Elizabeth Warren On The Daily Show: If We Don’t Act ‘The Game Really Is Over’
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Elizabeth Warren | ||||
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I've always liked Elizabeth Warren because she is right.
Just as I posted earlier, people are waking up to the fact that politics is theatre and that politicians do not represent us (at least most of them). It's angering but it's important to get a third party or more going in America.
My solution to making third parties real is laws stating that all elections are to be instant run-off. Instead of voting for one candidate, you prioritize them. If the one you chose first doesn't have enough votes your next in line is thus counted as your choice. So, you could have voted in the last Presidential Election like this
- Ron Paul
- Cynthia McKinney
- Ralph Nader
- Dennis Kucinich
- Barack Obama
How sweet would that be? If none of your other choices had a chance, you still could have helped to defend against McCain (or visa versa). You could actually vote based on your principles instead of the lesser of two evils. If course it must be said that our political party election system is more like voting for the one evil as they really are the same party with different faces. I ask you, what would McCain have done substantially different from Obama? And how is Obama any different than Bush?
Detroit, Criminalizing Poverty, and our Sad State of Affairs
If you thought this was bad:
SLUMS OF DETROIT: A LOOK AT THE HEART OF AMERICA’S 2ND MOST DESERTED CITY
Then check out this:
Criminalizing Poverty For Profit: Local Government's New Debtors Prisons
In other words, we are starting to lock away by criminalizing their situation. The Nazi's locked away Jewish people. This time it's going to be the poor. I'm not saying that being in poverty means you can do anything against the law but many of the laws we have here in the United States are aimed at a thriving economy with a solid middle class. This balance is starting to change. Our society is starting to reduce away from such standard. We don't have the money to criminalize petty actions any more. Locking these people away is costing much more than the value they add to the society by being free, abet irresponsible.
The banks and government are making us poor through inflation (and bail-outs). They continue to suck out our wealth to fund impossible ideals whether through taxes or inflation, they are the same. We need to stop this idea that both parties have of big government whether for the people or the corporations. Big is just not possible right now. Not with the Federal Reserve and Banking system stealing the wealth of the citizens by inflation and bailouts. We cannot afford to keep this up. Not with us, nor on the international scene.
This is some serious shit people. Every day America is looking more like Collapsing Fascist State: from the corporate control that we can CLEARLY see in the Health System Reform Bill changes, to criminalizing the poor, to perpetual war started on false pretenses, to the over-funding of the military industrial complex, to collapsing states, the commitment and preferential treatment for corporation and especially banks.
This whole system stinks. It smells to high hell of control, rigging, "cronyism," trickle up economics, and, well, fascism. Even the markets seem (in a few cases, are known) to be rigged.
The banking crisis: Till debt us do part
Some governments are borrowing so much that markets are becoming wary and may stop lending to them. Could this be the next leg of the crisis?
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The big fear is that, if economies such as America and Britain were downgraded by the agencies and their borrowing costs rose, the effect would be felt throughout the credit markets, making it more expensive for businesses and emerging-market economies to borrow. It could set back the global economic recovery.It is not all one-way traffic. Some economies in Asia and Latin America have received upgrades or are about to get them. So far, however, they are outnumbered by countries facing downgrades.
If we get down graded, will the Chinese stop taking our fake dollars? What will happen to 95% of all products in Walmart?
Is Sovereign Debt the New Subprime?
To varying degrees, Greece, Spain, Ukraine, Austria, Latvia, Mexico are just a handful of the nations viewed at risk of defaulting. Meanwhile, Dubai only just avoided a similar fate thanks to a $10 billion bailout from their oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi.
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Few investors seriously worry about an imminent default by the U.S. or the U.K. But with worries about Dubai's ability to pay its debts shaking markets across the globe in recent weeks, investors are on guard about which other countries might be in dire financial straights.
Who ever wrote this article was a moron. What happens in the future when the U.S or U.K. are imminently going to default? It may not be soon but we have $50-$60 Trillion in obligations coming due and that money isn't going to be from taxes or foreign governments or banks. The U.S. is too big to fail... This time we don't have anyone to bail us out.
The Investor Revolution
I've been wondering recently why stock market investors don't have much power over companies. This explains it very well.
From what i understand this bill allows investors to have some say in selecting board members. This is a FANTASTIC idea. This is how private corporations work. The owners have a say. Any venture capital firm will tell you that this is how they operate. Companies aren't just allowed to do what they want without the owners authorization. This bill essentially brings this mentality to publicly traded companies. How good is it? Well, it sounds awesome and is a great start toward restoring capitalism in the economy.
A few other ideas i had regarding investor ownership. Remove corporate personhood. This would make investors responsible for corporate actions... both good and bad. A rising stock price is worth being an active investor. Another idea i had was an investor union. This would allow investors to have one or a set of representatives within the company. I'm not sure exactly how it would work but maybe an investor tax on the company like a penny per outstanding share per year to pay for this union. Shrug. just an idea. Maybe have a Chief Investor Outreach Officer. Anyway. Please register and comment on other methods of controlling corporations.
I'm also fond of making all health insurance companies into non-profit entities. This would remove the profit motive and allow them to focus on the health motive.
The most interesting thing to ponder is what would happen if investors really had a say in public companies.
- Green investors would love to buy big oil and convert them, for their own good, into future energy providers of solar, wind, and ocean. (I'd even buy some shares in Exxon-Mobil to help this happen!!). Yeah, it may be expensive but it's better than not being forward thinking, letting the companies fail, or worse, bailing them out.
- Investors could demand that companies split up to create more jobs if deemed too big to fail
Basically, investors have their lives to draw upon in making decisions, not just their pocket books. This could inject a longer term view into corporate culture.
There could be harm done, but investors would have to keep each other in check just as they need to keep the board and management in check.
Government was designed around three branches for checks and balances. Companies should be designed around this same model of checks and balances. Management (like the White House), Board of Directors (like the Court system), and Investors (like Congress). There are similarities but there are also differences. Regardless, three is better than two for checks and balances.
For example, just look at our two party political system and how corrupted by money and influence it has become. A third party candidate could provide a much need breath of fresh air, but also the balance to keep the Republicrats focused on the benefit of the people. This is why I believe we should institute all elections as instant run off voting. People wouldn't be afraid to vote their real values instead of the lesser of two evils.
As it gets worse
This is what is going on in the real economy. California is ahead of the pack due to their massive state budget cuts. This is what the rest of us have to look forward to. So while Wall Street is flying high, Main Street is collapsing. The question is, how long will the stock market continue to soar? The reason for Wall Street is Main Street. Without Main Street, Wall Street is just a fraud. Without Wall Street, Main Street would be fine. Right now, the banksters and government keep taxing us through inflation to bailout the richest of rich. This is a sick sick system we live under.