Where's The Outrage?

Mish: Where's The Outrage?

I don't know about you, but I am outraged.

I am outraged and not just about Goldman Sachs, but about a process that allows, even encourages political pandering, by time and time again rewarding leveraged riverboat gamblers and failed institutions and at taxpayer expense.

I am outraged that real people are suffering massively while the influence peddlers have stolen the country for their own personal benefit.

I am outraged at a political system that is totally unresponsive to the American people.

I am outraged by campaign contribution and lobbying processes that allows corporations to buy votes with donations.

I am outraged how legislators ignored the wishes of the people who clearly did not want these bailouts in the first place.

I am outraged that very little of this is in mainstream media. Why is this stuff not on the front page of every newspaper in the country or at least in the editorial pages?

I am outraged that the average US citizen is not aware of any of this, instead depending on CNBC, or "The View" for their interpretation of the world.

I am outraged how special interest groups have exercised their power to monopolize the economy for the benefit of themselves, US citizens be damned.

I am outraged that all these bailout programs are doing nothing to alleviate the massive consumer debt problems. Every program, virtually every program was designed to bailout lending institutions, not consumers.

I am outraged at fees charged by banks receiving bailouts.

I am outraged over government pension plans and government pay scales massively out of line with the private sector.

I am outraged that Congress and this administration thinks the solution to massive budget deficits are still higher budget deficits in excess of a trillion dollars.

I am outraged about indictments. Paulson Admitted Coercion to force a shotgun wedding between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch yet no indictments were handed out. Let the Criminal Indictments Begin: Paulson, Bernanke, Lewis.

I am outraged that US citizens are not concerned enough and not educated enough to demand change.

I am outraged that the two party system has failed. Neither party has delivered meaningful change on budgets, on taxes, on social security, on deficit spending, on the size of government, on military spending, or fighting needless wars.

I am outraged that the Obama Administration promised changed and did not deliver. "Yes We Can" was a lie. The reality is "It's Business As Usual, Only Worse, With Higher Deficits".

I am outraged there is not enough outrage over this.

Where the hell is the outrage?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

http://globaleconomicanal...

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‘TARP’ Turning Out to Be Largest Taxpayer Swindle in U.S. History

CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE have been busy lately patting themselves on the back for staving off financial armageddon by handing out taxpayer money to Wall Street like it was Halloween candy. But while they’re trumpeting the fact that some financial firms have returned a tiny portion of the trillions of dollars that were given to banks, reality is setting in that Americans will never see that money again and will be paying it off for many, many years to come.

In late September, legislators quietly assessed whether they should begin phasing out some government aid programs like the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which appropriated $700 billion— all of which had to be borrowed from bankers and foreign countries—to purchase bad investments, known as toxic assets, owned by financial firms.

So far, more than 600 potentially insolvent banks have been propped up by TARP. However, the program is set to expire at the end of this year, and doubts remain as to whether many lending institutions will be able to hold on without continued handouts from taxpayers.

TARP was initiated in late September 2008 following the collapse of the stock market. Since that time, a handful of firms have reimbursed taxpayers for money they received under the program to the tune of about $70 billion, or 10 percent of what has been given out. The debate in Congress comes as the chief bureaucrat tasked with watching over TARP recently conceded during Senate testimony that taxpayers will most likely not be paid back for all of the money they gave Wall Street.

Speaking before the Senate Banking Committee on Sept. 25, Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for TARP, said that it is “extremely unlikely that the taxpayer will see a full return on its TARP investment.”

By now, many policymakers inside the Beltway presume that Americans have forgotten how Bush’s Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke originally sold the massive payout by claiming that taxpayers would eventually reap “returns” on their “investment” in Wall Street.

Today, we’re being told that we should be happy that we will get back even some of that money. So now we know the truth about the TARP: It wasn’t enacted to protect the economy. It was created for the purpose of covering up the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in the history of the United States.

Source: American Free Press

The End of Security – The Collapsing Safety Net

Let’s face the facts. Government interventionism has run amuck. The Congress of the United States indulges in a drunken orgy of spend, spend, spend. The Federal Reserve System supplies the “punch bowl” which overflows with newly created inflationary money.

Honestly, do you really believe your lifestyle is secure, when we are saddled with a government, that runs massive deficits and supports a Federal Reserve System that causes boom and bust cycles with its inflationary money? How can you possibly trust political and financial leaders whose wealth destroying policies guarantee rising unemployment?

If you believe in a security that resides outside of who you are, then you’re living in a world of illusion. In fact, the events of the external world actually come pretty close to crushing the security you believe you possess.

Have you allowed yourself to be hoodwinked by our “beloved” leaders? Do you know what “The Big Lie” is? Well, here it is. The safety nets are firmly in place and you need not worry about the fact that our government is voraciously siphoning capital from our free enterprise system.

Let me ask you this. How is it possible for business to create new jobs when our government is consuming the necessary capital for job creation?

If the following doesn’t scare your or at least piss you off then I don’t know what will.

The government’s on-budget deficit is close to $12 trillion dollars. Understand this. It’s growing at a rate of a trillion dollars per your, probably forever, or until the whole damn thing collapses.

Do you realize the government is currently removing a whopping $240 billion a month from the marketplace? Of course, you’re smart enough to know this amount will continually increase—at a rapid pace. Perhaps, you’re wondering how the free enterprise system can create any jobs under these dire circumstances. The only thing that grows is that gargantuan monster, the government.

Remember the old movie “The Blob?” The plot line was “An alien life form consumes everything in its path as it grows and grows.” Imagine this. Our political and financial leaders are actually aliens who create governments that grow and grow by consuming all the wealth on the planet.

Let’s get to the point and face reality. As long as the faulty ideas of socialism and big government interventionism are prevalent and widely practiced, you can forget about the illusory safety net. If it did once exist, government policies are tearing into shreds.

The only security this world supplies is discovered through spiritual practices such as meditation. Sure, go ahead, play the game and accumulate as much wealth as possible, but realize this isn’t where your security resides.

For your benefit, I offer 2 free reports on my website to help you overcome our severe long-term economic crisis.

Robert A. Meyer

Source: Freedom News Blitz

"I'm from the government and I'm here to Help"

Scary words, no? Did you know that after 50 years, statistics show that the same relative number of people are poor as when the “War on Poverty” began (Poverty Statistics) ? Over a Trillion dollars spent and no headway whatsoever.

Could it be that the war on poverty uses policies which, rather than help people climb permanently out of poverty, instead perpetuates it? Could it be that, when you strip away good intentions and feel-good ideas, you find no progress at all.

Imagine you are a single mother living in an urban environment. The government provides you with food stamps, WIC , medical assistance, a welfare check. And the assistance increases if you should have another child. What would you do?

During the Clinton term the republican congress voted for and passed the Welfare to Work program, and although Clinton disapproved of it at the time, he later claimed credit for it when he saw the results.

Welfare to work gave that mother hope, showed her that with effort, she could move from a subsidized existence by the state to a better life created by her own hard work.

No, it isn’t easy. And as a privileged white person from the suburbs I certainly do not pretend to know what such a life would be like.

It’s tough when you are on welfare. But when you are born into welfare, when the government tells you that you will never make it on your own (for whatever reason), people believe it and act accordingly.

That means the creation of a self perpetuating welfare state where people trade dreams of excelling for their next check from a bankrupt government. They feel “entitled” to money earned by producers.

Never tell a mother or a child that they can’t make it in this country. It should be a crime to put such an idea in the mind of anyone.

While it’s true that the starting point in life is clearly unequal, it should not be an excuse not to try. Some of our greatest citizens were born in poverty; they simply refused to stay in that zip code.

My dad was one such person. Despite the confiscatory taxes of the Carter administration, despite ever increasing regulations, my dad somehow made a huge success of his restaurant. He saw the government as a hindrance. He wished they would have gotten out of his way.

During my dad’s years running his restaurant he provided many jobs and had many cooks and waitresses that were there almost from the beginning. He saw kids fund their college educations in part due to the money earned working in the restaurant.

The town profited from increased tax revenue, the employees had steady work and a fun, family atmosphere; no one expected anything without first making an effort.

When I began working for my dad, me – the owner’s son – I started by picking up cigarette butts in the parking lot. Later, I washed pots and dishes.

Only after demonstrating that I could, pardon the pun, take the heat, was I promoted to line cook and even waiter.

The pursuit of happiness is not a guarantee of happiness. No on said that life would be a painless exercise of rainbows and great music.

