion, 53 percent of discretionary spending, eight times more than the next largest item, health and human services. Does that reflect America's priorities? Is that who we are?

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24586.htm


From Information Clearing House

--------

No defense for this budget

The Nation
by Katrina vanden Heuvel

02/02/10

Who would know from all of the whining about budget deficits that military spending is the largest discretionary item in the federal government? Exempting all security-related expenditures from common sense cuts will have serious consequences for almost everything the government does - -from job creation, poverty reduction and alternative energy development, to aid for cash-strapped state and local governments. In fact, the Economic Policy Institute reports that non-security-related discretionary spending is already at near-historic lows as a share of GDP...

https://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/525267/no_defense_for_this_budget



Obama’s “jobs” plan

John Stossel's Take
by John Stossel

02/02/10

At the State of the Union, Obama said the federal government ’should tighten its belt,’ but today’s Wall Street Journal points out how unlikely that is, given that the number of federal employees has surged …. After eight years of war, it’s natural to assume the growing federal job count is a result of the military. But the real boom is in the federal agencies …

https://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/02/02/obamas-jobs-plan/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=DoD
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=budget
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=deficit
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=GDP
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=military+spending
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=wartime+operation
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=contractor
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wall+Street
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=jobless
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Katrina+vanden+Heuvel
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Stossel

By Howard Zinn

In this world of war and injustice, how does a person manage to stay socially engaged, committed to the struggle, and remain healthy without burning out or becoming resigned or cynical?

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24568.htm



Howard Zinn: Myths of the Good Wars

Three 'Holy' Wars

Video
https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24572.htm

--------

Howard Zinn: The People's Historian
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/03-3



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Howard+Zinn
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Amy+Goodman

By Harriet Fraad

Society-wide depression has struck America. Why it's happened and what we can do about it.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24569.htm



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=American+Dream
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=foreclosure
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=jobless
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Harriet+Fraad

By Dahr Jamail

The military is claiming that he "communicated a threat" with his song. Hall mailed a copy of the song to the Pentagon after the Army unilaterally extended his contract for a second Iraq deployment.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24573.htm



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=veterans
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=deploy
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Dahr+Jamail

By DAVID E. SANGER

In a federal budget filled with mind-boggling statistics, two numbers stand out as particularly stunning, for the way they may change American politics and American power.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24560.htm



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=deficit
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=global+power
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=DAVID+E.+SANGER

https://www.lewrockwell.com/buchanan/buchanan127.html



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=buchanan

Dean Baker, Truthout: "Our political leaders continually assert that we should be thanking them that we are not in a second Great Depression rather than complaining about how bad things are. The second Great Depression theme came up repeatedly in the debate over the reappointment of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke. It also featured prominently in Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's defense of his handling of the AIG bailout."

https://www.truthout.org/the-second-great-depression-bogeyman56559



False Profits

Leslie Thatcher, Truthout: "The delicious double-entendre of Dean Baker's most recent title is enhanced by the book's cover photo of a trio of false prophets, Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Henry (Hank) Paulson, all of whom are thoroughly excoriated within the book's pages for their responsibility in feeding, prolonging, misdiagnosing and incorrectly responding to the 2007-2009 financial meltdown and associated economic collapse."

https://www.truthout.org/false-profits56731

--------

Exposed: Bernanke's "Skimming Operation"

By Mike Whitney

The banks didn't care if the loans were repaid because they got their money "up front" on volume originations. That's why they were so eager to issue mortgages to people with no income, no collateral, no job, and a bad credit history. It was all a gigantic skimming operation, where banks and brokers got their cut and then bailed out before the whole thing blew up.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24575.htm



Greenspan's Testimony: Two hours of buck-passing

By Mike Whitney
https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25181.htm

--------

Paulson and the fear factor

Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa

02/17/10

We think of statism as born out of altruism or megalomania. But here a third cause transpired: naked, primeval fear. The notion that people could be left to sort themselves out in the biggest financial crisis since the 1930s was terrifying even for Paulson, a true believer in free markets who keeps repeating in his book that he disliked what he was doing. The fear was so overpowering that Paulson, his colleagues and Wall Street decided to put unconditional faith in the very institution, the federal government, that the author tells us was responsible for the conditions under which the housing bubble occurred: easy money, political incentives for homeownership and regulatory incompetence...

https://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2730


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

Statism: The Opiate of the Frightened Masses
https://www.lewrockwell.com/englund/englund57.1.html

Greenspan Wanted Housing-Bubble Dissent Kept Secret
https://www.lewrockwell.com/spl2/greenspan-kept-secrets.html



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=financial+crisis
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economic+collapse
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Great+Depression
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=financial+meltdown
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