Saturday, May 20, 2017

You Can't Always Get What You Want…


You Can't Always Get What You Want…



Warren: So let me get this straight. You’re saying you’re in favor of Glass-Steagall, which breaks apart the two arms of the banks, except you don’t want to break apart the two parts of banking. This is like something straight out of George Orwell. You’re saying simultaneously you’re in favor of breaking up the banks— that’s what Glass-Steagall is—


By J.M. Hamilton (5-20-2017)


Note to self, file under, “The Glass is 58.5% full…”

For Green party members, liberals, and the few Dems - who haven’t surrendered their souls to the establishment, POTUS Trump is the gift that just keeps on giving.

The Goddess above works in mysterious ways.  Just when things seem hopeless and lost, inexplicably a gift arrives.  There was some initial hope that POTUS Trump would be a different kind a Republican.  Certainly his rhetoric suggested a New England republican, a Rockefeller republican, or even a RINO… someone focused on the poor, the disenfranchised, and the working class

But in the four months Mr. Trump has been office – seems like an eternity doesn’t it(?) – the President has done a 180, or an about face, on nearly everything he ran on, or positioned himself on over the proceeding decade.  Let’s examine a handful discarded campaign promises:

Taking on Wall Street & Glass Steagall:  Now, Glass Steagall was in the Republican platform, and Mr. Trump has talked about breaking up the Wall Street banks.  Glass Steagall kept commercial banking separate from investment banking.  And when Bill Clinton removed the remnants of Glass Steagall, commercial banks (federally backstopped) were allowed to merge with highly speculative investment banking.  Hence, a taxpayer-funded backstop was provided to speculative Wall Street gambling.  Hence, moral hazard; hence, the 2008 financial crash.  Today, one can find bankers, think tank analysts, and even some academics, who will tell you that Glass Steagall removal played no part in the 2008 financial crisis.  Whenever you hear this, dear reader, ask yourself a question.  Who is paying this banker, Wall Street analyst, or academic?  This week, Mr. Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Mr. Mnuchin, laid bare the administration’s true thoughts on the matter.  The Trump version (aka the 21st Century version) of Glass Steagall would not separate commercial lending from investment banking, which was the whole point.  Senator Warren correctly called this double-speak “straight out of George Orwell.”

Hedge Funds and pharmaceutical companies “getting away with murder.”  Apparently, and contrary to campaign rhetoric, under POTUS Trump, hedge funds and pharmaceutical companies will continue to get away with ripping off clients, exploiting tax loopholes, and jacking up the price of medicine to unimaginable levels.  In fact, if Trump is successful in ramming through Trumpcare, hedge funds and Big Pharma can expect a big fat tax break.  Mr. Trump’s talk of reining in Big Pharma price hikes… like so much of what Mr. Trump said to get elected, gone with the wind.  Looks like Big Pharma and hedge funds will be getting away with mass murder for the the duration of the Trump administration.

POTUS Trump’s promise to provide even better & more affordable care than that provided by Obamacare?  That is, his pledge to provide private/universal medical care (an oxymoron if there ever was one) for everyone…  this too, apparently, just another lie to get elected.  No less a conservative than U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tweeted of the bill that narrowly passed the House in early May: “A bill — finalized yesterday, has not been scored, amendments not allowed, and 3 hours final debate — should be viewed with caution.”  Under prior versions of the GOP bill, millions and millions of Americans would be left uninsured.  In order to get the ultra- right- wing Freedom Caucus on board, the bill that passed the house was said to be even more draconian.  Meanwhile, like Obamacare before it, Trumpcare does nothing to address the root causes of the nation’s failing healthcare system:  runaway healthcare cartels and monopolies, and highly tenacious doctor lobbyist.

Mr. Trump, correctly, went after the perfidious Royal House of Saud, and an adventurist foreign policy – with the centerpiece of failed nation building – while running for office.  Mr. Trump noted that America had wasted trillions in foreign wars with no result, basically intimating that the foreign policy establishment, and the military industrial complex, were an all consuming black hole.  Where is POTUS Trump today?  Off on his first official trip visiting the biggest supporter of terror in the world, Saudi Arabia.  Mr. Trump brought w/ him - on his great Saudi adventure - U.S. CEOs, from a who’s who list of multinationals: GE, Halliburton, J.P. Morgan, and Lockheed to name a few.  And today – this Saturday as I write this - they are expected to sign at least $50 billion in contracts w/ the Terror Kingdom, as reported by Bloomberg (ultimately, in excess of a hundred billion in contracts are expected to be signed between U.S. multinationals and Saudi Arabia).  Of course, the Kingdom – please note the crocodile tears emanating from my eyes – has fallen on hard times, due to the crash in oil prices.  To such an extent that the roles have reversed, and the Saudis need the U.S. more than we need them. 

