Fortuna Faveat... may fortune favor us

In the immortal words of Howard Zinn, you can’t be neutral on a moving train. This mantra has meaning in all things that we do, but it gains a particular resonance when considered within the framework of American society today. With that in mind, I bring to your attention the work of Greg Palast. Palast is an investigative reporter who first came to my attention following the 2000 presidential election when he was out in front investigating the vote fraud and disenfranchisement in Florida.

Most recently, he partnered with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to create a visually-stimulating guide for American citizens to help us fully realize our suffrage. They also partnered on an investigative piece that is published in this month’s Rolling Stone and it is free on the web.

Their research will anger you and (hopefully) inspire you. Regardless, it is definitely worth taking a look at this information. After all, as Palast and Kennedy put it, your vote has already been stolen from you. Your only defense is to steal it back.

More to follow on knowing and protecting your rights at the polls on November 4. Stay tuned!

Here is the Bloomberg story. I think you should wish AIG well for this effort.

You can also send a note directly to Secretary Paulson right here!

Write Congress!

and/or

Call Congress!

I really don’t know what to say about this, aside from string them all up. You read the headline correctly. AIG, the same company that received $84 billion in taxpayer money to bail the company out from terrible decisions they made freely in our “free market,” the same company that then decided last week that it was ok to spend $443,344 on an executive junket on the Pacific coast, the same company who has another lavish junket scheduled for next week, is getting another $38 billion from the taxpayers today. They have already withdrawn $61 billion of the first $84 billion bailout, so yes, your tax dollars most definitely paid for that junket.

AIG CEO Edward Liddy defended the junket today in a letter to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson:

While this sort of gathering has been standard practice in our industry for many years and was planned many months before the Federal Reserve’s loan to AIG, we understand that our company is now facing very different challenges…Edward M. Liddy
Chief Executive Officer, AIG

Liddy goes on to assure Paulson that, after having spent over 400 large for “independent life
insurance agents – not for AIG employees” to have a good time, they are “reevaluating the costs of all aspects of our operations in light of the new circumstances in which we are all operating.”

I think Mr. Liddy’s inability to “reevaluate” fast enough is clearly evident. I’m running out of clever ways to reference the French revolution without explicitly referencing it…err…see what I mean? At what point do we storm the Bastille, people? When are we going to get mad enough to actually take to the streets? If not now, when? Do they actually have to come into your home and steal your remote control to get the American public angry enough to protest?

They are stealing your future!

They are stealing my future children’s future!

Won’t you join me in my outrage by writing to your representatives and to Congressman Henry Waxman, Chair of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform. He is, as I write this, conducting hearings on this very matter. Please take a moment to let him know just how unacceptable it is that AIG continue to receive a single dime from any of our pockets. Let ‘em rot, come what may!

Full text of Liddy’s letter to Paulson after the jump (PDF) Read more »

Write Congress!

and/or

Call Congress!

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said on Hardball today that the AIG executives evidently have another junket planned for next week. I’m not sure if the bad publicity will scare off these robber barons, but I’m not going to wait around to find out. Take a moment and write your congressional representatives and tell them to pull the plug on this outrageous spending or on the AIG bailout all together!

This time, I don’t think I’m going to offer up my letter right out of the gates. But if you are so inclined, I’d love to see what you end up saying about this. Please post your letters in the comments section so we can all bask in the glory of populist outrage!

Now that the Fed is trying to use a printing press to dig us out of this mess and buying terrible debt, we are really screwed. We have almost no oversight over the Fed. Most people know almost nothing about the Federal Reserve system. Time to learn! I can sit here and rattle off point after point proving why it is a terrible system and why it should be removed (Ron Paul, anyone?). Instead, I beseech you, watch the documentary, “America: Freedom to Fascism” above (run time: 111 minutes).

This film should be essential viewing for both children and adults. I had the pleasure of seeing this in the theater when it was originally released. Unfortunately, the film’s producer, Aaron Russo, died in 2007. I would love to hear his take on the current election cycle. It will open your eyes about the IRS, the Federal Reserve System and the long history of erosion of the “freedoms” we believe we have as Americans. Spoiler alert: we are not free.

Please, if you don’t have 111 minutes right now, bookmark this post and watch it when you do. But if you can, watch it before tonight’s presidential debate and then get online and ask the candidates about it. What a wonderful shot at democracy in action! Please excuse me if I don’t hold my breath.

While the Senate did cave to the financial terrorists, the fight is far from over. In fact, a new alternative has emerged.

Take action!
Support the
“No Bailouts” act!

The “No Baiouts” Act “would impose a securities tax equivalent to one quarter of one percent of profits and empower the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to deal more effectively with bank failures,” according to John Nichols at The Nation.

