Alan Greenspan Admits America Is A Crony Capitalist System
by ilene - September 7th, 2010 1:44 pm
Excellent, brief summary of where we stand now, by Tyler at Zero Hedge.
Alan Greenspan Admits America Is A Crony Capitalist System
Courtesy of Tyler Durden
We are not sure what is more amusing: the Masetro’s unwitting (and quite correct) observation that America is now nothing but a crony capitalist country, or his attempt to back out of what he said that so perfectly captures the essence of the failed corporatocracy currently raging in America.
In the following exchange from a DemocracyNow interview, Greenspan is forced to respond to his quote from Age Of Turbulence on the definition of crony capitalism: "When a government’s leaders or businesses routinely seek out private sector individuals or business, and in exchange for political support bestow favors on them, the society is said to be in the grip of crony capitalism. The favors generally take the form of monopoly access to certain markets, preferred access to sales of government assets, and special access to those in power."
Greenspan’s pathetic excuse is that while crony capitalism is a "dominant force" in some other regimes, it is "not the dominant force in this country." Perhaps all those who are fighting with the virtual monopoly granted to certain players, such as Goldman in fixed income trading, and Pimco in government bonds, would beg to differ. So yes, according to the Greenspan definition America is now nothing more than a crony capitalist society, which will only get worse as more and more power is granted to those who are believed to be able to ramp various asset classes, and thus the market in general, higher, because as Greenspan himself pointed out recently, nothing is as important a "driver" to the economy as the stock market: "if the stock market continues higher it will do more to stimulate the economy than any other measure we have discussed here". In the administration’s pursuit of Dow 36,000 to prove that all is well, America has given up on its core constitutional tenets, and is now nothing better than a dictatorial regime in some far-eastern backwater country.
Fast forward to 44:40 in the clip below (after the jump) to see the exchange.
h/t Geoffrey Batt
Photo: Courtesy of Jr. Deputy Accountant
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TLP: About F#^king Time
by ilene - July 14th, 2010 11:25 am
TLP: About F#^king Time
Courtesy of Jr. Deputy Accountant
Yeah, but what about intentional f-bombs?
NYT:
A federal appeals court struck down a Federal Communications Commission policy on indecency Tuesday, saying that regulations barring the use of “fleeting expletives” on radio and television violated the First Amendment because they were vague and could inhibit free speech.
The decision, which many constitutional scholars expect to be appealed to the Supreme Court, stems from a challenge by Fox, CBS and other broadcasters to the F.C.C.’s decision in 2004 to begin enforcing a stricter standard of what kind of language is allowed on free, over-the-air television.
The stricter policy followed several incidents that drew widespread public complaint, including Janet Jackson’s breast-baring episode at the 2004 Super Bowl and repeated instances of profanity by celebrities, including Cher, Paris Hilton and Bono, during the live broadcasts of awards programs. The Janet Jackson incident did not involve speech but it drew wide public outrage that spurred a crackdown by the F.C.C.
In a unanimous three-judge decision, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York said that the F.C.C.’s current policy created “a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here” because it left broadcasters without a reliable guide to what the commission would find offensive.
The appeals court emphasized that it was not precluding federal regulation of broadcast standards. “We do not suggest that the F.C.C. could not create a constitutional policy,” the court said. “We hold only that the F.C.C.’s current policy fails constitutional scrutiny.”
So the court gives the FCC a fleeting "F" for FAIL. And the best part is that the judges totally let loose with all kinds of profanity in the ruling.
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Ron Paul: “The Birth and Death of the Fed”
by ilene - April 26th, 2010 4:31 pm
Ron Paul: "The Birth and Death of the Fed"
Courtesy of Jr. Deputy Accountant
It’s long but did you really have anything better to do?
Bonus points for hijacking Jekyll Island for Dr Paul’s own purposes.
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Democrats Claim Congress Has Authority to Make Everyone Buy Snuggies and Jupiter Jacks
by ilene - March 27th, 2010 8:00 pm
Democrats Claim Congress Has Authority to Make Everyone Buy Snuggies and Jupiter Jacks
Washington, D.C.--After Congress, for the first time in U.S. history, passed a law that requires everyone to purchase a particular product — in this case health insurance — over a dozen states have filed lawsuits arguing the legislation violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution which grants Congress only the limited power to regulate activities that effect interstate transactions.
