MTV run's advert opposing Obama’s NDAA bill 1. Youtube December 16, 2011 Viewers would be surprised to see MTV’s recent anti-Martial Law advert that ran this week opposing Obama’s wholy unconstitutional NDAA S.1867 Bill. It’s part of of MTV’s ‘Think’ ad campaign, and is a clear break from the usual innocuous political content that we are normally used to seeing on a pop music network. The appearance of such a timely message here is somewhat surprising from the network whose unquestioning loyalty helped catapult Barack Obama into office in 2008, and may be called upon again to do the same in 2012… MTV Martial Law Commercial - National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1867) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO6yQvODZjI MTV Martial Law Commercial (2) - National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1867) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYI1PY-b-ro
Obama’s Depression Stephen Lendman mathaba.net December 16, 2011 Chosen to serve power, not popular interests, Obama wrecked America's economy to save giant Wall Street banks. He's still doing it, despite claiming he's been out in front doing all he can. By bailing out too-big-to-fail banks and waging multiple imperial wars, he intensified social misery. As a result, Main Street is mired in protracted Depression. Economist David
Rosenberg believes we're in the "third inning" of hard times malaise. Four occurred in the 19th century. Until now, the 1930s Great Depression was America's last severe downturn, lasting a decade, punctuated by failed bounces. America's Greatest Depression began in late 2007. Rosenberg calls is a "modern-day" one similar to what Japan experienced for over two decades. It's still ongoing, boding ill for US workers if America replicates Japan's experience. Depressions occur "once it becomes painfully obvious" that conditions don't improve despite "repeated bouts of policy stimulus." Most of America's went for banker bailouts, tax cuts for corporate favorites and super-rich elites, as well as quantitative easing money creation for speculation, not economic growth. In contrast to recessions lasting six to 18 months, depressions last years. From 2002 - 2007, America's economy was massively manipulated and levered. As a result, financial activities comprised 40% of profits. At the same time, household debt to income and assets "surged to unprecedented levels and the personal savings rate" was negative when the housing bubble peaked. As a result, America experience levered prosperity. Conditions are now reverting to the mean. A long way down remains. Since fall 2007, GDP, production, real income, and other major economic indicators never recovered to previous cycle highs. In normal times, post-recession tops are achieved and surpassed in a year or less. Not now. Home sales are 22% lower than in late 2009. Employment growth, in fact, has been stagnant for over a decade. The S&P 500 is no better than in spring 1998. In terms of job creation (what matters most on Main Street) and equity appreciation, America's had a lost decade well into another one. Recessions usually reflect inventory cycles. Traditional monetary and fiscal stimulus reignites
demand. In contrast, "balance sheet compression and deleveraging" characterize depressions, including debt reduction, asset liquidation, and rising savings as consumers hunker down in hard times. When excesses produce bubbles, mean reversion is protracted and painful. Structural, not cyclical, problems need fixing. It happened in the 1930s, Japan since 1990, and today in America and Europe, causing global reverberations. After nearly four years of near-zero interest rates, unprecedented money creation (QE ad infinitum), loan adjustments, and tax cuts, no end is in sight to contracting credit, no job growth, or economic pain, despite tout TV pundits saying otherwise. Despite fiscal and monetary measures, America's economy "is still saddled with roughly $1 trillion of excess capacity." Moreover, unemployment is shockingly high at nearly 23%. Again, headline numbers stick to the illusory 9.1% based on most recent data because the formula to compute it was manipulated to lie. Workers without jobs wanting them tell a different tale. Around 25% idle manufacturing capacity also shows economic trouble, not recovery. As conditions worsen, Rosenberg "shudder(s) at how far operating rates" may fall from current levels. Two decades of speculative credit expansion created bubble conditions that burst. Despite deleveraging, private sector debt to national income still hovers near a record 137% high, compared to a more normal 80%. As a result, getting there entails mean reverting from $4 - 6 trillion to bring liability levels to where credit again can expand. It won't happen easily or quickly. "It will take time and a shared burden by lenders, households and future generations of taxpayers before we hit bottom in this credit contraction." Expect years before it ends, exacerbated by secular attitude changes toward credit, savings, discretionary spending and homeownership. Consumers no longer see dwellings as a surefire
investment, especially with continuing foreclosures and falling valuations with no end of pain in sight. Moreover, since late 2007 to mid-2011, an estimated $7 trillion of household net worth was lost. Recouping modest amounts of that will take years, and for older workers nearing retirement it's too late. "Long and variable lags between changes in household net worth" and consumer spending patterns suggest protracted demand weakness for years. Emphasizing savings and budget priorities will impact most discretionary goods and services negatively. Ahead, emerging economies will far outdistance America even though global demand overall relied too long on the US consumer for growth. That "well (ran) dry. This time for good," at least for the long term. Moreover, the combination of rising US savings reducing aggregate demand will be deflationary for years. It also suggests protracted hard times for beleaguered households, struggling through hardships not helped by counterproductive policies. They understand it better than Wall Street's best and brightest, getting fat bonuses while working Americans suffer.