So now that the U.S. has the leverage are there any caveats, conditions, or discussions about democratic or human rights reforms by the Terror Kingdom, as these multi-billion dollar contracts are signed?  Non-existent… off the table, not a codicil, nor a word about the U.S. backed Saudi war crimes in neighboring Yemen.  Meanwhile, surprise, surprise, Trump’s military advisers - and the DOD - are advocating a new surge in Afghanistan (the graveyard of empires).

So with all these lies, distortions, broken campaign promises, and - arguably – the betrayal of Americans he pledged to look after, it’s not altogether surprising that the Trump administration is now under criminal investigation for allegations of Russian ties and collusion, during the 2016 campaign.  Trump fired Comey, met w/ Russians the following day, Trump reportedly bragged to the Russians that he had fired a “nut job,” and a special counsel was assigned to investigate the Trump administration (over what appears to be a broad range of issues, including, possibly: treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors).

While these events and the pack of lies surrounding them are nothing to celebrate, or gloat over, for those on the political left, the glass is indeed more than half full.  Consider this:

Americans have been infatuated with billionaires, and the wealthy in particular for decades, if not centuries.  Many Americans assume that the billionaire class are extraordinary individuals with superior intellect and knowledge.  Many assume that – much like the ol’ Horatio Alger stories – great wealth is often accumulated by courage, entrepreneurial drive, hard work, and the sweat of one’s brow.  Trump’s behavior, and his over-riding ego, should bury this fairy tale in a deep dark hole forever.  Trump made his billions via: inherited wealth, filing for bankruptcy, tax loopholes, exploiting bankruptcy law for personal gain, and through a corrupt and crony economic/political system.  In fact, Mr. Trump told us during the campaign that our government was highly corrupt.  So why are people surprised that the exploiter of a corrupt government, Donald Trump, wasn’t able to turn away from his own venal practices once he entered office?  Mr. Trump, his cabinet, and his family have more conflicts of interest around the globe than are countable; and his family – as well as Mr. Trump – refuse to remove these conflicts and impediments to integrity.  His administration – made up of billionaires and multi-millionaires – caters, exclusively, to the wealthy, at the expense of ordinary Americans.  The moral decay of our country appears to have reached the pinnacle with this presidency.

The concept of a benevolent billionaire has been laid to rest.  Also lying in that same grave is the concept that the wealthy are smarter than you and I.  No, many are not; they just know how to exploit the system far better than we do, and have no moral qualms about doing so.  In this regard, Trump is providing an invaluable education to the American electorate.

The Republican Party – along with the Democrats – were in trouble going into the 2016 campaign, as evidenced by ever decreasing voter turnout.  Mr. Trump’s populist rhetoric/lies defeated more than a dozen establishment GOP candidates.  (Had Mr. Sanders been more widely known, and had he not faced the daunting prospect of a rigged super-delegate process during the Dem primaries, who knows how far the Senator would have gone?)  With Trump imploding, seemingly, before our very eyes, his behavior may set the GOP back for up to a generation.  Anybody who is honest with themselves knows that both mainstream political parties are in bed with the oligarchy, but the GOP is, metaphorically, hosting an orgy for the billionaire class.  As Americans wake up to this fact, including Trump’s hardcore base, the opportunity for liberals, left leaning Dems, and the Green Party only grows. 

Trump’s agenda, lies, and generally, repugnant behavior has started a resistance campaign/movement that is likely to grow.  And on this point, limousine liberals and Dems, who desperately want revenge for the perceived slight of not seeing a Hillary Clinton coronation, should take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy the ride.  Call it penance for nominating someone so corrupt, via a rigged primary process.  For as long as Trump remains under investigation, the danger of POTUS passing his legislative agenda (gutting regulations; privatizing the state; cutting healthcare for the elderly and the poor; and expanding tax cuts for the wealthy) becomes muted.  Not impossible, but significantly handicapped.  Meanwhile, the more Trump betrays his base, and the more his administration fails, the stronger the case for a 2020 liberal candidate.  Senators Warren and Sanders immediately come to mind, as does yes, Representative Gabbard from Hawaii.  With good health, any of these three could crush a Trump or Pence candidacy.

All this is to say, don’t be in a hurry to see Trump, or the investigations surrounding Trump, reach a swift conclusion.  A POTUS Pence actually might see the oligarchy’s reprehensible & repugnant policies through; and a POTUS Pence would definitely see Sharia law – sorry, I mean fundamentalist Christian values – legislated into law.  Ponder that.







And the final reason, the glass is more than half full?

Had Hillary entered the White House, it would have been Madame POTUS who - almost assuredly – would be under investigation, and the center-left would have faced possible ignominy, shame, and the wilderness for a generation or more.  Ms. Clinton’s diehard defenders seem to believe Hillary is somehow better than Trump; but a careful analysis of Madame Clinton’s past behavior, and a look at the Clinton Foundation’s donor list, demonstrates that she was in the pocket of the very same oligarchy, who now claims the heart and soul of the Trump administration. 

