Ground Control to Mr. Bush

This is the America of the free market. This is the America based on capitalism…an ECONOMIC…not a political system. This is the America seen only in the wildest dreams of the “robber barons” of early American industry. This is the America of Reagan. Only it isn’t “Morning in America”...its twilight. This is the America of the the military-industrial complex…where job growth and business growth exist in the building of bombs, guns and other weapons of destruction. This is the Bush America of freedom…freedom of markets, freedom from regulation, freedom from the “nattering nabobs of negativism” spoken of by Agnew 35 or so years ago, hell…freedom from responsibility, freedom from accountability.

And it is the beauty of democracy, the beauty of the American system that we have done this to ourselves. We have sown the seeds of our own destruction. We have felled the greatest nation in the world without firing a shot.

God Bless America, indeed.

Posted by Liberal AND Proud on Jan 20, 2005 at 11:59 AM

Hey have you ever read any Sinclair Lewis. Surely no one alive today can believe that the earlier version of the US is better than the current one. Racism, sexism are largely fixed at least compared to 100 years ago.

And as far as i can see, no one is being arrested for voicing their opinions (and i don’t count such groups as anti-abortion protesters - IF they violate the law about *where* they may protest, for instance). The Daily Show has not been harrassed by the Reps, freedom shines. (It is a bummer that such a close and bitter election just happened, but someone had to win and someone had to lose, unless we wanted to have “co-presidents”.)

These are the best of times. . .

Posted by thinkHarder on Jan 20, 2005 at 12:10 PM

You are an ignoramus. America does not have “Free Trade”. No other country except for America is “globalizaing”. There are laws in India which make it ILLEGAL to hire Americans there. There are no guest worker visas for Americans to go work in China.

Yet millions of their workers can come to America, take paychecks, send the money (capital) out of the country, trash the country up, then go home. And in doing so they produce nothing of value. What we are doing by allowing mass importation of “guest workers” is encouraging the rape of America.

As for your “guns and bombs” statement, exactly what do you think Communist China is doing with all that money we are sending them? They are building up their military so that they can attack us, that’s what. Maybe when they bomb America back into the stone age, you will listen, American needs to build MORE bombs - not FEWER - as a deterrent. And if you wish to continue your irrational leftist viewpoints that are destroying America, then just consider this:

“The capitalists of the world and their governments, in the pursuit of the conquest of the Soviet market, will close their eyes to the indicated higher reality, and thus will turn into deaf, mute, blind men. They will extend credits in giving us the materials and technology we lack. They will restore our military industry, indispensible for our future victorious attacks on our suppliers. In other words, they will labor for the preparation for their own suicide.”—Vladimir Lenin

“War to the hilt between communism and capitalism is inevitable. Today, of course, we are not strong enough to attack. Our time will come in thirty to forty years. To win, we shall need the element of surprise. The bourgeoisie ... will have to be put to sleep. So we shall begin by launching the most spectacular peace movement on record. There will be electrifying overtures and unheard of concessions. The capitalist countries, stupid and decadent, will rejoice to cooperate in their own destruction. They will leap at another chance to be friends. As soon as their guard is down, we will smash them with our clenched fist.”—Dimitri Manuilski of the Lenin School for Political Warfare

Posted by Reply to Liberal AND Proud on Jan 20, 2005 at 12:17 PM

Both of you need to look beyond your own noses.

First of all WE are SHIPPING our dollars overseas…in the form of the fast approaching unsupportable levels of debt and current account shortfalls this brainsurgeon has created.

So, they don’t NEED their weapons. They will simply OWN us. And the captains of American industry will CHEER, because of the lovely equity positions they hold in those international businesses.

America is NOT an economic system. The role of government is NOT simply managing economics. The role of ELECTED government is to ensure that the PUBLIC INTEREST is served.

Where are the new jobs? Where are the new industries we’ve been told were going to replace the “old economy”.

You want to base our power simply on our might. you think that that is all it takes. Gee, I didn’t know you blogged on the Internets Mr. President…how’s the inauguration going?

You may call me an ignoramus. But you are simply blind FOOLS.

Posted by Liberal AND Proud on Jan 20, 2005 at 12:40 PM

“Racism, sexism are largely fixed at least compared to 100 years ago”

Are we really measuring ourselves against racism and sexism as it existed in 1905?!  Wow, those are some lofty standards you set for us.  Hey, while we’re at it, let’s just set the bar a little lower.  150 years ago slavery was still an institution in the South.  Look at how far we’ve come!  Give me a fuckin’ break.

“These are the best of times. . .”

What?!  American people are dying overseas for a lie.  We have record trade and budget deficits and are bleeding jobs like they are the blood of an Iraqi security officer.  The environmental protections of the last several decades have been erased in the space of 4 years.  Our politicians are unscrupulous whores who are bought and paid for by greedy corporations.  These corporations set our policies in secret meetings at the White House after they bend Cheney and Bush over for a plunking.  Conservative “reporters” are paid by the Administration with your tax dollars to parrot the policies of the corporate johns-this makes them the whores of the whores.

And you say these are the best of times?!  I say wake the FUCK up and thinkJustalittlebit dumbass.

Posted by Matt Harris on Jan 20, 2005 at 1:38 PM

Love you, Bernie…! When will you run for president? We need ya!

Posted by esmerelda on Jan 20, 2005 at 2:39 PM

What is it about ideologues that make them spout such *nasty* rhetoric? You know, calling people who disagree with them fools, dumbasses, etc.

Is this board meant to be a place to discuss *IDEAS* or merely a place where hostile individuals can let off a bit of steam with such unproductive insults? I personally prefer to discuss *ISSUES*, rather than disparaging individuals. This should not be construed to mean that i believe it is wrong or rude to call *IDEAS* stupid, only that i believe it is extremely rude and counterproductive to call *PEOPLE* names (surely this is not that subtle of a distinction?). . .

Manners and clear thinking and writing are just so very rare these days. . .

Posted by whyIsIt on Jan 20, 2005 at 2:56 PM

You are right.  I usually refrain from such stupidity.  My bad.  Please ignore the “dumbass” ending to my post.  It was truly a dumbass ending.  The rest of my rant stands.

Posted by Matt Harris on Jan 20, 2005 at 3:32 PM

How fitting that the Queen of rudeness and counterproductivity would choose to re-appear at this very moment.  Welcome back, doh-maybe not.

