American Ruling Class

Bush-Era NSA Whistleblower Makes Most Explosive Allegations Yet About Extent of Gov’t Surveillance

"Russ Tice, a former intelligence analyst and Bush-era NSA whistleblower, claimed Wednesday that the intelligence community has ordered surveillance on a wide range of groups and individuals, including high-ranking military officials, lawmakers and diplomats. He also made another stunning allegation. He says the NSA had ordered wiretaps on phones connected to then-Senate candidate Barack Obama back in 2004. FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds and Tice agreed that such wide-ranging surveillance of officials could provide the intelligence agencies with unthinkable power to blackmail their opponents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBush-Era NSA Whistleblower Makes Most Explosive Allegations Yet About Extent of Gov’t Surveillance

Rep. Peter King calls Rand Paul’s remarks on Snowden ‘absolutely disgraceful’

"'I think it is important for the American people to realize that this guy is a traitor, a defector, he’s not a hero,' the congressman added. 'And I heard Senator Rand Paul this morning actually compared Snowden to General Clapper. What’s happened to our country? This is a traitor, and for anyone to be comparing him to a U.S. military hero is absolutely disgraceful.' Speaking with CNN’s Candy Crowley, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said that National Intelligence director James Clapper 'lied in Congress in defiance of the law in the name of security,' while 'Snowden told the truth in the name of privacy.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRep. Peter King calls Rand Paul’s remarks on Snowden ‘absolutely disgraceful’

Why Roger Stone’s JFK book has to be taken seriously

"Roger Stone is the first JFK assassination author to have worked in the White House and among the few who have personal acquaintances with JFK’s sucessors. Stone’s background doesn’t mean that his interpretation of November 22, 1963, is necessarily correct, but he cannot be dismissed as 'conspiracy theorist' who is deluded about the realities of American politics and power. To the contrary, he has far more first-hand experience with those Washington realities than an academic like John McAdams or a prosecutor like VIncent Bugliosi. I think Stone’s indictment of Lyndon Johnson deserves to be taken more seriously than anyone else’s." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Roger Stone’s JFK book has to be taken seriously

WSJ: White House Preparing Bernanke’s Replacement

"The Obama administration has begun assembling a short list of candidates for the Federal Reserve chairmanship, in the expectation that Ben Bernanke won't seek reappointment when his second term ends in January, according to people familiar with the matter. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is putting together the list, working closely with a small number of senior White House officials. People familiar with the process wouldn't divulge any names on the short list, but said there was no front-runner. The White House is still in an early stage of the process and might not announce its selection until the early fall, they said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWSJ: White House Preparing Bernanke’s Replacement

The 5 Richest Cabinet Members of All Time

"No. 5: W. Averell Harriman, commerce secretary, 1947-48; Estimated wealth in current dollars: $841 million; Harriman earned his money the old-fashioned way: He inherited most of it from his father, E.H. Harriman, founder of the Union Pacific Railroad. No. 4: William C. Whitney, Navy secretary, 1885-89; Estimated wealth in current dollars: $1.1 billion; Whitney came into his money via political connections and by marrying Flora Payne, the sister of Oliver Hazard Payne, one of John D. Rockefeller’s close assistants and earliest investors. No. 3: Penny Pritzker, commerce secretary, 2013." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe 5 Richest Cabinet Members of All Time

Crony Chicago-Based Billionaire Heiress Joins Obama Cabinet

"The Senate has confirmed Chicago-based billionaire Penny Pritzker as new Commerce Secretary. She was an early and important source of money in Obama's first presidential campaign. Pritzker is also on the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves as trustee of Stanford University. She's an advisory board member of Robert Rubin's Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project. This, folks, is a major insider. Forbes lists her wealth at $1.7 billion. Her father co-founded the Hyatt Hotel chain." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCrony Chicago-Based Billionaire Heiress Joins Obama Cabinet

How Much Are the NSA and CIA Front Running Markets?

"A 2008 paper by Arindrajit Dube, Ethan Kaplan, and Suresh Naidu (hat tip MS) found evidence that the CIA and/or members of the Executive branch either disclosed or acted on information about top-secret authorizations of coups. Stocks in 'highly exposed' firms rose more in the pre-coup authorization phase than they did when the coup was actually launched. Given the fact that there’s reason to believe that people in the intelligence with access to privileged information weren’t above leaking it to people who could take advantage of it, why should we expect things to be different now?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Much Are the NSA and CIA Front Running Markets?

David Gregory Does Some Hard-Hitting News Coverage

"While I'm not a big fan of Frank Rich, I did enjoy his absolutely devastating stream of insults hurled at David Gregory, the NBC 'journalist' who accused Glenn Greenwald of being a traitor. Rich then linked to this video of David Gregory showing his great journalist chops by dancing with Psy, Gangnam Style. Rich is wrong that there's anything bad about dancing with Psy, who is a better human being than any member of Congress. The truly revealing video of David Gregory is this one in which he is dancing and yukking it up with Karl Rove. We're supposed to believe that Gregory will deliver hard hitting journalism about people Gregory gets drunk with?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Gregory Does Some Hard-Hitting News Coverage

Porn, wine and kazoos on IRS worker charge cards

"The IRS allows some of its 90,000 employees to use company charge cards to buy work-related items, such as office supplies. However, employees made a host of 'improper' purchases -- ranging from a dinner averaging $140 per person to Thomas the Tank Engine rubber wristbands. The inspector general said the IRS has been negligent when it comes to catching employees who circumvent $3,000 caps on transactions, by splitting purchases into several transactions. The agency also doesn't have a good record at turning off credit cards as soon as employees depart or retire." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPorn, wine and kazoos on IRS worker charge cards