But for 70,000 voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, the three ring investigatory circus/alleged crime scene that has become the Trump administration, could have just as easily become a political zoo surrounding Clinton, Part Deux.

The left & liberals should probably be thanking the angry 70,000 white men who voted for Trump; and if the Democratic & Green party leadership are intelligent, they should begin, or continue, finding out what they can do to win these voters over in 2018 and 2020.

As Clinton & Trump have shown, populist rhetoric wins races, but lies surrounding a morally bankrupt candidate - or officeholder - may do irreparable harm to a political party.  (The biggest danger lies with a wounded Trump engaging in war – or a false flag event - to distract the public from the cancer that appears to be metastasizing within his presidency.)  In the meantime, the GOP adopting the oligarchy’s domestic agenda will likely achieve little more than congressional gridlock (albeit with some smaller victories along the way).  


Indeed, as the song says, one does not always get what they want, but sometimes we get what we need.


P.S.

Seems that the MSM has already let the event slide, but the U.S. Surveillance State – which has been preying upon the civil liberties of Americans for a long time – suffered serious blowback last week, when its malware was turned on legitimate businesses around the globe.  Americans have spent billions funding the NSA, and the Deep State, but to what end?  Our email communications are less secure than ever, as is internet commerce; corporations – collectively – spend billions on internet security; unless I missed something – there’s not a single documented terrorist incident that the NSA has forestalled; and not only does the Surveillance State’s actions threaten our national security, but also, our public safety. 

Since Mr. Snowden’s revelations, there’s been increased recognition of the threat the NSA poses to the Constitution and U.S. standing around the globe.  The fact that the NSA partners consist of a private sector cartel, such as Booz Allen Hamilton, seems to suggest – if past is prologue – that the NSA is above reproach and not amendable to reform.  In fact it appears to be just another MIC program of abuse, fraud, and waste

Let’s hope for a more safe and secure future, and that Congress, finally, does its job by reining in the NSA & the Surveillance State.  We, as Americans, should demand nothing less.



Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2017

Saturday, May 6, 2017

De la mer éternelle: la peste ou le choléra


De la mer éternelle: la peste ou le choléra

"This generation of voters grew up in the financial-crisis era and all they know is austerity, elites who’ve ruined their future,” said Jean-Philippe Dubrulle, an analyst at pollster Ifop. “So you have a generation that wants to tear down the system. Macron is seen a one of the elite, part of the system."


By J.M. Hamilton  5-6-2017

Can you hear them?  The tricoteuses are gathering again.

This Sunday, the E.U. will, likely, breathe a collective sigh of relief, as will oligarchs around the globe.  If the polls are correct, the French establishment’s candidate, Mr. Macron, will be elected over the populist, Ms. Le Pen.  But for many who believe this signifies the rolling back of the populist tide, they should consider the following (all of which happened w/in the last year):

Ø A relatively unknown socialist Senator from Vermont almost knocked off the Democratic nominee, during the U.S. primaries;
Ø The U.S. establishment’s choice for POTUS, Madame Hillary Clinton, was defeated by a billionaire political neophyte, who ran as a populist (subsequent actions/behavior notwithstanding);
Ø Mr. Trump’s platform - and the race he ran - attacked the Republican Party as failed, and as tools of the establishment;
Ø Austrians rejected establishment choices, and elected their very first Green Candidate, Alexander Van der Bellen  (Per Bloomberg: “It’s the first time in 70 years the country has elected a presidential candidate outside the Social Democratic or Austrian People’s Party, after both the established parties were eliminated in earlier rounds of voting.");
Ø England held a referendum on the E.U., and the majority voted in favor of leaving the E.U. (aka Brexit);
Ø In France, two Sundays ago, the Fifth Republic – in place since 1958 – was overthrown, along with the two mainstream French political parties.  A first in 58 years;
Ø In France’s first round of voting, the far-right candidate, Ms. Le Pen, and her far-left challenger, Mr. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, together, collected 40% of the French vote;
Ø In South Korea, President Park Geun-hye was forced out of office, over corruption charges; and the heir to the Samsung fortune, the most powerful corporation in South Korea, was arrested on corruption charges in the same scandal;
Ø In Brazil, a democratically elected leftist, President Dilma Rousseff, was overthrown and replaced in a coup orchestrated by highly corrupt oligarchs;
Ø And while you won’t read much about it w/in the U.S. MSM, Venezuela is in the midst of a populist revolt against a highly corrupt left-wing regime.


In short, if anything, the populist revolt has gone global and is gathering steam.  What is driving this political evolution or devolution?  The parallels between the American and French elections, in particular, offer some clues.