Posted by Matt Harris on Jan 20, 2005 at 9:08 PM

When I read about ‘millions of chinese workers coming to America’ the first thought that comes to my mind is that maybe I should move to China in order to be able to visit my family who lives in the US… I am from an eastern-european country, and a part of my family lives in the United States… well, I have applied for a visa for three times in the past two years, and I was not granted the visa… It goes like this: you pay one hundred dollars for the interview, which are not refundable if you are denied the visa (the medium salary in my country is around two hundred), you bring with you all the requested documents: invitation from your family, in which they take responsibility for your stay there, documents from here which show I have my own appartment and my own family and my own job and I just want to see my family, not become an illegal worker there… When your turn comes, you enter a room and if you’re lucky you get to speak for a few minutes with the embassy’s employee, if it’s not your lucky day you may be invited to leave after they take a one-minute look over your documents… On the way out, you are informed that you don’t qualify for a visa, because you are not over 65 years of age and unless you prove otherwise, you will be considered as a ‘potential immigrant’ in the US… Last time I could hardly repress my wish to ask the employee if she has ever heard of that thing called ‘presumed innocent until proven guilty’... I didn’t ask because I realized it would be of no use…

I know this is not the subject of the article that brought me on this forum - I read the article on www.commondreams.org, a place where I enjoy to read about ‘the other reality’, the one that I cannot find in my country’s media… and also in the subject of ‘working in America’, I came across another article on www.commondreams.org: it’s called ‘Legal, Safe and Common’, it was published on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 by Ted Rall and it touches the issue of immigrants working there.

So I apologize for not writing on the subject - just thought I’d write about the right to travel freely to the country that has fought so hard for its freedom… For one whose country has known more than fifty years of totalitarian regime (that’s me), it is sad to realize that reality opens your eyes to another truth than the one your mind would have wished for…

To ‘Liberal AND Proud’ and to Matt Harris, my sincere sympathy:)

Best wishes to all the readers!

Posted by Chris on Jan 21, 2005 at 8:04 AM

It seems to me that Conservatives are very predictable people.  Nixon loved China.  Reagan depleted Social Security to fund a War.  Need I say more???

Posted by sylvia on Jan 21, 2005 at 12:26 PM

The reason i am a Liberal is one day i was picking my nose in my main mirror in my car—another liberal was driving by and threw a kleenex out of his windown.

Posted by sylvia on Jan 21, 2005 at 12:33 PM

It’s more than fascinating to see people supposedly on the “left” be so hostile towards the success of a communist country.

As an American worker, and as a “real” leftist, I think what the Chinese are doing is great. One, I get much cheaper products, which saves me a lot of money. And two, anything that moves jobs and businesses out of the US helps promotes freedom, democracy and peace worldwide, since it reduces the taxes going to feed the America war machine, which is now the greatest enemy of freedom, democracy and peace worldwide.

The jobs aren’t leaving because of what the Chinese are doing, but because the American economic and political systems no longer function (could it be capitalism doesn’t work?). And because there is no longer the rule of law in the US. The problem is the corruption in the Democratic and Republican parties, which at this point are no more than organized crime syndicates, and until these two obsolete groups are eliminated it will only get worse. Blaming it one one or the other of these parties, or on the Arabs, or the Chinese, or the Europeans, or anyone else is just a way of avoiding taking responsibility for American failures. If the jobs weren’t going to China then they’d be going somewhere else.

It used to be “workers of the world unite.” But now it seems to be “American workers unite and smash the workers of the world.” A strange kind of “left”. But then if people can claim a candidate for president whose proudest boast is that he volunteered to go kill a bunch of commies, is part of the “left”, then I guess almost any twist is possible.

Posted by Mike on Jan 21, 2005 at 2:41 PM

Mike, I agree with you totally. Mr. Bush should be taught the meaning of the word “freedom” and understand that his freedom ends where somebody else’s starts. Trying to impose on other people his narrow views is not accepting the freedom they deserve to have to rule their lives. His coronation was so much like Hitler’s meetings which really made me shiver with all that display of armed people and splendour in a world where millions are starving. The surprising thing is that USA has fostered all kinds of dictators for years as long as they served their spurious interests.
His views about Venezuela’s president, reported by Condoleezza before the Senate are absolutely contradictory to the principles of freedom he says to pursue. Mr. Chaves was elected by the Venezuelan people, he later was tried to be overthrown (with American implication)  and by means of a spotless referendum the people decided to give him their vote once more. Who in the hell asked the USA for its opinion about the way Venezuela shoud be governed?
What frightens me most is that a great part of the American people buy Mr. Bush’s lies, or pretends to. It is pretty obvious to me that they have been sold the notion that everyone wants to do them harm and that Georgie is the knight who will protect them. Anoter funny thing is that he is always bullying smaller and poorer countries but never says anything about big potencies. Isn’t that a definition of “coward”?
I agree with you about the need for the workers of the world to unite which, under the vicious and rapacious corporative world we are bearing, is about the only solution. No weapons needed, just moral courage.

Posted by Maria Luisa on Jan 21, 2005 at 4:53 PM

Mr. Sanders has explained to me why China will fund W’s deficits and international terrorism indefinitely.  The Chinese are not afraid that by ceasing to buy dollars their existing investments in US debt will decrease in value, as is widely supposed.  Rather, the Chinese are buying dollars, in the form of US debt, to maintain the value dollar at nearly double its true trade value.  The do this so that the US will export its production, and most especially its production technology, to China.

When China has eaten its fill of US production technology and plants, or is tired of supporting W’s adventurism, then it can let the dollar fall to a value based on trade cpmpteitiveness - making their imports more expensive to us, and our exports cheaper to them and the rest of the world.

They are getting their money’s worth.  There is no way they could purchase that technology, or those US production facilities, on the open market.  But by making Chinese production so inexpensive through currency manipulation, our industries are begging to be permitted to offshore techology, and jobs.

The jobs could be repatriated, if the dollar were to drop in value and demand for domestic goods and production increase.  But the plants and technology are gone forever.

Posted by Jim Pivonka on Jan 21, 2005 at 5:39 PM

Mike & Maria have got it absolutely right, except, on Mike’s point that moving jobs and business out of the US will slow the pace of US imperialism. There isn’t any evidence that that’s true, and World War 2 an example of how a nation in economic crisis mounted a massive military effort to defeat, albeit with much help, and most of the casualties, from the Soviet Union, Germany and Japan. The future of the US military will be to protect corporate interests. When US citizens can no longer foot the bill, perhaps they will hire out, or follow the lead of the Chinese Military and control some aspect of the econmomy themselves.

Posted by Kenneth D. Brown on Jan 21, 2005 at 5:49 PM

WHAT DO EXPECT FROM A DYNASTY THAT FUNDED HITLER

Posted by CARY G DEAN on Jan 21, 2005 at 7:27 PM

Thanks, Jim Pivonka, for adding to my understanding of the U.S.-China dynamic. Clear, dispassionate thinking and grasp of economics. Too bad “the dismal science” is so off-putting to most people. In the end, it’s the real decision-maker—long after the tumult and the shouting die.

