Saddam is Dead. OBL is Off The Radar, What's B43's Next Move?

January 1, 2007. 3,002 KIA and Counting!

U2U From J/O: I too am disappointed in the use of the Vietnam era tactics and terminology - cut and run or stay the course - but we are talking about a president for whom Vietnam is the measure of all things militarily. In spite of what his father must be telling him, I have no doubt that W is looking at this problem through such out-dated lens. I find it interesting he won't consider a change in tactics. By keeping our troops out of the Abwar region, we deliberately "give" the insurgents a place to launch and regroup. [Edited by Don W]

I also see a similarity between Iraq and Vietnam. But only in the outcome. If Vietnam was coherent, then Iraq is incoherent. In Vietnam we were overloaded with troops - up to 550,000 - but we constantly underestimated the attraction of the Communist ideology. We loathed communism and took it for granted everyone did. The Vietnamese man on the street came from a different perspective. Capitalist ideology had exploited Vietnam for more than 80 years. The people were worse off than when the French first arrived. Communism promised to “free” them from white Eruo exploitation. We took France's place. We supported the few Vietnamese who had aligned themselves with the French. In short, we backed the wrong people in the wrong cause at the wrong time. We lost. Not because our army could not beat their army, but because our ideology could not beat their ideology. Vietnam is free, now, of white Euro domination. it's what Iraqis want, too.

Iraq shares its nationalism with Vietnam. Iraq wants the foreigners out. If we came to effect regime change, then that is accomplished. Iraqis say “thank you” now be gone. All Iraqis worry about why we remain. Most of them are not actively engaged in war on the US, but still, most of them are sympathetic with those who are. The Iraqis want us out of Iraq.

Over here, those who want to “stay the course” predict internal conditions in Iraq will get worse - as if that is possible - and that the region will fall under the hegemony of Iran. Do me a favor. Go to the CIA World Factbook and check the economic stats of Iran and the US of A. Yes, Iran is the center of Shia Islam, about 20% of Muslims, and Saudi Arabia is the center of Sunni Islam, about 80% of Muslims. Come on, get real. The Iranians (and Syrians) have learned how to “leverage” the US. They spend a few million on Hezbollah or Hamas, and we spend billions to counter the effect on the region’s people’s outlook towards the US and Israel. We are caught in a quagmire of our own making. We cannot see the forest for the trees. We are in denial. Like our president. We’ve got to take off the rose colored glasses, see the world as it really is, and act like adults.

J/O Says: Saddam's demise will do more to dampen the insurgency than adding 30,000 more U.S. service personnel. The problem faced by one and all is that number is simply too small and it speaks directly to the fact that our army is now too small to fulfill our needs and obligations. Yes, I be an optimist. No, I do not assume that we are "done" in Iraq. It’s not time to put the fork into this country just yet. [Edited by Don W]

I believe everyone knew Saddam was not only guilty of the crimes but that he would be executed. The only question was the timing and circumstances. It looks as if we have botched that, too. I don’t know why, or who was in charge, but we did it all wrong. We let the hangman go off on his own, we let the guests bring in cell phones with camera and we did it at the wrong time. This was done so dumb it must be that Bush43 was in personal charge. Command in chief.

The Shia have outsmarted us, and have us ever firmer in their grip. The Shia are 65% of the population, they love our simplistic notion of democracy. All they have to do when they’re around us is to let us do the talking. We can’t speak the language, we don’t know the culture, we’re at the verge of declaring war on Islam and we are in lockstep with Israel. If there is one mistake we have not made, please post it here.

Bush43 has “leaked” the surge concept, which is a no brainier and a non starter. That’s it. He’s out of ammo. He ignored the cover offered by the ISG. The country would have gone along. He could have involved the Democrats in Congress in this debacle of historic proportions. We’ll see if his father can persuade him. Meanwhile, we have now crossed the 3,000 KIA in Iraq. And for what? Waiting for our Commander in Chief to find someone with the magic bullet? I’m thinking we have a 25th Amendment case here. What do you think?


[edit on 1/1/2007 by donwhite]

Hanging Saddam should have been the icing on the cake as a democratic government in Iraq was build from the ground up. Instead the Coalition made so many mistakes that I cant name one thing that they did right.

