Fri 2010-03-12 08:38 EST

AlterNet: The Economic Elite Have Engineered an Extraordinary Coup, Threatening the Very Existence of the Middle Class

David DeGraw, Amped Status

It has now become evident to a critical mass that the Republican and Democratic parties, along with all three branches of our government, have been bought off by a well-organized Economic Elite who are tactically destroying our way of life. The harsh truth is that 99 percent of the U.S. population no longer has political representation. The U.S. economy, government and tax system is now blatantly rigged against us...

AlterNet; Economic elite; engineering; exists; Extraordinary Coup; middle class; threatens.

Blog entry Tue 2009-10-13 20:30 EDT

Movement To Block Bernanke Gathers Steam

Isaiah J. Poole

The renomination of Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve should not be rubber-stamped by the Senate until Bernanke and the Fed are more transparent and accountable to the public, says a growing coalition of activists roused by Reps. Alan Grayson and Ron Paul, who have asked the Senate to put a hold on Bernanke's nomination...all it takes is for one member of the Senate to object to moving Bernanke's nomination to the floor of the Senate. The tactic of placing a hold on a Senate nomination has been frequently used by Republicans against Obama administration appointees for for less consequential reasons than what is happening with trillions of taxpayer dollars in the name of staving off the next Great Depression. What's unclear is whether a member of Congress will be bold enough to stand up to Wall Street and to what William Greider calls "the temple."

Block Bernanke Gathers Steam; blog entry; movement.

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis Mon 2009-09-21 14:57 EDT

Strategic Default Data Suggests Foreclosure Prevention Tactics Useless

Michael Shedlock

An interesting report in the Los Angeles Times shows that a person with super-prime credit scores is more likely to walk away from an underwater mortgage than a person with a subprime credit rating.

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis; Strategic Default Data Suggests Foreclosure Prevention Tactics Useless.

naked capitalism Sun 2009-09-20 11:53 EDT

Financial Reform: Not happening but the need is clear

Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns

If you are looking for reform in the financial sector, the moment has passed. And only to the degree that the underlying weaknesses in the global financial system are made manifest and threaten the economy will we see any appetite for reform amongst politicians. So, as I see it, the Obama administration has missed the opportunity for reform...Steve Keen, an Australian economist whose theories are heavily influenced by Hyman Minsky, has a cogent analysis of the true structural deficits in the current economic model...today we have finally reached a level of debt which is so great that another reflation is impossible. The collapse is now....unlike Keen, I am not convinced the time is now...What I would like to see is economic thought leaders developing a blueprint of a financial crisis strategy which tackles both the immediate crisis issues (liquidity) and the structural, regulatory and monetary issues that create financial volatility (solvency). When crisis does occur, I believe it will be systemic in nature due to the forces Keen so lucidly explains. Therefore, a blueprint which is 1) heavy on tactics and, 2) if implemented in a real systemic crisis, is likely to work, builds credibility. This is political capital which will carry over to longer-term preventive strategies and reforms.

clear; Financial reform; happened; naked capitalism; needed.

naked capitalism Thu 2009-08-27 10:50 EDT

Quelle Surprise! Fed Uses Scare Tactics to Try to Forestall Loan Disclosures

Yves Smith

In a show of how much our government thinks that serving the financial oligarchy, rather than the citizenry, is its prime duty, the Fed is fighting to stop the court-ordered disclosure of who borrowed money under the Fed's various lending facilities. The reason I lump the Fed in with "the government" is that the central bank has been serving as an off-balance sheet entity of the Treasury for quite some time. And not only are the Fed and Treasury acting in near lockstep, but there has been no meaningful change in the government stance towards the banksters. Yes, Team Obama makes more of a show of trying to rein them in, but push comes to shove, it's merely Paulson version 2.0: same content, better packaging. Paulson's success in muscling...

Fed Uses Scare Tactics; Forestall Loan Disclosures; naked capitalism; Quelle Surprise; trying.

Tue 2009-04-21 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: Guest post: Obama's auto plan: good strategy, poor tactics

by Edward Harrison

good strategy; Guest Post; naked capitalism; Obama's auto plan; poor tactics.

Wed 2009-04-01 00:00 EDT

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Bernanke's Hide and Seek Delaying Tactics

Bernanke's Hide; Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis; Seek Delaying Tactics.