Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Why Iceland Voted ‘No” to the Diktats of the Creditor Banks / Politics / Credit Crisis 2011
By: Michael_Hudson
About 75% of Iceland’s voters turned out on Saturday to reject the Social Democratic-Green government’s proposal to pay $5.2 billion to the British and Dutch bank insurance agencies for the Landsbanki-Icesave collapse. Every one of Iceland’s six electoral districts voted in the “No” column – by a national margin of 60% (down from 93% in January 2010).
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Monday, April 11, 2011
Hearken to the Sacred Geese of Juno Moneta / Politics / Central Banks
By: Professor_Emeritus
On April 6 last I sent an open letter Congressmen Ron Paul of Texas accusing the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Dr. Ben Bernanke, that
Monday, April 11, 2011
Japan's Nuclear Godzilla / Politics / Japan Economy
By: LewRockwell
Eric Margolis writes: Japan’s nuclear calamity has shown once again the remarkable courage, patience, and stoicism of that nation’s people.
As a visitor to Japan for the past 36 years and former columnist for one of its leading newspapers, Mainichi Daily News, the giant earthquake and ensuing tsunami that savaged northern Japan filled me with anguish and sorrow.
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Sunday, April 10, 2011
Obama Hails Budget Deal to Impose Record Cuts in Social Spending / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
Patrick Martin writes: A partial shutdown of the US federal government was postponed by a deal struck late Friday night between White House and congressional negotiators to resolve a protracted standoff on legislation to finance government operations.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
U.S. Government Looting Social Security To Wage War / Politics / US Politics
By: Global_Research
Sherwood Ross writes:“As long as the $1.2-trillion annual budget for the military-security complex is off limits (to cutting), nothing can be done about the US budget deficit except to renege on obligations to the elderly, confiscate private assets or print enough money to inflate away all debts,” Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Treasury Secretary under President Reagan warns.
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Saturday, April 09, 2011
U.S. Government Survives Shutdown But Economic War Continues / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
The Capitol Hill battlefield is still for the moment as the Easter holidays approach and the combatants get a break from the heated polemics and overnight bargaining sessions. In a last minute deal, milked by both sides for maximum drama and political advantage, the government will not shut down—at least not now—even as its budget has taken a major wack.
Saturday, April 09, 2011
Profit Pathology and the Disposable Planet / Politics / Social Issues
By: Global_Research
Michael Parenti writes: Some years ago in New England, a group of environmentalists asked a corporate executive how his company (a paper mill) could justify dumping its raw industrial effluent into a nearby river. The river - which had taken Mother Nature centuries to create - was used for drinking water, fishing, boating and swimming. In just a few years, the paper mill had turned it into a highly toxic open sewer.
Friday, April 08, 2011
Huge Asteroid to Pass Near Earth on November 8th 2011 / Politics / Environmental Issues
By: Chris_Kitze
Mark your calendars for an impressive and upcoming flyby of an asteroid that’s one of the larger potentially perilous space rocks in the heavens – in terms of smacking the Earth in the future.
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Friday, April 08, 2011
How to Eliminate Social Security and Medicare / Politics / Government Spending
By: George_Reisman
Expenditures under the Social Security and Medicare programs account for approximately one-third of total federal government spending.[1] It is obvious that any major reduction in government spending requires major reductions in spending for these programs. Unfortunately, Social Security and Medicare are generally regarded as sacred and thus virtually untouchable, with the result that few if any proposals have been made that would greatly reduce the spending they entail.[2]
Thursday, April 07, 2011
U.S. Government Shutdown 2011, What You Need To Know / Politics / US Politics
By: Chris_Kitze
End of the American Dream writes: Is it actually going to happen? Are we actually going to see "Government Shutdown 2011"? Will the streets of Washington D.C. soon be eerily quiet as hundreds of thousands of federal workers are temporarily sent home? Right now Barack Obama, Harry Reid and John Boehner all say that they want to reach a deal and avoid a government shutdown, but the deadline is coming up fast. The current spending bill that the government is operating under expires at the end of Friday.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Impeach Bernanke! An open letter to Congressman Ron Paul of Texas / Politics / Central Banks
By: Professor_Emeritus
Dear Dr. Paul:
There are serious questions about the legality of Quantitative Easing. You are among the few who are well-qualified and well-placed to get to the bottom of it.
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Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Use the Dollar or Else / Politics / Fiat Currency
By: LewRockwell
Look up the phrase "a unique form of domestic terrorism" on a search engine and you will turn up a story about a man whom the US government is trying to cage from now until the time of his death.
And his crime? His unique form of terrorism? He minted silver and copper coins and sold them. In other words, he did what innumerable entrepreneurs from the beginning of time have done. He attempted to provide consumers with a store of value. No one was forced to buy. He met a market demand, and that’s it.
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Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Obama's Empty Gas Tank / Politics / Crude Oil
By: OilPrice_Com
There is a piece of doggerel which goes:They said it couldn't be done.
So I went right to it -- that thing they said
Couldn't be done.
And I couldn't do it.
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Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Wealth Through Decentralization is What Made America Great / Politics / US Politics
By: Gary_North
The main reason why I have been able to make a lot of money, as well as crank out 50 volumes of books and so many articles that I cannot count them, is that no one told me to do it.
Simple, isn't it? It's called laissez-faire: let us alone.
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Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Hyped U.S. Unemployment Numbers Despicable Lies, Delusional Economic Recovery / Politics / US Politics
By: Joel_S_Hirschhorn
The US government lies. Sure looks like most Americans gobble up false and misleading information that is nothing less than political propaganda. Take the highly hyped unemployment number for March, 2011 of 8.8 percent that moved like a tornado through the media and was praised by Democrat politicians and the White House. As if that number is accurate, as if it fairly describes unemployment. It does not. What is called by experts, such as Leo Hindery, as the real unemployment number was actually 17.7 percent, which is remarkably higher. To appreciate that much higher number is to throw a large bucket of cold water on all the political spin on the economic recovery.
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Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Why Public Support for Free Trade Will Collapse Soon / Politics / Protectionism
By: Ian_Fletcher
For once, some good news: public support for free trade will almost certainly collapse over the next few years. On this issue, the public is way ahead of the political class in the quality of its thinking., and the average hardware store owner in Nebraska understands the real economics involved better than the average U.S. Senator.
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Reasons Why Obama is Worse Than Bush / Politics / US Politics
By: Chris_Kitze
Activist Post writes: George W. Bush was clearly a mentally-challenged puppet of the military/banking/oil elite. The policies put it in place at breakneck speed after 9/11 were provably predetermined by think tanks well in advance. Not that other presidents were any less controlled by this hidden agenda, but there was a noticeable in-your-face quickening of corporate-government tyranny under Bush.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Why Are People So Forgiving of Government Failure? / Politics / Government Spending
By: Christopher_Westley
Once upon a time, I developed a theory that we have much lower expectations for public-sector performance than we do for private-sector performance.[1] We saw this in accounting standards that — when applied to Enron — resulted in market forces shutting that firm down, while the Department of Defense loses billions of dollars annually. The difference in terms of waste between the two sectors is exponential, but while Enron is held accountable for its ethics, the government gets a pass.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Greenspan Pandering for More Money / Politics / Central Banks
By: Fred_Sheehan
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has once again received space on the editorial pages of the Financial Times. He does not deserve, so shall not receive, a rebuttal. But, it is probably still worth a moment to remind readers of the interests he continues to serve.
His intention, in "How Dodd-Frank Fails to Meet the Test of Our Times" (March 30, 2001), is to kill the Dodd-Frank Act's application to the banking industry. Greenspan, of course, was more circumspect, but he is not receiving the courtesy of careful interpretation here.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Republican Budget Plan Targets Medicare With $4 Trillion in Total Spending Cuts / Politics / Economic Austerity
By: Money_Morning
Kerri Shannon writes:
House Republicans will release their 2012 budget plan today (Tuesday), proposing more than $4 trillion in cuts over the next decade and trimming billions of dollars from Medicare expenses.
House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul D. Ryan, R-WI, prepared the spending outline for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
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