Take a look and see for yourself. It is an alternative and it has the support of former heads of the FDIC. Then, take a moment, hit the link above and sign the petition. Even if you don’t think this is the best plan, perhaps it IS best to challenge Congress to pursue every alternative? I certainly think so.

Write Congress!

and/or

Call Congress!

On the chance that the Senate is going to plunge us into the reality of being the world’s largest, stupidest socialist state this evening, I thought it might be wise to listen to a bona fide socialist like Herr Schulz.

According to that NY Times article linked above, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) “said one reason he was more optimistic was that lawmakers are hearing less vocal opposition from their districts.”

This, coupled with the drumbeat from every single msm outlet on television, might push this idiocy into law. I cannot stress this enough: this is a form of extortion and we are about to pay the blackmail. There is ample cash out there to be had, both in savings and in the huge printing runs by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Banks. We are being held up and we must say no to the financial terrorists on Wall Street!

Please, take a moment to (again!) contact your reps! The vote is scheduled for less than five hours from now. Remember, non-form letters carry much more impact!

The language of my letters (written today) to Congress (feel free to copy/edit/paste), after the jump.

I originally had this included with the previous quote, but it deserves it’s own headline.

Read more »

Contact your reps!
Write Congress!
Call Congress!

Well, Congress seems to have a plan in the works and while it isn’t the Paulson plan anymore, it is still terrible and anathema to the notion of a free market.

I’ve been asking all of you to write to Congress and share your views (particularly) on this subject, but really on any that floats your boat. Remember, these assholes work for you and me. When your employees get out of line in your office, you let them know about it, don’t you? Well, to aid in this effort, I thought I’d pass along The Consumerist’s guide to writing to Congress to make sure you get the most bang for your letter-writing buck.

Every office has its own procedures for tabulating constituent correspondence, but most will produce a report at the end of week breaking down how many letters were received by issue area, separating out form letters from letters sent by individual constituents.

Members treat each type of letter differently, but most look for individual letters as a barometer of their district’s concerns. These are the letters that have the most influence, the ones we will show you how to write.Carey
The Consumerist

As that guide points out, form letters get less attention than individual letters. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t use the forms I link to, such as this one. Just type your text into the appropriate box. Et Voilà! You have an individual letter that will immediately get emailed to your reps. You can also use this link to look up your reps phone numbers to call them directly in DC.

It looks like they are going to try to rush a vote today (Sunday) before the markets open in Asia. Get on the horn, people! It’s go time!

Damn, I hate anonymous sources. But in this case, the quote is simply too staggering and damning of the entire Paulson bailout plan to ignore. Forbes.com asked a Treasury Department spokeswoman on Tuesday about the origin of the (seemingly random) $700 billion figure. The answer:

It’s not based on any particular data point. We just wanted to choose a really large number.Unnamed U.S. Treasury Department Spokeswoman

I wrote a post about common sense last night and it is proving increasingly true. The minute I saw Paulson testifying in front of the Banking committee, I felt like I was back in the financing office when I bought my first car! “Just sign the contract and we’ll figure out the interest rate later,” said the nice man pushing the contract into my face. “I promise to get you the best rate I can.”

If you haven’t registered to vote, do so here or here or here.

I didn’t fall for it then and I’m not going to fall for it now. Neither should you!

If you haven’t actually taken a look at the proposed plan, it is worth seeing even though it is now (fingers crossed) totally impossible to pass. The only purpose for the Paulson plan is now clear: it was a smash and grab job where the loot was the U.S. treasury and the unitary power to control it. It was just like what happened following 9/11 when the PATRIOT act was crammed down the throat of each and every one of us. Look how well that worked out. In fact, just so we are all on the same page, Section 8, anyone?

Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.Henry Paulson
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury

The irony is not lost on me that the term “section 8” was/is used to refer to insanity in military parlance. The reports I’ve seen in the msm indicate that the public’s response to Congress has been 200:1 against the bailout. This speaks highly of the public’s ability to smell an obvious, appalling rat, but does not mean you, too, don’t have to write to your representative. Stop the insanity! Do us all a favor and write your congressional representatives!

Do yourself, your children, and your children’s children a huge favor and don’t let Congress fork over more than $1 trillion to Wall St. without getting anything in return. Sign this petition and let the congressional leadership know that you demand we get something for all that money, something like an equity stake in any beneficiary of the bailout (aka “warrants”), something like cancellation of golden parachutes, something like actual regulation. Glass-Steagall, anyone?

If you don’t know what exactly is being proposed, take a look at the New York Times today for a brief primer.

You can also use this form to contact your congressional representatives and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.