Posted by mitch clogg on Jan 21, 2005 at 9:11 PM

Think locally and act locally. American consumers have too many choices. We must simplify our lives,and calm our woried minds. Hydrogen autos,organic food,volunteering, giving.The planet cannot afford another North American consumerist model in China. Recources are nearing the Hubbard curve. We must do more with less. Wal-marts and fast food, easy credit, obese disease. Our frame of mind must listent to the heart, do we want to live our lives through things? Consider enjoying each other without the television with 3 minutes of content and 3 minutes of more to buy. Shine forth and make changes within, The outside will reflect the goodness we have chosen. Shine forth brave souls! Respectfully Dennis from Oregon.

Posted by Dennis on Jan 21, 2005 at 9:14 PM

Sorry ya’ll but Prescott Bush III is right now working hard to make sure there will be room for America’s elites in an Asian centered New World Order.  it will look a lot like the old world order, but it will speak Mandarin instead of German.  Sorry about that.  Remember Katrina Leung?  Chinese spy, California Republican organizer, and sleeping with the (married) FBI Agent in charge of investigating Al Gore’s fundraising at the Buddhist Temple?  Just think a win win for Red China!  Smear Gore, support Bush, undermine and infiltrate the FBI, and send those Republican dollars to the latest incarnation of the Celestial Empire.  It’s not China’s first turn to ride the world, not even the fourth or fifth time.  They outlasted the Mongol Hordes.  They outfought the Turks and Arabs.  They turned communism back into feudalist capitalism.  Soon they will be telling you what to do.  Learn to like it.

Posted by Bigfoot on Jan 21, 2005 at 9:53 PM

I hope may presume to clarify Dennis’s reference to the Hubbard curve.  That that would be a reference to the oil geologist M. King Hubbert, and his thesis regarding a peak in oil production - the peak point on a curve of increasing, and then decreasing production.  A Google search on [ Hubbert peak oil ] will give you the www.hubbertpeak.com website, and other good discussions as well.

This peak is no imaginary beast - hydrocarbon supplies are limited by geology, whild demand for hydrocarbons can only be limited by human action or the action of the market in pricing products beyong reach of the would be consumers. 

This is why, in my judgement, the Neocons and their increasingly privatly - not publicly - held corporate fiefdoms are locking up every possible energy resource. 

The potential for conflict with China over oil looms large - but may be resolved by letting Russian sell to China, while the rest of the world’s production is reserved to North Atlantic nations, with the profits going to Houston.

Posted by Jim Pivonka on Jan 21, 2005 at 10:33 PM

As long as people continue with the old liberal/conservative diatribes, we will all remain a nation of elitists and serfs.

Posted by Tony on Jan 22, 2005 at 1:05 AM

Re: Mike’s comment, “I think what the Chinese are doing is great”

You got it backwards.

First of all, let’s make it clear that the Chinese people aren’t benefiting from the sweatshop hirings, heavy pollution, and the political repression from their autocratic, corrupt government: all increased by Bush’s (and Clinton’s) “free trade” policies.

These policies of destroying decent paying American jobs do nothing but make workers compete against each other internationally until all living standards in all countries are brought to the dirt.

This hardly “promotes freedom, democracy and peace worldwide,” does nothing to starve the war machine (though it might starve social spending), and hurts workers all over the world.  In fact, the anti corporate globalization movement has had some success in creating a truly global movement with participants as diverse as Korean rice farmers, college students against sweatshops, and Argentinian factory workers.

Bernie is not saying “American workers unite and smash the workers of the world.”  This is exactly about uniting with the world, about reforming the global agreements and institutions so that all workers benefit.  Reforming the IMF/World Bank/WTO/etc. so that poor countries aren’t required to submit to drastic neoliberal reforms (that privatize and deregulate all their industries) for access to capital and trade, so that labor and environmental standards are held high all over the world, so that poor countries have a chance to develop their own industries before being flooded with subsidized goods from abroad, etc.

Anyway, you should learn more.  read some books.  listen to some lectures.  i recommend downloading some Michael Parenti mp3s from www.radio4all.net for some very rabblerousing class-conscious easy-to-understand analysis of current happenings.

Posted by Phil on Jan 22, 2005 at 2:25 AM

All this discussion of China being a threat to America, what about the West, you know Europe, where values still matter, or do they?  America, what can I or we say, it´s about time you woke up! How many times have the Finnish or the Italians or the Swedes invaded Iraq? Or Vietnam, or Panama, or the third world lately?  Yes we commit the same sinister trade crimes, exploit cheap labor and trash the environment in Afrika as well, but certainly we have far more going for us, America is over!  It was just a matter of time before it all came crashing down,  greed, corruption and immoral philosophies.  Bush isyour Hitler and he will lead you into a hell you´ve never imagined.  We have been there, I have been there 68 years ago when America bombed my house in Nurnberg and killed my father, my mother and the rest of the family.  I don not hate you for this, I hated Hitler,  Like you will learnto hate Bush when the bombs start falling on your soil sometime, possibly?  But, there is still time, yes?  You must be brave and courageous, forget your careers ands materialism for just once, things are far too serious to allow momentary lapse of reasons to get involved, turn off your pprogaganda and think, meditate, learn, read…
study the traits of faschism and arm yourself.  You must overthrow this evil one or he will destroy all of us, me too goddammit!

Posted by Hans on Jan 22, 2005 at 5:22 AM

Infowars.com

Posted by Alex on Jan 22, 2005 at 8:11 AM

I think that Hans’ comment on the US and Bush is accurate and should be read in the context of an “OP-ED” in today’s NYTimes.  Titled “The Speech Misheard Round the World” - http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/22/opinion/22patterson.1.html   (Registration Required) - the author describes how vastly different Bush’s, and especially the Bush voters’, idea of freedom is from the ideal and idea of freedom that has been accepted since our Revolution.

The Bush idea of freedom is “largely a personal matter having to do with relations with others and success in the world” and is “measured in terms of one’s independence and autonomy, on the one hand, and one’s influence and power, on the other”.  In this context, Bush can speak of freedom without being, in the eyes of his supporters, particularily hypocritical.

On the other hand, the rest of the world and much of America hears only hypocrisy.  To that audience, the idea of freedom “emphasizes civil liberties, political participation and social justice. It is the version formally extolled by the federal government, debated by philosophers and taught in schools; it still informs the American judicial system. And it is the version most treasured by foreigners who struggle for freedom in their own countries.”  And of course that is the version most threatened, here and abroad, by the Shrubbyist policy of perpetual war.

The author of the NYTimes piece is Orlando Patterson, a professor of sociology at Harvard.  He is also the author of “Freedom in the Making of Western Culture” and a forthcoming book on the meaning of freedom in the United States.