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TRB vs Carney on the Big Bank Tax
by ilene - January 20th, 2010 11:20 pm
Debate: is the proposed big bank tax constitutional? John Carney presents a strong argument that it is not. Joshua Brown presents a strong argument that it doesn’t matter. My response, yes, and yes. – Ilene
TRB vs Carney on the Big Bank Tax
Posted by Joshua M Brown, The Reformed Broker
John Carney seems like a good bloke. I get the feeling that should he and I ever go out for a night of drinking, much of Manhattan would end up looking like the aftermath of Cloverfield and at least one of us would end up in the hospital/drunk tank.
Anyway, Carney, a lawyer by training and a kickass blogger at The Business Insider, wrote a well reasoned, point-by-point summary of why Obama’s Too Big To Fail bank tax is unconstitutional. I think his main error is supposing that we are actually operating under any system of constitutional law whatsoever.
When rich people panic, laws are thrown out the window. When the nation is under extreme duress, laws are suspended or shoved aside to make room for expedience. This may be objectionable or pragmatic, depending on your own philosophy, but as John says in his post, it is what it is.
My argument is a simple but elegant one:
Since neither the construction nor the operation of TARP or its sister programs was constitutional to begin with, it is an absurdity to argue that the addition to this program of a new recompensatory feature violates the constitution. This would be like arguing about what color a unicorn’s tail is supposed to be.
The Too Big To Fail Tax is simply the continuation of an unnatural progression that began the moment Bush’s team decided that the banks themselves were sacred. Once we tripped down into that gulch, the constitution became irrelevant to the bailout and by extension, to anything that came after the initial effort to save and support companies with taxpayer dollars.
I am not a lawyer and so am not as well-versed in constitutional law as Mr Carney, but I have an even better tool at my disposal – the perspicacity to see when rules are being made up on the fly or being discarded at will. No legal precedents could justify the subsequent randomness once Paulson and Bernanke constructed the…
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In Recognition of Constitution Day, the Long-Lost Charter Is Printed on Milk Cartons Nationwide
by ilene - September 23rd, 2009 4:36 am
I missed Constitution Day, but as luck would have it, so did the Constitution. - Ilene
In Recognition of Constitution Day, the Long-Lost Charter Is Printed on Milk Cartons Nationwide
In recognition of “Constitution Day,” commemorating the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787, the long-lost document has been printed on milk cartons nationwide.
The public is urged to be on the lookout for a “short, concise statement of the principles of limited government.” Authorities said the document “is just a few pages long,” so it could be “just about anywhere.”… More here. >>
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The Money Matrix – Who Owns the FED
by ilene - June 30th, 2009 10:25 pm
Get to know the Fed a little better.
And be sure to sign up for a free subscription to PSW Report. (I was asked to put the shameless promotion on another line.)
The Money Matrix – Who Owns the FED (UPDATED PART 7/15)
…and why it both does and does not matter.
By Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution. "As always, unlike the NFL, the author grants full permission to allow any accounts of, rebroadcasts, retransmissions, repostings of this article to your blog or anywhere else in order to promote the Restoration of our Republic."
CARTEL – n. a combination of independent commercial or industrial enterprises designed to limit competition or fix prices (per Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary) (emblem)
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"Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the Earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But if you wish to remain the slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits."
– Josiah Stamp, President of the Bank of England in the 1920s
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[This article is updated with more infomation and the March 2009 figures released from this February article in response to a couple press requests. The figures were calculated from the FED data here, using the same method described here.]
So, who owns the Federal Reserve? Well, it certainly is not the US government, as many would suppose. In fact, I have found that quite a few – including myself last year – who are roughly aware of how the FED works but believe that the owners of the FED is a secret. Well, it is not. The FED’s Purposes and Functions (page 21/146) reads:
"As of March 2004, of the nation’s approximately 7,700 commercial banks approximately 2,900 were members of the Federal Reserve Systema – approximately 2,000 national banks and 900 state banks. Member banks must subscribe to stock in their regional Federal Reserve Bank in an amount equal…
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW.