Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Obama, Congress Negotiate Tax Cuts for the Wealthy / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
Patrick Martin writes: The Obama administration has begun closed-door talks with congressional leaders of both parties on the extension of the Bush tax cuts, amid reports that a deal will likely be based on acceptance of the central Republican demand that tax cuts for the wealthy be continued without any income ceiling, either the $250,000 a year proposed by Obama or the $1 million suggested last month by Senate Democrats.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
U.S. Facing Federal Debt Cataclysm, The Establishment Is in Despair / Politics / US Debt
By: Gary_North
Austrian School economists and analysts who have warned that we are facing a Federal debt cataclysm have now received grudging confirmation from a most unlikely source: the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Council on Foreign Relations is the single most influential discussion forum in the United States. Its quarterly journal, Foreign Affairs, is therefore the most influential publication in the country and therefore the world.
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Saturday, December 04, 2010
Geopolitical Journey Through Poland, A History of Tragedy and Greatness / Politics / Eastern Europe
By: STRATFOR
To understand Poland, you must understand Frederic Chopin. First listen to his Polonaise and then to his Revolutionary Etude. They are about hope, despair and rage. In the Polonaise, you hear the most extraordinary distillation of a nation’s existence. In the Revolutionary Etude, written in the wake of an uprising in Warsaw in 1830 crushed by Russian troops, there is both rage and resignation. In his private journal, Chopin challenged God for allowing this national catastrophe to happen, damning the Russians and condemning the French for not coming to Warsaw’s aid. Afterward, Chopin never returned to Poland, but Poland never left his mind.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Fed Financial Crisis Rescue or Coup? / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Andy_Sutton
As some of the disclosures required by the financial reform bill are made, everyday Americans are starting to figure out what many zealous economy and market watchers have known since 2008: The Fed’s rescue programs weren’t just aimed at domestic banks with Manhattan headquarters. The aid stretched far into the reaches of everyday America, with the recipients of approximately $885 billion in loans still not disclosed.
Friday, December 03, 2010
American's Live in Mental Ghettos, People Who Lie to Themselves / Politics / US Politics
By: Joel_S_Hirschhorn
So many intelligent Americans believe, say and do stupid things. When a large fraction of the population is like this, a nation rots from the inside and succumbs to external forces.
I have always searched for the simplest yet best ways to explain what I see as a multi-decade decline of every aspect of the United States , especially its political system and government. I keep coming back to the inescapable logic that a large fraction of Americans, regardless of their education, economic status and political alignment, must suffer from delusion. This delusion produces denial about hugely important subjects and issues.
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Friday, December 03, 2010
Fed Report Reveals Multi-Trillion-Dollar “Shadow Bailout” / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Global_Research
Andre Damon writes: The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday posted details of its multi-trillion-dollar “shadow bailout” programs, showing that nearly every major US financial institution benefited from billions in unreported government loans.
The data from 21,000 Fed transactions carried out between December 2007 and July 2010 involves eleven special lending facilities set up by the US central bank at the height of the financial crisis to funnel trillions of dollars into large financial companies. The money was lent at close to zero interest with no strings attached. The banks and corporations on the receiving end of the massive bailout were not required to even report what they did with the government cash.
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Friday, December 03, 2010
Geopolitical Journey Into Ukraine / Politics / Eastern Europe
By: STRATFOR
The name “Ukraine” literally translates as “on the edge.” It is a country on the edge of other countries, sometimes part of one, sometimes part of another and more frequently divided. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was divided between Russia, Poland and the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, it was divided between Russia and Austria-Hungary. And in the 20th century, save for a short period of independence after World War I, it became part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine has been on the edge of empires for centuries.
Friday, December 03, 2010
Wikileaks Reveals U.S. Diplomats Hatching Blazingly Stupid Schemes / Politics / US Politics
By: Mike_Shedlock
The blazing stupidity of some of the ridiculous schemes hatched by US diplomats is staggering.
Take a look at Wikileaks Docs Reveal Secret Scheme To Wean China Off Of Iranian Oil Supply by Joe Weisenthal at the Business Insider, and I will show you exactly what I mean.
Read full article... Read full article...Very interesting nugget from the WikiLeaks dump showing how the world of economics, security, and energy collide.
Friday, December 03, 2010
Putin's Russian Mafia State Buys World Cup By Bribing Corrupt FIFA Officials? / Politics / Russia
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Wikileaks recent U.S. Embassy cable release risks a diplomatic incidence between Russia and the USA as Russia was accused of being a defacto Mafia State that has ceased to be a democracy and is run by the secret services on behalf of an Oligarchy. Much of which comes as nothing new to either the Russian people, business men or foreign investors who know that whilst doing business with Russia can prove highly profitable, however investors and business people have to be nimble footed by being prepared to pull their funds out at short notice.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Wikileaks Reveals a Government Caught Up in the Mendacity of Lies / Politics / US Politics
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
The reaction to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange tells us all we need to know about the total corruption of our “modern” world, which in fact is a throwback to the Dark Ages.
Some member of the United States government released to WikiLeaks the documents that are now controversial. The documents are controversial, because they are official US documents and show all too clearly that the US government is a duplicitous entity whose raison d’etre is to control every other government.
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Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Will Rand Paul Lead a Tea Party Revolution from Washington, D.C.? / Politics / US Politics
By: Stephen_Merrill
The national Tea Party movement had an amazing, if bumpy, first effort in electoral politics.
As many as five new US Senators are considered tea partiers. As many as twenty new Republican US Representatives are aligned with the Tea Party. This group of new congress-people is a diverse lot though when it comes to formulating public policy.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
What Threat is China to the U.S.? / Politics / US Politics
By: Kel_Kelly
This topic needs no introduction. We hear discussions in the national media weekly about the possible threat an economically resurgent China poses to the United States — and even to other countries. So how concerned should we really be about China's economic and military might? Answer: China's economic development itself is not in any way harmful to us; ultimately, the only threats that exist as a result of its success come from potential actions taken by politicians as a response to its development. In a world of free trade and political isolationism, China could not possibly be a danger.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
How the SEC stamped out Meaningful Financial Reform / Politics / Market Regulation
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:
Make no mistake: The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a slippery political football.
But this early attempt at reform is actually just the kickoff for a political skirmish that will pit legislators, lobbyists and other hired guns against one another on the post-financial-crisis gridiron.
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Wednesday, December 01, 2010
WikiLeaks and National Insecurity / Politics / US Politics
By: William_Anderson
An overused term in this age of the overwhelming state is "national security," and I always am amazed at how people who think clearly on other subjects fall all over themselves when someone manages to breach the secrecy of government agencies. Not surprisingly, when this flimsy "security" line actually is crossed, the typical response is to try to kill the messenger.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
European Union R.I.P.? Lets Hope So! / Politics / Euro-Zone
By: LewRockwell
Patrick J. Buchanan writes: When communism collapsed in Moscow, Prague and Belgrade at the end of the Cold War, ethnic nationalism surged to the surface in all three nations and tore them apart into 24 countries.
Economic nationalism is now resurgent across Europe. And it is hard to see how a transnational institution like the European Union, run by faceless bureaucrats, and the 16-nation eurozone it created long survive.
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Wednesday, December 01, 2010
De-Toxify the Federal Beast by Cutting Taxes / Politics / Government Spending
By: Gary_North
Have you ever heard this phrase? "Starve the beast!" It refers to starving the Federal government. It argues that if Congress cuts taxes, spending cuts will necessarily follow.
The problem with this metaphor is that it conjures up a mental image of an overweight person who cannot bring himself to stop eating. He has no inner Richard Simmons, longing to get out.
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Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Wikileaks Puts Politically Weak Pakistan Under Pressure, Nuclear, Zadari Assassination, Coup Risk / Politics / Pakistan
By: Nadeem_Walayat
WikiLeaks latest U.S. embassy cable releases on war torn Pakistan, that is currently subject to a similar level of terrorism against its civilian population than that which is taking place in either Afghanistan or Iraq, it's politically weak government that is hit by a 7/7 terror event virtually every second day, could be pushed over the edge by the most recent wikileaks into a state of political chaos and uncertainty.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
WikiLeaks, Major U.S. Bank Flagrant Violations, Gold and Silver / Politics / US Politics
By: Midas_Letter
I’ve always occupied the emotional frequencies ranging between disgusted and outraged when it comes to WikiLeaks. Regardless of your stance on governments and sovereign interference, putting the lives of human beings at risk by exposing their participation in intelligence programs is aiding and abetting in murder. The psychotic fundamentalists that perpetuate the bulk of the violent crimes on its own and foreign citizens need not be encouraged by the provision of a list of fresh targets by idealistic or simply amoral grandstanders desperate for attention.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wikileaks: Will the Truth Make Us Free? / Politics / US Politics
By: LewRockwell
Ron Holland writes: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" ~ John 8:32
Although these leaks are a first step toward controlling Washington foreign policy, they do show how incremental actions providing open information can counter the Anglo-American foreign and domestic policies which have brought the world right to the edge of another Middle East war.
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Monday, November 29, 2010
Don't Raise the U.S. Debt Ceiling! / Politics / US Debt
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
As of November 7th, the total U.S. public debt outstanding reached an astonishing $13.7 trillion. This means that although Congress just raised the debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion back in February, the new Congress will face another debt ceiling vote almost immediately next year. Otherwise, the Treasury will not be able to continue issuing debt to fund government operations.
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