Posted by Jim Pivonka on Jan 22, 2005 at 8:48 AM

The US has truly become a frightening giant whose every thought and action is being regarded by more and more of the world’s people with suspicion and resentment. George W. Bush and his courtiers seem to be living in a different reality. They have somehow forgotten that they have sown the seeds of world hatred and resentment through policies of intervention and economic terrorism beginning in earnest since the end of the Civil War. US policy has not changed much. What has changed is that with the comunications revolution, it is difficult to con people with the old ‘democracy and freedom’ scam. During the 1950s and 60s when VOA was lauding the freedoms of America, millions of its black citizens lived under that peculiar brand of US apartheid known as ‘Jim Crow.’ This was not lost on the rest of humanity and people’s memories are long. Can we forget the overthrow of the democratically-elected Arbenz in Guatemala, Mossadegh in Iran, interventions on behalf of the United Fruit Company in most of Latin America,etc.? The arrogance of Bush in suggesting that the US will bring ‘democracy’ to the world [and they will kill you make sure you accept it] flies in the face of the logic of freedom. Surely, every nation in the world deserves the right to choose its own form of government? Are the nations of the world children that only the Christian US can show them how to rule themselves?  America is sowing the seeds of endless war and enmity for generations to come. After all, the Iraqis never invited them in and look how that turned out.

Posted by Amengeo on Jan 22, 2005 at 8:49 AM

The motive! Money, Money, Money, Control, Control, Control….

People seem to believe the US Government is allowing the trade deficit to enlarge out of ignorance or ineptness. Wrong!

They believe the massive purchases of goods from China are just happening based on that 5c per hour wage in China. Wrong!

Well, here is your WAKE-UP CALL to know the REALITY!

First and foremost, the largest group of investment capital of this world are owned and controlled by US local and Federal government.

These investment funds in their composite totals from the tens of thousands of “individual” government entities is no less than a conservative sixty (60) trillion dollars.

From the 1930s to about 1965 most of these government investment funds were restricted from investment in “Foreign” investments. Most had a limit cap of 5 or 10% that could be invested outside of the US.

But then, let us backdate to 1946 and the implementation of the plan to change government from a pay as you go structure into an administrative “Corporate” structure for revenue collection and profit. In 1946 a well backed by the power elite private group called; Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) introduced the new government accounting “corporate” accounting standard of the CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report). The CAFR structured as the typical private sectors Annual Financial Report was designed to now separate government’s pay as you go Budget from the investments of government and venture projects that could become very profitable such as toll ways, ports, state universities, and even as things developed government owned golf courses and sports authorities with these government “Enterprise” authorities worth from across the land being in the hundreds of billion of dollars if not in the “T” figure.

With that being said and disclosed, back to the 1970s. The CAFR structure was now the fundamental basis for all local governments now mandated by federal law at the request of GFOA. Massive amounts of investment wealth were building within local government accounts. Investment wealth shown on the CAFR but not on the selectively created “Budget” reports presented by local governments for the taxpayer and general populaces digestion. The CAFR (of which over 86,000 separated local government entities produce each year as of 2003) or Government’s Annual Financial Report was for all intents and purposes was intentionally kept secret and the public did not have a clue for decades as to what the new “Corporate” for profit government was developing into right under their own noses.

To do this government needed the full cooperation of the controlled News Media and organized Education. The reality of the situation of the nation disclosure per the CAFR shows that they accomplished that objective.

That decades long cooperation from the controlled News Media and organized Education has since that time greased so many pockets and has put so many news outlets and educational administrators eagerly on the bloated nipple of the sow. . http://CAFR1.com/Philly.html

Government’s newfound massive investment wealth needed an outlet for higher returns and diversification of that ever-building wealth.

The top administrators knew that the real profit was in exploiting the cheap labor from around the rest of the world! The laws and statutes were then quietly and in effect secretly removed limiting governments investments funds participation outside of the US so now;

1970 - 1980; Hmmm… Cheap labor in Mexico! Then come NAFTA and GATT. Billions of dollars flowed from the US Government investment funds into Mexico and South America. Investment returns on those investments jumped to 40, 50, 80, 200% return per year!

1980 - 1990; Hmmm… Our government investment funds own the majority of the fortune 500 companies stock from within their institutional fund holdings. Seventy to eighty percent of the totals in some cases. Let us promote and encourage those companies to shift their operating plants to countries with cheap labor. They will then be able to get hefty profits from exploiting cheap labor resources and in turn our stock holdings in those US corporations will double and maybe even triple in value!

1990-2000; Hmmm… The biggest and cheapest labor force in the world? China!! Over 1.4 to 2.0 trillion dollars flows into the China market directly from government investment portfolios and from those Fortune 500 companies at the direction and encouragement of US Government administrators. Profits are obscene.

2000-2005; Hmmm… 65% of our investments are now directly or indirectly held internationally and in most cases are valued in those foreign government’s currency and not the dollar. If we devalue the dollar, on the currency exchange rate we can make a killing! Let us push for those international imports in which we now own through investment, create a trade deficit, keep interest rates very low to deter investment in the dollar, and if we can push the dollar index down from 105 to 75 on our international investments held outside of the dollar we will make 40% on the currency exchange rate and our return for our international investments will double or triple by doing so!

Additionally, we will balance the international wealth for all of the people of the world and have finalized the New Corporate blueprint to make this truly a New World Order global market place at our string and pull!

But, we must take cares of those “independents” out there that are not part of our plan. Let us first focus on Non-Game-Players where we can secure our strategic needs. That guy Sadam would be a good start so let us secure our launching grounds in Afghanistan first. But how do we pull off that type of military venture without have our local populace becoming irate and banging down our doors? Well, we just need to create an event that will get them so pissed off at our created enemy we can do whatever we want and they will not be the wiser. But how? Don’t worry, we will figure something out.. Hey, we have been operating under the Annual Financial Report accounting structure for over 60 years now right under the public’s nose and they are none the wiser, the door is wide open, we can do what we want, they will buy it! With our multi trillion-dollar cash flows that we have created since the 70’s we can also get all other international players in our club eagerly eating out of our hand as we implement our objectives! Hey, those international players, they are who they are now by our design. They are not going to byte the hand that feeds them or the hand that can destroy them!

Here is looking forward to our New World Order and the continued massive returns and control of our holdings! Yours Truly, US Government (corporate) administration

Submitted FYI and hopeful for your corrective action from:

Walter J. Burien, Jr.
http://CAFR1.com

Posted by Walter Burien on Jan 22, 2005 at 10:48 AM

Not only are 98% of the goods for sale in Wal-Mart made in China but you should also know that Wal-Mart is directly supporting the Red Army of China, which enslaves a fifth of the worlds population.  The Red Army is even dying it’s surplus army caps and selling them in Wal-Mart.  I know, I bought one and it had the emblem of the China’s Red Army on it.  It’s far past the time to put Bush and his Chinese masters out of business.

Posted by lobsang tengyie on Jan 22, 2005 at 11:20 AM

On balance, and whether intentional or not, I must evaluate the conclusions in Mr. Burien’s post as disinformation.