Only hard work, persistence and determination gets you to where you want to go. If you look to the government for a solution, you are looking to a life of subsistence.

My dad looked to no one but himself. He made it. Others can too.

Source: The Persistent Conservative

Democrats begin to Defect, while a Star Continues to Emerge

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government — lest it come to dominate our lives and interests" - Patrick Henry

Yesterday, 211 Democrats and 8 Republicans in the US House of Representatives voted in favor of one of the largest tax increases in US history. The Waxman-Markey Climate Control Bill, commonly referred to as the Cap-and-Trade bill, will undoubtedly bankrupt American companies, destroy American jobs, create an enormous government bureaucracy, strip away more of our freedoms and significantly raise energy costs on every single American.

Although, it is regrettable that such a bill could ever pass the House; I did take solace in two things. First, 42 Democrats voted against this legislation. That's right, 42 brave souls stood up against Nancy Pelosi, the wicked witch of Washington, and one of her most beloved henchmen, Henry Waxman (commonly referred to as the Rat Man by both his friends and enemies - and for good reason).
Now some of you might say, how is this encouraging? After all, the bill still passed. True, but when was the last time you saw 42 members of the Democratic party go against the wishes of Nancy Pelosi? Even more rare, when was the last time you saw a single Democrat vote against anything having to do with "saving" the world or putting an end to climate change (which, if I might inject here, has been going on since the creation of the world and will continue to go on regardless of what man does to prevent it). This vote shows that many Democrats are coming to the sad (sad for them only) realization that their party, controlled by socialist radicals and nut jobs (i.e. Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Kennedy, etc.), is overreaching (i.e. it's shoving too much down the throats of the American people too fast). As time goes by and the policies of Obama, Pelosi and Reid continue to pit the United States government against the American people, I believe that we will begin to see more and more Democrats defect and go against the bidding of their former masters.
The second promising sign that I took away from last night's vote, is the fact that John Boehner, the House Minority Leader from Ohio, is continuing to emerge as the de facto leader of the Republican Party. Last night, Boehner held the floor for well over an hour, discussing the energy bill and deriding it for the freedom grabbing, tax increasing atrocity that it really is. There were parts of Boehner's speech that were absolutely captivating. So much so, that a noticeably irritated Henry Waxman felt compelled to interrupt Boehner and complain that he was taking too long (heaven forbid anybody read or debate the largest tax increase in American history before voting on it).



As I watched highlights of Boehner's speech, I found myself thinking, "Finally, there's an articulate opposition voice to Obama's policies other than Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin." I first noticed Boehner's massive potential when he blasted Obama's stimulus package earlier this year in one of the most passionate and entertaining speeches I have ever seen.



These are definitely not the times for weak cowards, and John Boehner doesn't appear to be one.

Doesn't it feel good . . . isn't it refreshing to finally hear someone in America (the land of the free) clearly explain why socialism doesn't work?



Source: Rightbest Blog

Representative tells Congress we have a Gangster Government, WE BETTER LISTEN!

This representative is a hero for making such a speech in the face of the criminals. She is absolutely right! We DO have a gangster government.

PEOPLE!! DID WE EVER THINK WE WOULD SEE THE DAY AMERICA WOULD BE RUN BY CZARS?? That they would actually be called CZARS and appointed by the imperial president?

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE OUTRAGE! YOU BETTER GET OFF YOUR ASSES AND GET MAD NOW! OR YOU WILL BE NEXT IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!

Even our representatives are sounding the alarms telling you to get mad, get outraged. Why aren't you listening?

We have a Gangster Government taking over private corporations, strong arming individuals to do, or not do, business their way, printing money like its free, protecting the now scrutinized privately owned Federal Reserve, legislation is being fired off rapid fire to take our guns away, we have lost so many of the rights on The Bill of Rights, we are being controlled by CZARS that completely bypass the checks and balances of Congress and the People. We are losing our jobs and our homes at the highest record pace since the Great Depression. People are getting mad! In response to the anger, People are being prosecuted for free speech specifically for saying things about resisting this rogue government (a case in NJ and one in Las Vegas in particular), Homeland Security and Department of Defense have been exposed publicly teaching that protest is terrorism and tax protestors, gun owners, military and veterans, etc. are to be considered terrorists.

YOU TELL ME...WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?

Source: The Fading American Dream