American Ruling Class

Oligarchies Masquerading as Democracies

"The creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 was the re-establishment of the oligarchs' lender of last resort. That meant that the federal debt would become the foundation of the entire economy: debt purchased by the central bank to balloon the monetary base. To pay off the debt would create mass deflation and depression. The oligarchs now have immunity. Congress will not order an independent audit of the FED. The model is the Bank of England. It has been the chief insurance agency of the Anglo-American oligarchy ever since 1694. The 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688/89 was in fact the symbolic triumph of the oligarchs over the king." Continue reading →

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Chicago Public Schools’ pain is these financial firms’ gain

"Struggling to make payments for pensions and pay down billions of dollars in debt, the Chicago Public Schools last week announced 1,050 layoffs and $200 million in spending cuts to keep the school system afloat. Dozens of financial and legal firms have been paid $18.1 million in fees from CPS borrowing and debt-refinancing deals since 2011, according to records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. CPS still owes billions on borrowing deals dating to the mid-1990s, when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley took formal control of the school system, which then began renovating and building schools using borrowed money." Continue reading →

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The Ominous Warning in Denny Hastert’s Downfall

"The speaker who pushed through financial monitoring provisions of the USA Patriot Act found himself ensnared in the same law. By 'structuring' his cash withdrawals to avoid reporting requirements, he aroused suspicions at his bank and gave the FBI reason to investigate. As delightful as it is to see the mighty brought low, Hastert may also be victim of a grave injustice. If the government thinks it can prove Hastert committed a sex crime, the right course would be to file charges and let a jury decide. Law enforcement now has the power to bypass courts and inflict punishment without trial. Before we relish Hastert's downfall, we should remember that any one of us could be next." Continue reading →

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The Fed Chairs Have a Habit of Hazing

"Paul Volcker took over as Chair of the Fed in August 1979. A recession officially began five months later. This was the worst recession since the Great Depression. In August 1987 Alan Greenspan took over the Fed. Two months later 'Black Monday' occurred on October 19, 1987, when the Dow dropped 22.6% that day alone–the worst one-day crash in history. In February 2006 Ben Bernanke became Fed chair. The worst recession since the Great Depression officially began in December 2007, and you may recall there was some trouble in the financial markets in September 2008… In January 2014 Janet Yellen became Fed chair." Continue reading →

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What’s It Like to Work for the New York FED?

"Not bad, if you like perks, 8-hour days, and bureaucratic security. This is the opinion of two-thirds of its employees who responded to the GlassDoor inquiry. It’s fat city in Fat City. And why not? Working for the Federal Reserve is a license to print money . . . literally. Click the link to see what the good life is like for America’s legal counterfeiting operation." Continue reading →

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Federal Reserve likely to end QE stimulus program in October

"The Federal Reserve is set to end its economic stimulus program in October, bringing to an end the controversial five-year-old scheme even as officials said there were signs that the US economy was still in trouble. Officials have been winding down their monthly purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities since January, but had not set an end date for the scheme. Controversial from the outset, QE was designed to keep long-term interest rates down and encourage investors to back stocks or corporate debt in order to stimulate the economy. Stock markets have hit record highs under QE yet the unemployment rate remains high and there are continuing signs of weakness." Continue reading →

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Gerald Celente on Marijuana Legalization and OccupyPeace

"We're initiating a project called OccupyPeace.us. And it's based on three words: No foreign entanglements. Those are the three words spoken by the Founding Fathers of this country. We want to rebuild America and the way we want to do it is we're working to build an OccupyPeace movement based on no foreign entanglements and we're working to push the United States more in line with a direct democracy like Switzerland. You want to go to war? Let the people vote. You want a defense budget? Let the people vote on it. You want to bail out the banks? Let the people vote. If we can bank online we can vote online. It could be more open than any other system in the world." Continue reading →

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Central Planning by Central Bankers

"The agency that controls monetary policy for the United States has an unlimited amount of money to buy support, compliance, or least silence within that segment of professionally trained economists that specializes in money and banking. The Federal Reserve gets to keep all the money that it wants for operations. It has to turn back over to the Treasury Department any money that is not used for operations, but it does not answer to Congress or the Treasury with respect to how it spends its money. This means that the Federal Reserve has essentially unlimited funds available to buy off those critics who might challenge Federal Reserve policy." Continue reading →

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U.S. Regulators Mull Yanking Access To USD As Punishment For Banks

"BNP Paribas is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks to charges that it processed payments for companies and countries that were subject to United States sanctions. BNP Paribas is also expected to pay financial penalties of about $8 billion, which would leave a sizable, though manageable, dent on its balance sheet. Despite those potential punishments, some regulators want to do more. Specifically, Benjamin M. Lawsky, New York State’s top financial regulator, is considering whether to temporarily suspend BNP Paribas’s ability to process dollar payments, according to people briefed on the settlement talks." Continue reading →

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Is It a Crash Yet?

"Nothing about these markets is normal – especially in the face of continued economic weakness. These markets are being shoved higher for a reason. In fact, the idea behind these nonsensical valuations is to convince investors to buy-buy-buy. Only when enough of them have entered again will markets ready themselves for a crash. We've stuck to our predictions of higher equity marts not because there are any underlying factors that justify these valuations – there are not. But our conviction remains that powerful players want a higher market – a sky-high market – because a crash from that elevation may be painful enough to produce a consensus for yet more market globalization." Continue reading →

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