The facts he states in his introduction, regarding the move to separate capital from operating budgets at the state and local level, and implemented through CAFR, tie closely to my memory. 

While the actual effects of this move may be disputed, the intention, and I believe the effect, was to separate investment in public infrastructure from the operating expenses of government.  This was intended to increase the availability of funds for infrastructure, and to reduce the competition for funding between capital and operating expenses. 

The initiative, while eventually successful, was strongly opposed by radical conservatives who saw it as a means of expanding government expenditures.  The lost that battle, but were successful in fighting much capital investment anyway - which is why our bridges and schools, etc. are in such disastrous condition. 

As for the assertion that US state and local governments, or even the federal government, has invested signifant funds overseas - I have never seen such an assertion before, know of no statistics supporting it, and find it lacks credibility and relationship to what I do know of the history of investment flows between the US and other counties. 

For example, it is well known that the Reagan and Bush administrations alike have funded their deficits through purchases of US debt by foreign investors and governments.  And that without such purchases, the value of the dollar relative to other currencies relative to the dollar would have fallen.

The artificially high value of the dollar which results reduces the cost of foreign goods in the US.  It increases the cost of US goods to potential purchasers in other countries.  At first it primarily benefited oil companies who made more money from maintaining demand from this backdoor subsidy of imported oil. 

But with the advent of free trade, the artificially high value of the dollar meant that the subsidy was extended to imported goods.  Naturally, US companies found it advantageous to import their products (as Nike) rather than make them in the US.  As the cycle progresses, we see US companies moving their production, and the technology they use to produce goods, to countries like China - as has been discussed here.

The artificially high value of the dollar, and the fact that goods produced overseas and sold here are so subsidized, works against the US - both its labor, and its producers who are unable to move production offshore.

The “strong dollar” may be the friend of the consumer of cheap imported goods.  But it is the mortal enemy, the viper at the heart, of the American worker and the long term health and welfare of our nation.

Posted by Jim Pivonka on Jan 22, 2005 at 6:04 PM

TO: Jim Pivonka

RE: In reply to your comments

Jim:

Quoting you above “The artificially high value of the dollar, and the fact that goods produced overseas and sold here are so subsidized, works against the US - both its labor, and its producers who are unable to move production offshore.”

The US Government administrators realized this in the 70’s. They needed to diversify their investments before they implemented the change for the long run.

If you read the comments a little more closely in my original post above it will shed light on your own statements.

I can tell the figures and policy shifts I outlined above caught you off guard as it did to me when I learned for the first time 12 years ago that this was taking place.

I recommend that you get and look at several state; Retirement Fund CAFRs. They being Pension Fund CAFRS will list the individual investments, their value, when established and when they vest.

You will see that in each state billions are invested with the banks in the mortgage and credit card divisions. Government is now the “primary” investor with the banks in funding mortgages and credit card debt. It will also outline on a case by case basis the degree and scope of the shift to international investments.

Take a look at regular local government CAFRs.

  http://cafr1.com/listings/Listings.html

You will see in the note sections listed returns for local agencies. Pay special attention to the notes per “Bond dividend return” Here they are disclosing return from bond investments. (Most people are conditioned into thinking government is paying for bonds)

When you look a little closer you will find government financial Enterprise Authorities that have been established to take investments from the local governments within the state and then when the local governments have a bond issuance of which the public will repay with interest, those same local governments now indirectly use their own investment revenue held with that Enterprise authority to fund their own bond debt. Several states have now become 100% self funded on their own debt through this method.

It is also obvious to me by your comments you have not looked. You say;

“As for the assertion that US state and local governments, or even the federal government, has invested significant funds overseas - I have never seen such an assertion before, know of no statistics supporting it, and find it lacks credibility and relationship to what I do know of the history of investment flows between the US and other counties.”

You were not intended to know due to the scope of the money and control involved. What is spoon fed you by the media and controlled education was designed for you not to know.

I did not know about this also until I looked twelve years ago. That is the beautiful point about the CAFRs and also why you were not aware of them. Government needed to keep their own records of the scope and growth of their plans. The CAFRs will show you the scope of the takeover by government. Something you were not intended to see.

I will give you one example of many available as shown by review of CAFRs. I will use Arizona State Government Inc. as an example.

In 1973 the state government of Arizona CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) showed a service budget of 1.8 billion dollars with total cash gross receipts of 2.1 billion dollars or a 300 million dollar figure over the budget.

Well, in 2000 the state government CAFR showed a service budget of 14.5 billion dollars and cash gross receipts of 35 billion dollars or a mere 20 billion figure over the selectively created budget report.

I will leave you off with one last comment; The CAFR is government’s Annual financial Report, the Holy Grail of accounting. It is as to religious organizations as is the Bible, the Torah, the Koran. So:

3. Why is your editor sent it each year only not to have a clear mention of it, not a peep?

Catch what is being said here Jim by me and then LOOK FOR YOURSELF! When you do look and see, what you see will shake the foundation of what you “had” believed was going on right before you most of your life.

The truth may set you free if those shackles are not already to tight and your response conditioning is not already to well planted.

I can’t wait until you discover the scope of the money involved, controlled and owned by our own local and federal governments!

Yours Truly,

Walter Burien (AKA: Bubien)
http://CAFR1.com

Prior CTA (Commodity Trading Advisor) 1979-1992
Incorporator: Hands Across New Jersey - 1990
National Sales Manager: US Trading Championship, US Investing Championship, and Money Managers Verified Ratings 1980-1992

Posted by Walter Burien on Jan 22, 2005 at 9:41 PM

Walter is correct in noting that I have no direct knowledge of the current status of the funds he describes.  I am surprised at the extent to which he indicated these funds have grown in size, and the extent to which local government bonds for capital investments can be funded by them, without recourse to direct bond markets.

If this is so, and I cannot dispute it, he is correct in saying that I (indeed any of us with any interest in how money flows in our economy) need to take a close look at it.

He is also correct in his presumption that having a direct financial interest of this magnitude in any form of investment will condition the decisions of those managing the investment fund - government official, private indivisual, or corporate officer, it makes no difference.

So the extent to which the public fund managers responsible for these investments have placed them in foreign assets, such as the bonds of foreign companies and governments will affect their judgements about the desirability of decisions by our government which may affect the investment.

Unfortunately, I believe that a reduction in the relative value of the dollar, which would be helpful to our exports and our employment picture, is seen as disadvantaging those in the US who hold foreign debt - which may cause them to join Greenspan and the Fed in attempting to maintain the artificially high valuation of the dollar.

But those relationships are complex.  People holding foreign currencies would see the purchasing power of the dollars those currencies convert to increase, should the dollar fall in value.  And the dollar cost of oversease vacations would increase as well.  Where do the fund managers stand on this, and what influence do they actually have on our economic policies?  I don’t know.