Let’s Impeach Eric Holder 1. Minuteman PAC December 16, 2011 In Washington’s latest outrage against Americans, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice has just found American’s toughest Sheriff Joe Arpaio guilty of a wide range of civil rights violations against illegal immigrants. If the sheriff’s office doesn’t stop its crackdown on illegal immigration, the federal government is threatening to pull millions of dollars in federal funding – a move that will effectively scrap any police presence or border control in the busiest human- and drugtrafficking corridors along the U.S.-Mexico Border. Isn’t that convenient. Right now, we’re calling on you as an American Citizen to defeat the Obama administration at its own game by demanding a citizen’s impeachment of Eric Holder. Obama intentionally put in charge ineffective, yes-man Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General in order to pull the Department of Justice into his sick determination to destroy America by destroying law and justice in this country. No longer are we going to sit on our hands waiting to take back America until November 2012. Impeachment is the only way to rid America of the corrupt and conniving U.S. Attorney General. But America desperately needs your help. Through our investigation, we have discovered a little known rule in the House handbook on how to impeach Eric Holder and every other Obama official abusing his or her power. According to the legislative manual of the House of Representative (and a case from 1826 which saw just such a thing happen for a federal judge), U.S. citizen’s have the right and the ability to take back Washington by impeaching failed officials at the highest levels of government. Taken from the commentary on Thomas
Jefferson’s Manual: “In the House various events have been credited with setting an impeachment in motion: charges made on the floor on the responsibility of a Member or Delegate (II, 1303; III, 2342, 2400, 2469; VI, 525, 526, 528, 535, 536); charges preferred by a memorial, which is usually referred to a committee for examination (III, 2364, 2491, 2494, 2496, 2499, 2515; VI, 543); a resolution introduced by a Member and referred to a committee (Apr. 15, 1970, p. 11941; Oct. 23, 1973, p. 34873); a message from the President (III, 2294, 2319; VI, 498); charges transmitted from the legislature of a State (III, 2469) or territory (III, 2487) or from a grand jury (III, 2488); or facts developed and reported by an investigating committee of the House (III, 2399, 2444).” So far, 53 members of Congress have called on Holder to resign over the Operation Fast and Furious cover-up by the Department of Justice under Holder’s leadership, but he refuses to listen to the American people and our elected representatives just like his buddy, Barack Hussein Obama. Once your petition is filed with a member of Congress, the next step is to be brought before the House by a willing representative – according to the 110th Congress House Rules Manual – House Document No. 108-241, petitions, memorials and other papers addressed to the House may be presented by the Speaker as well as by a Member (IV, 3312) AND a Member may present a petition from the people of a State other than his own (IV, 3315, 3316). And finally, the House must approve the impeachment. Folks, taking back Washington from Obama’s out-of-control appointees and other cronies in power doesn’t get any easier than that, especially when we’ve got the House majority in our favor… Republican congressman Jim Sensenbrenner opened up the possibility for a Citizen’s impeachment of Eric Holder just a few days ago in front of Congress, and so far it remains overlooked as a far-shot by the major media news outlets – even by the conservative ones. We need you to ask Congress to impeach Eric Holder since he is unwilling to resign despite our demands and the demands of our elected officials. Holder is feeling so secure in his position that he even recently scolded members of Congress for ‘inappropriate rhetoric’ during their investigation of the botched gun-running program known as
“Operation Fast and Furious.” Then he had the gall to admit that more violent crimes on both sides of the border could result from the Obama Administration’s failed plot to destroy the Second Amendment. And now, with the biased, self-serving investigation of Sheriff Joe – they’ve brought the fight to us. There is less than one year left before the Presidential Elections – that gives us one year to chip away at the Obama administration’s clutch on Washington that is destroying America. But we don’t have to sit by and watch him do it. Right now, we’re begging you – for the future of our country – demand a citizen’s impeachment of Eric Holder TODAY. 1. DEMAND CITIZEN’S IMPEACHMENT OF ERIC HOLDER! BLAST FAX CONGRESS TODAY! Please, exercise your right as a U.S. Citizen today. Help free America from the grips of the Obama administration, one official at a time. SELECT HERE! As U.S. Citizens, we HAVE the right and the power to impeach Eric Holder. We MUST exercise that right! For America, Minuteman PAC