Whatever you think of the war in Afghanistan, there is no denying that the recent reports of rampant financial corruption going on even at the highest levels of Afghanistan’s government are extremely troubling. The United States has spent billions upon billions of dollars to help Afghanistan set up a “democracy”, but now there is news that corrupt government officials have been shipping billions and billions of dollars out of the country and have been buying luxury villas in Dubai. Apparently many Afghan officials have decided to achieve “the American Dream” the same way that many U.S. politicians have achieved it – by lying, cheating and stealing. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that over three billion dollars in cash has been flown out of Kabul International Airport in recent years. Considering the fact that this is far more than the Afghan government collects in tax and customs revenue annually, it is obvious that there is a huge, huge, huge problem with corruption in Afghanistan. Much of the cash being shipped out of the country is from the drug trade, but the narcotics money does not account for all of it. Investigators allege that a significant portion of this money that is being shipped out of the country is actually aid money that comes directly from U.S. taxpayers. (Read More...)
Corruption
Memorial Day Shocker: How The U.S. Government Really Handles Veterans Benefits – Deny, Deny, Deny Until They Die
One of the ways that you can judge the character of a nation is by how they care for their military veterans. On this Memorial Day, we remember those who have fought and died defending the American Dream, but this should also be a day when we check and make certain that those who have served this country so bravely are being taken care of. Unfortunately, a cold, hard examination of the facts reveals that the U.S. government is doing a horrific job of caring for our military veterans. U.S. government officials seem to be able to do a great job of laying wreaths and holding ceremonies, but when it comes to actually getting military veterans the care and benefits that they desperately need, the attitude seems to be “deny, deny, deny until they die”. (Read More...)
16 Signs That The Rich Are Getting Richer And The Poor Are Getting Poorer
Never before in American history has so much wealth been concentrated in the hands of so few. Once upon a time, children throughout the United States were taught that America was the land of opportunity where anyone can make it if they work really hard. But today the system is designed so that wealth flows into the pockets of the rich as the rest of us struggle feverishly to stay above water. The once great middle class that did so much to define America as a nation is slowly being squeezed out of existence. For tens of millions of ordinary Americans, the American Dream is rapidly becoming the American Nightmare. The labor of blue collar workers was once the engine that built the United States into an economic powerhouse, but today many of those workers have been replaced by robots and computers, or their jobs have been shipped overseas by greedy corporate executives. Those who are in a position to exploit advances in technology and third world labor pools are becoming exceedingly wealthy, while the rest of us are left wondering why it seems as though we are working harder and harder for less and less. The sad truth is that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. A very small percentage of Americans are sitting on massive piles of cash while an increasing number of Americans are having to rely on government handouts just to survive. So is this a good thing for America? (Read More...)
11 Examples Of How Insanely Corrupt The U.S. Financial System Has Become
If you ask most Americans, they will agree that the financial system is corrupt. It is generally assumed that just like most politicians, most big bankers are corrupt by nature. But the truth is that the vast majority of Americans have no idea just how corrupt the U.S. financial system has become. The reality is that the American Dream is literally being stolen from millions of Americans right out from under their noses and they don’t even realize it. The corruption on Wall Street has become so deep and so vast that it is hard to even find the words to describe it. The level of greed being displayed by many Wall Street firms would make Gordon Gecko blush. It seems that the major financial players will try just about anything these days – as long as they think they can get away with it. But in the process they are contributing to the destruction of the greatest economic machine that the planet has ever seen. (Read More...)