Posted by Jim Pivonka on Jan 23, 2005 at 12:40 AM

No modern nation can afford to outsource it’s critical industries. China’s rule is that to sell a product in China it must be made in China. The U.S. stands alone in its rush to sell off its resources in the name of corporate globalism.

We had better wise up and institute major trade tariffs and tough restrictions on “free trade” before China is the dominate economic superpower. Out nation is bleeding wealth, and we cannot allow this bleeding to continue.

If you want to keep up with the latest developments on outsourcing, the insourcing of foreign workers into the US, and free trade agreements sign up for the free “Job Destruction Newsletter”.

Find out how by going to this webpage:
http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/JobDestructionNews.htm

Or go to www.ZaZona.com

Posted by Rob Sanchez on Jan 24, 2005 at 11:45 AM

Not only did we export our manufacturing business overseas but, we also sent the equipment, machinery, etc used in the manufacturing processes.

Now, throughout the US we have huge manufacturing facilities setting empty.

What if the UN decides to sanction the US?  How badly will trade sanctions hurt us?  How long can we sustain our own needs if we can no longer import consumables?

What do you suppose will be done with all of those huge empty facilities?  Will FEMA find a use for them sometime after martial law is established?

Posted by MAY on Jan 24, 2005 at 12:01 PM

Redman, I feel truly sorry for your wife or girlfriend, if you have one.  Screw me, yes indeed.  You already have, by voting for Bush.  Did the earth shake?

Your one redeeming quality is, I guess, that you know when you’re beat. You have no ‘friends’ on this site.  There is no such thing as a moderate republican, not anymore.  Harsh, intolerant? You bet.  Do you think we’re fools?

thinkHarder, racism and sexism were ‘fixed’ because of socially progressive individuals, whatever party they happened to belong to at the time.  And on what planet does freedom shine? Not this one, that’s for sure.  Are you on drugs?

reddish state, redstate was no artist.  What are you talking about?  Tolerence does not extend to the genuinely right wing.  Liberals believe in a lot of things, but anti social nonsense is not one of them. 

Come, express your opinion, but don’t expect an easy ride.  And if you want to experience the conservatives idea of freedom go try and express yourself on ‘anncoulter.com’.  Good luck.

Posted by Matilda Gatsby on Jan 27, 2005 at 2:54 AM

thank you Liberal AND Proud.
are you living in america ?
since i rarely see americans who at least acknowledge the truth, if not think about it.
trade deficit, budget deficit, economy…. none of that was of any value for the people who voted for bush. it was about belief, about faith. it was about faith in a man who has the education of someone who finished junior high. yeah he was in college, but i don’t even wanna know how much he paid for that.
he ran several (!!) companies straight into the ground before he became president.
and he wasn’t even elected.
only thing he could possibly do to get reelected was starting a war, which costs money.

but worry not !!!!
he will cut the deficit in HALF over the next 5 years !!!
what’s that mean ? he’ll still have over 200 BILLION dollars deficit in 5 years.

some republican said that he’ll make history if he gets the deficit down and gets that welfare reform ....
get down a deficit that wouldn’t exist if he didn’t get elected and he’ll make history ??
amazing what you can do these days.

either way, thank you for sharing your in depth knowledge, Liberal AND Proud.

Posted by torx on Jan 27, 2005 at 12:13 PM

Torx, thank you for your kind words…but honestly I’m a little embarrassed.

Personally, I don’t think I have any “in depth” knowledge. What I do have is a deep love for my country and a lifelong BELIEF in the words and the intent of the Framers when they created the Constitution. A belief that it applies to EVERYONE. A belief that the Framers never intended it to be a “static” document. The rights espoused in those words are SO general, SO pure, that the intent I BELIEVE was to allow for flexibility for future generations to mold it to fit a world that the Framers couldn’t predict. Yet, it maintains a basic, and yes static set of rules (known as the Bill of Rights) that protect and defend what they saw as the inherent basic rights of ALL people.

This MAY seem off the topic under discussion in this forum (labor unions), but is it? The Constitution protects the weak from oppression by the strong. The role of the labor unions does JUST THAT. Can unions become corrupt? Of course, all power corrupts. But to lose sight of the fact that management does NOT have the best interest of labor at heart, is to allow the creation of exactly the situation that the working man in this nation finds himself in right NOW.

The rich and powerful have exploited the weak throughout history. Whether it be under the guise of religion, economics, gender or sexuality the intent is the same. Control. The usurption of freedom.

What pains me most of all is how the words and beliefs stated in the Constitution have been perverted and used to justify enslavement, torture, unsanctioned and unjustified war, discrimination and oppression. Some may call me alarmist or worse (see above), but I truly believe that this country is at a crossroads. America is the greatest social experiment ever undertaken in the history of the planet, and its only been going on for approximately 230 years. A blink of an eye in the history of civilization. The success or failure of that experiment will determine not only the future of her citizens, but the future for everyone on the planet that longs to be TRULY free. America was founded “by the people, for the people”, she can only be saved and nurtured and continue by the will of the PEOPLE. Not the select, not the elite, not the privileged…but ALL the people.

The lines have been clearly drawn in this country. If the common man does not see them, it is because he has chosen not to. And he will suffer the same fate as every other free man that has been exploited by the state. Only this time, we are FREELY handing ourselves over to the power elite for their abuse and manipulation.

I state again, I have no “in depth” knowledge. Hell there are so many people in here with an elequence and intelligence and knowledge of the facts that I can only dream of having. The fact is, I am gladdened and emboldened to know that there are so many intelligent people still out there, that believe as I believe. I’m just a man, just an American.

Thanks again.

Posted by Liberal AND Proud on Jan 28, 2005 at 6:07 AM

Not having war is very expensive when you have billions invested in huge weapons manufacturers.

The smaller details of our current situation are not the important ones to focus on. In order to get the how and why of any smaller activity, without being part of it ourselves, we have to ask other people, and other people can and will lie, distort, and fudge.

Who is doing what, the way you phrased that one sentence, yadda yadda. [zzz]

Pull back and see the big picture.

15 Arabs and some other people attacked the USA.

USA government somehow knew nothing about it.

USA attacks Afghanistan. Does not capture supposed target.

USA attacks Iraq. Does not find main reason for attacking Iraq. Makes up new reason.

If you believe the information the Bush administration is giving you at any given point in time, then you believed fully that Osama Bin Laden was the reason we attacked Afghanistan, that WMD were the reason we attacked Iraq, and that establishing a democracy in Iraq is now our current goal.

How many times do they get to change their minds? How many times do they do something fishy before you get suspicious? When do they become untrustworthy?

I had someone ask me once, in an argument over knowing what was really going on with 9/11, the war, etc: “If you could know everything, would you really want to?”, is this really the attitude of the right? “Let them deal with it, I just don’t want to know”?

