We are never going to restore legitimacy to our political system until we get the money out of politics. Typically, in federal elections the candidate that raises the most money wins about 90 percent of the time. In 2008, Barack Obama raised almost twice as much money as John McCain did. 3 of the top 7 donors to Obama’s campaign were big Wall Street banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup). Now Wall Street is doing it again. The big Wall Street banks are already trying to buy the 2012 election. So who do they want to win in 2012? Based on contribution patterns so far, the overwhelming favorite of the Wall Street banks to win in 2012 is Mitt Romney. The big Wall Street banks have given to Romney as pile of money that is more than 4 times larger than they have given to anyone else. Even though most Republicans really don’t want him, if history is any indication this means that Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee for president in 2012. So why aren’t more people talking about this? (Read More...)
Wall Street Banks
Our Politicians Are Selling Off Pieces Of America To Foreign Investors – And Goldman Sachs Is Helping Them Do It
All over the United States, politicians are selling off key pieces of infrastructure to foreign investors and big Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs are helping them do it. State and local governments across the country that are drowning in debt and that are desperate for cash are increasingly turning to the “privatization” of public assets as the solution to their problems. Pieces of infrastructure that taxpayers have already paid for such as highways, water treatment plants, libraries, parking meters, airports and power plants are being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Most of the time what happens is that the state or local government receives a huge lump sum of cash up front for a long-term lease (usually 75 years or longer) and the foreign investors come in and soak as much revenue out of the piece of infrastructure that they possibly can. The losers in these deals are almost always the taxpayers. Pieces of America are literally being auctioned off just to help state and local governments minimize their debt problems for a year or two, but the consequences of these deals will be felt for decades. (Read More...)
10 Signs That Wall Street Is About To Go Into Panic Mode
Can you smell the fear? Right now world financial markets are visibly nervous and many are worried that Wall Street is about to go into panic mode. It really is eerie how 2011 is shaping up to be so similar to 2008. Major Wall Street banks are laying off workers in droves, oil prices are at very high levels, pessimism is permeating the financial markets, debt ratings are being downgraded all over the place and consumer confidence is stunningly low. Sadly, none of the fundamental things that were wrong with the financial markets back in 2008 have been fixed. In fact, many believe that Wall Street is even more vulnerable now. A ton of bad economic numbers have come pouring in lately and that has put investors in a really sour mood. All it would probably take is for one really significant “trigger event” to take place for Wall Street to go into full-fledged panic mode. (Read More...)