Ø After the 2008 financial collapse, American & French voters rejected right of center political parties and installed left of center – mainstream – political parties (aka Democrats and in France, Socialist… as we will soon see, the “Socialist Party” in France is a misnomer, in its present incarnation.)
Ø The left of center presidents, Obama & Hollande, whose parties historically had backed the middle and working classes, adopted the oligarchy’s agenda.  That is to say: neoliberalism; globalization; free trade uber alles; the financialization of the economy; and open borders (w/ a highly debilitating impact and an entirely predictable result upon American & French citizens).
Ø During the last several decades, the working class in both countries have seen wages stagnate, growing wage & wealth inequality, and working class jobs exported offshore.  They’ve also seen the oligarchy co-opt and own both mainstream political parties.  In short, the wealthy have grown wealthier and the poor… well, you know the story.
Ø The American and French electorate --- having shifted center-right, then center-left, and w/ both establishment parties having failed them --- have turned on both mainstream political parties.  Predictably, both electorates have looked outside the establishment parties for assistance.
Ø Youth unemployment in both countries, since the financial crash, remains exceptionally high, and over the last eight years, well into the double-digits.
Ø Citizens in America and France have come to the conclusion that the establishment political parties are highly venal.  And money and the oligarchs have contaminated and corrupted the establishment parties, if not government, itself.
Ø Interestingly, much of the campaign rhetoric, from the far-left and far-right candidates (Trump/Sanders and Le Pen/ Mélenchon), is often identical, attacking:  Wall Street, big banks, a purchased & crony government and politicians, central bankers, free trade agreements, and globalization. 
Ø The key difference between the far-right and the far-left is the right’s adoption of the politics of division & discontent, pitting one strata of society against another (often immigrants and refugees).

Who benefits most from the right-wing’s politics of discord and division?  Well, that would be the oligarchy, of course.  Any day that passes where the oligarchy is not blamed for the current economic crisis, and global political unrest, is a sunny day for our true masters, the Lords of Finance and the billionaire class.


So what are the takeaways from all this?

One: Increasingly, the traditional left/right political demarcation is becoming irrelevant.  In France and America, it is notable that the left of center political parties, Socialist and Dems, are now perceived to be in bed with banking and multinational interests.  In fact, two Sundays ago, the center-left Socialist party had the worst showing in round one of the French presidential elections (finishing a very distant fifth, behind the communist candidate); and in in America, the Democrats lost the White House, Senate, and the House.

It is widely perceived, correctly, that the center-left has rejected the middle class and ordinary Americans & French citizens, and is far more comfortable representing the elites, banking, and shadow banking (e.g. See POTUS Obama bailing out Wall Street banks, and recently accepting a $400,000 speaking engagement with a Wall Street firm).

Two:  There is an actual abyss between liberal social policy and Ayn Randian neoliberalism or hyper- predatory capitalism Liberals seek to turn capitalism for the betterment of all mankind (often attempting to contain capitalism’s, ahem, creative destruction/worst impulses, via redistribution & regulation), while neoliberalism seeks to reward the elite, exclusively (that is to say, neoliberalism embraces the savage jungle and binary outcomes). 

The two ethos, liberalism & neoliberalism, are mutually exclusive and diametrically opposed; and yet, in both France and America, the left of center political parties have attempted to introduce liberalism and neoliberalism, as interconnected.  In fact, if anything, the center-left in both countries has rejected liberalism and redistributive policies (at a time of tremendous suffering among the vox populi, due to globalization, automation, the financialization of the economy, and AI), in favor of the plutocracy’s neoliberalism. 


And Three: We likely, haven’t seen anything yet.  Who knows what the eternal sea (aka the global political arena) is capable of issuing forth?  Wars?  Famine? …. anything to distract the global population from the oligarchy’s machinations.

One thing is certain, as long as the oligarchy and political elites act with extraordinary arrogance, the opportunity for populism, extremism, and outsider candidates only grows. 

Eventually, the proletariat will figure out that their enemy is not each other, but the ruling oligarchy.  The fact that some voters can shift from Sanders to a Trump, or from a Mélenchon to a Le Pen (or vice versa), further demonstrates that nearly all politics is economic… and the traditional  left/center axis is rapidly dissolving into a 1% versus 99% dichotomy.  (This is not to say that social policy divisions will not remain for the foreseeable future.)

In this country, when POTUS Trump’s laissez faire policies fail again, the vacuum left by right-wing populism (as practiced by Trump: the politics of oligarchy), and Clintonian Dems, will likely be filled by socialism. 

Very much as the ruling oligarchy supports the redistribution of government and private sector wealth to themselves, America’s & France’s educated youth fully support redistribution of wealth to themselves and the greater society as a whole. 

Accounting entries, such as trillions in national debt, and the banksters who hold that debt, be damned.


Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2017