Posted by Will 3.0 on Jan 28, 2005 at 1:34 PM

The Neocons dream of global economic and military domination. For all of you who fear that, don’t. It will never happen.

All the Neocon dreams, whether they realize it or not, are dependent on the dollar remaining the reserve currency for most of the planet. When we piss off the major oil producing nations like Iran and Venezuala enough, those nations will start selling oil in Euros and not dollars resulting in the collaspe of the US economy. The Europeans will encourage this because we have dissed them royaly over the last 4 years and they will view it as an effective means of reigning in a very powerful rogue state (i.e. us) without having to resort to war.

Of course the down side to this is that the American public as a whole will get burned as badly if not worse than during the Great Depression. However the good side is that maybe at that point we’ll all get off our fat happy asses and hold the government accountable for their actions both militarily and economically.

Posted by Mark701 on Jan 29, 2005 at 11:22 AM

“The Neocons dream of global economic and military domination. For all of you who fear that, don’t. It will never happen.” - Mark701

I’M RELIEVED TO HEAR THAT. I THOUGHT IT ALREADY HAPPENED. THAT THE DOLLAR’S DECLINE AND THE ASCENT OF THE EURO AND OTHER CURRENCIES WILL SPELL THE END OF LIFE AS WE KNOW IT REMINDS ME OF WHEN WE LET ITS VALUE “FLOAT” (LYNDON JOHNSON) WITH REGARD TO GOLD (AND OTHER SUCH UPHEAVALS). CERTAIN EFFECTS ARE PREDICTABLE; OTHERS ARE UNKNOWABLE. THE OUTSOURCING OF U.S. JOBS, INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY IS VASTLY MORE SERIOUS THAN THE DOLLAR’S STANDING. EXCEPT FOR WEAPONS, DRUGS AND MOVIES, WE’VE LOST OUR PLACE AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE. STILL, OUR CREDITORS WILL NOT RISK OUR ECONOMIC DISINTEGRATION (THOUGH THEY WON’T BE ABLE TO AVERT OUR DECLINE). WE ARE LED BY LUNATICS AT THE MOMENT. OUR TRADING PARTNERS, WHETHER WE LOVE THEM OR NOT, ARE NOT.
Mitch Clogg, Mendocino, CA

Posted by Mitch Clogg on Jan 29, 2005 at 1:09 PM

1) It is not clear that the NeoCons plans depend on the dollar “remaining the reserve currency”.  The NeoCons seem to believe that military domination and the access to physical resources of land, minerals, and hydrocarbons it gives is sufficient.

2) Changing the currency used to trade oil to Euro’s instead of dollars would not by itself have much effect on the dollar, or on the US economy, because currency trading could offset the change readily.

3) If relative currency values change, and oil trading is in dollars, the effects on the cost of oil in the US will be different than if the trading were in another currency such as the Euro.

For example, if oil were traded in Euros, and the Euro increased in value relative to the Dollar, then Producers would get more valuable Euros for their oil.  And US consumers would pay for more Dollars for oil, to make up for the change in relative value.  But since oil is traded in Dollars, changes in the value of the Euro only mean that Euros can buy more oil per Euro - approsimately the same effect.  Ergo, the currency in which oil is traded is largely irrelevant, except for one critical fact.

4)  That oil is traded in dollars, as well as other factors, causes other countries to wish to hold dollars in their reserves - making it a “reserve currency”.  When these countries cease desiring to hold dollars, then the relative demand for dollars may well fall - and the relative value of the dollar may fall too.

5)  Such a fall in the value of the dollar would be a very good thing for the US, in the long term and if it did not cause world wide economic recession or depression. 

It would make imports here more expensive, and raise prices, true.  But it would also reduce the propensity to consume imported goods, and reduce the relative costs of goods produced in the US.  That would increase our exports, decrease our imports, reduce the balance of trade deficit, increase producers willingness to invest in production facilities and technology here while decreasing their interest in exporting jobs and production technology to other countires, increase employment and wagees here, etc.

5)  The shift in reserve currency is perhaps already occuring - and may account for a recent divergence in interest rates on US Treasury bonds and the price of Gold.  But the shift is not to the Euro as the medium of exchange for oil, but to Gold, via arrangements among oil producing countries.  This appears to be increasing the value of Gold more than would be expected when considering what shifts (or in this case the lack of shifts) in the value of US Treasuries indicates about expectations for growth and inflation in the US economy.

More plainly - Gold is increasing in value in a way that might reflect expectations of inflation, while Treasury bonds are not - the 10Year bond is holding very steady, which indicates no expectaion of inflation.

The difference MAY, speculatively, be due to a shift of oil transactions from dollar denominated transactions to transactions in gold - making gold the “reserve currency” for oil. 

But Gold transactions are still denominated in dollars - except to the extent that oil is a reserve currency for gold transactions - at which point we are chasing our tails.  Good Luck!

Posted by Jim Pivonka on Jan 29, 2005 at 6:20 PM

“As for your “guns and bombs” statement, exactly what do you think Communist China is doing with all that money we are sending them? They are building up their military so that they can attack us, that’s what. Maybe when they bomb America back into the stone age, you will listen, American needs to build MORE bombs - not FEWER - as a deterrent. And if you wish to continue your irrational leftist viewpoints that are destroying America”

The comments by Liberal and Proud, Big Foot, and other China-haters on this site represent one thing: the increasingly Fascistic nature of American Empire in general.

Their comments about how China is going to attack America show how paranoid and Orwellian America truly is—given the fact that IT IS AMERICA WHICH IS ATTACKING OR THREATENING THE ENTIRE WORLD, including strategically encircling China (and Russia) under the cover of the PHONY War on Terrorism itself. 

Like the Right Wing dopplegangers, these Phony Progressives apparently have forgotten that it is the USA which has MURDERED OVER 100,000 people in Iraq and Afghanistan—yet these fascist American “patriots” are talking about China being a threat?! 

What they really mean is a threat to global American tyranny—which deserves to be ended.

These so-called Liberals even use the same “Yellow Peril” rhetoric about China that you
see coming from the Right Wing in the USA.

Ever heard of the Project for a New American Century, or the 2002 National Security Strategy, or the Bush Doctrine?  All of these documents expose America’s (and not just Bush’s) real agenda: to prevent the rise of ANY nation which can challenge the American Empire on a regional or even global level. In short, China is one of many nations implicitly targetted by the USA—yet these pro-American fanatics imagine that the USA is somehow threatened. 

Un-fucking-believable.

The USA is truly becoming the Fourth Reich—infused with a kind of delusional belief in their own goodness (and evil of anyone that opposes them). 

In this sense, Bush is reflection of America in its essence.  Liberals and Conservatives are alike in this kind of warped American worldview.

Posted by Fascist America is Showing its Nazi-like Paranoia on Jan 30, 2005 at 1:24 AM

“Amazingly, while the U.S. middle class declines, corporate America is helping make China the economic superpower of the 21st century.”

As for Bernie Sanders—the (National) Socialist—he completely misrepresents the relationship between China and the USA in order to engage in the China bashing that American Nationalists of all stripes love so much. If there is one thing Fascist Americans can agree upon is not-so-disguised hatred of the Third World Other—whether that be Muslims, Arabs, or China.  This is yet another Nazi-like attribute of America.

What Sanders and other American “patriots” forget to mention is that much of America’s trade “deficit” with China is based upon intra-business trade by American corporations.

America-owned and controlled corporations set up shop in China or other Third World nations to exploit the cheap labor there and produce goods.  These goods are then shipped back to the USA to be consumed by pampered American consumers like yourselves for pennies on the dollar, while US corporations reap high profits.

However, these products are THEN COUNTED as Chinese imports—DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY WERE MADE BY AND FOR AMERICAN OWNED CORPORATIONS. This would be analogous to Japan’s Honda or German BMW setting up factories in the USA to manufacture cars for sale back in Japan and Germany AND THEN COUNTING THIS TRADE AS AN AMERICAN EXPORT somehow.

In short, the USA is counting its trade deficit based upon TERRITORIAL rather than OWNERSHIP criteria. Talk about Enron-style shady accounting methods.

Here is how this American scam really works.  Bet you will never see the “progressive” In These Times report on this:

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/hommel/hommel121703.html

Finally, what Sanders and other American nationalists most outrageously COVER UP is the fact that THAT THE ENTIRE AMERICAN EMPIRE AND ITS WAY OF LIFE ARE BASED UPON EXPLOITAING THE REST OF THE WORLD—PARTICULARLY IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH, INCLUDING CHINA.

Globalization has been rightly termed Americanization whereby America demands that Third World Nations privatize their economy and open it up for “investment” by America and its corporations. This is done through America-dictated and controlled “international” institutions like the WTO, IMF, and World Bank.

Moreover, the USA uses this system to enforce what is called American Dollar Imperialism, whereby the USA is allowed to live beyond its means and have other nations (like China and Japan) effectively pay for it by buying worthless US Treasury Bills.  Yet some posters on this site act as if poor little America is being cheated in this US financial scam! LOL.

If you want to understand how Globalization and American Dollar Imperialism really works—rather than flag-waving American propaganda—read John Perkins’ book _Confesions of an Economic Hitman: How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions_

The title says it all.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/09/1526251

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/FRA501A.html

I guarantee that you will never hear Bernie Sanders, Labor Imperialists (like the Teamsters and AFL-CIA), the Democratic Party, or the Left Gatekeeper media like In These Times oppose this system in any fundamental way—because America benefits from this financial looting.

Utimately, what Sanders and these groups represents is the more *protectionist* wing of the American Empire Like most of the Labor Imperialists, they engage in China-Bashing in order to deflect blame from the Capitalist system itself not to mention US Dollar Imperialism. Sanders and other Liberals in the USA *selectively* shed crocodile tears about workers in China, as a political weapon to attack any opponent of American Empire.

For example, let’s see the reaction of Sanders and other Liberls if China decides to NATIONALIZE its economcy and KICK OUT AMERICAN CORPORATIONS from China, as Cuba did. I bet you will see howls of outrage from these fraudulent “progressives.”

Every time American Liberals and Demorats open their mouths, they show themselves as NO DIFFERENT from the political Right.

http://www.iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=33340

http://www.iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=34503

Posted by Fascist America is Showing its Nazi-like Paranoia on Jan 30, 2005 at 2:27 AM

Too bad: This has changed from a thoughtful discussion of the veiled-but-crucial facts of global economic life to sandlot shouts and taunts. Passion drives us. Outrage blinds us. They’re not the same. Please let cooler minds resume the debate. You might actually learn something useful. It’s the only chance we’ve got.

Posted by Mitch Clogg on Jan 30, 2005 at 1:47 PM

I don’t hate China, I just don’t think that we should trade with them.  There are roughly 1.3 billion people in China and they should be well able to take care of themselves without us.  If they can’t, it is not my problem. 

I believe in a self sufficient economy. Remember Alexander Hamilton and his idea of a manufacturing self sufficient economy?  His ideas were born out of the American Revolution, when England kept all manufacturing out of America.  He realized that a country must have a certain level of self sufficiency to maintain self rule. America has been warned time and again by such diverse leaders as Eisenhower and Lincoln that control of the corporations was essential to maintain liberty.  It seems that we have forgotten the lessons of history and are now condemned to repeat them.

Karl Marx also said that captialism would fail because production would always flow to the lowest wage country and life would be miserable for everyone but those at the top of the food chain. Sounds like he knew what he was talking about, didn’t he?

Posted by la on Jan 30, 2005 at 10:11 PM

“The comments by Liberal and Proud, Big Foot, and other China-haters on this site represent one thing: the increasingly Fascistic nature of American Empire in general.”

Where am I a China hater? I thought my diatribes against the neo-con megalomaniacal fringe within our own government made me an America hater?

Posted by Liberal AND Proud on Jan 31, 2005 at 1:08 PM

“Where am I a China hater? I thought my diatribes against the neo-con megalomaniacal fringe within our own government made me an America hater?”

My comment was directed at the poster “REPLY to Liberal and Proud,” whom I quoted.  My apologies.

Posted by Fascist America is Showing its Nazi-like Paranoia on Feb 3, 2005 at 1:07 AM

Things are converging for control
1. the rise of theocratic control world wide..
2. the dollar is being surplanted by the euro
    (might as well go to a large city bank
    and exchange extra dollars for euro’s)
3.as mentioned here investment and control of
new companies are controlled (nessities of parts for new inventions or their material manufacturers) by the government)
and you will find out the ports bringing in the goods from foreign countries are largely controlled by the bush empire -more control.
4. the middle class the man who would speak up
in elections and town meetings is being almost wiped out by the slave labor of china !
5. most drinking water is unhealthy to drink
(the wealthy in texas only drink and wash with
bottled water) which can lead to tumors
and other health risks most people can’t afford to pay for… control of health is for the 2% wealthy..
6.The media our guardians against the state
excesses are in line with big government
because there is little control over them while in bed with them in exchange for not exposing
the big government decisions that control.
7.academina is in the throws of practical education not theorys which could make the new ideas that could lead to things like energy independence for each individual household
or water independence…for a block of houses..
and regulations -expence of money make it impossible to have a simple affordable house out of natural materials on ground you own..
but again steel made in you guessed it ta da
china.
enough said,
thanks kind reader,
  RicH

Posted by RicH on Jun 10, 2005 at 11:22 AM