The Iraqi security forces are good example instead of screening people before they join the coalition wait until the insurgents and death squads are in uniform before doing anything.

Story: Negroponte took over in April 2005 as the nation's first intelligence chief, responsible for overseeing all 16 U.S. spy agencies. He will return to his roots as a career diplomat to become deputy secretary of state, two U.S. government officials said late Wednesday.

I’m surprised. Wikipedia says he was born in the UK and like Arnold Schwarzenegger of Austria, we have no fear of him becoming president. He served 37 years in the US Foreign Service - career branch of the State Department - and is one more name on our growing list of former ambassadors to Iraq. We can’t find the right man for this impossible job. B43, like Humpty Dumpty, cracked open the whole Middle East - Iraq - Hezbollah - Hamas - Gaza - Iran - Lebanon - Syria - Israel - Occupied Territories - and he can’t figure how to put it back together again. Hmm? Did not Colin Powell warn him? “You break it, you own it.” Has not B43 so often boasted he is the Decider! But now, he can't decide, and our GIs continue to go KIA. And for what good cause? To what end?

I’d guess Negroponte is very talented, very knowledgeful, but shows that same weakness Colin Powell revealed when the chips were down, he will go along to get along. Our ambassador to Nicaragua under Reagan. Does Negroponte have blood on his hands? Others in-the-know say he was sorely disappointed to the point of resigning that the B43 Administration and Congress have refused to endow the new post of DNI - Director of National Intelligence - with the power it must have to reform our Intel Establishment. Those 16 agencies (publicly revealed, maybe more not revealed) are all Article 2 Branch; the president could have issued a series of Executive Orders to accomplish the re-organization many say is essential. It must be true that Bush43 has a very short attention span. Or he speaks a different dialect of English than I. Perhaps related to his white powder days at Yale? A habit he continued /?/ during that Alabama ANG spate?

Condo Rice suffers from the Peter Principle. Promoted to a job she cannot do. I have never liked her because I always felt Colin Powell was Mr Token and Condo Rice was Ms Quota. When the black voters failed to deliver the expected knee-jerk vote for GOPs, they became expendable.

Yet, to have become one of several #2s at the UC is in itself no small achievement. OTOH, it may have been more serendipity than quality of her work or depth of her thinking. It would not take much to impress Bush43. I checked her academic credentials and learned that in 4 of her 5 books, she had a co-author! That indicates she “paid” someone to write the books everyone in academia is required to have in their curriculum vitae. Strangely, she has fallen suddenly silent. No vision of tomorrow. Just running about “peeing” on fires And repeating her boring same song litany of pap solutions. “Iran knows . “ :Syria knows . . “ ”North Korea knows . . “ ”Hamas knows . . “ ”Hezbollah knows . . “Very unimpressive!

The last reason I don’t like her is related to the instance I saw her in one of those long interviews [on PBS ?] in which she tried to lay claim to being a close “friend” of the Birmingham Four. The 16th Street Baptist Church murdered children. I had not heard that before. I still have not heard it from anyone but Condi. Methinks she is "revising" history. I checked those girls on Wikipedia and found they were all several years older than Condo. I believe she is trying to “start” her own urban legend. That’s why I have taken to referring to her as the “Birmingham Songbird.” A wanna-be. I have called Herr Rumsfeld the Oberfuhrer. He just looks like an oberfuhrer to me. I can “see” him at Nuremberg in full regalia! All decked out with a skull and bones on his cap! And VP Cheney of $70 million Halliburton fame. Which has proved to have been a valuable investment for Halliburton. But not the US taxpayer. One hand washes the other! But I digress.

I’d say Negroponte is to “take over” at State, but they’ll keep Condi on as a sop to the GOP Congressmen who fear an even worse black backlash in ‘08! B43 never paid attention to Colin Powell - he was used up in his UN speech - and Condi Rice appears disappointingly vapid to me.

What do you make of Negroponte thing?


[edit on 1/4/2007 by donwhite]

I think Negroponte is getting himself out of a possible probing from the new congress and the ethics committee.

I have the feeling that Democrats will be getting into the spy program and the reasons for spying on American people.

posted by marg6043

I think Negroponte is getting out of possible probing from the new Congress and the Ethics Committee. I have the feeling that Democrats will be getting into the spy program and the reasons for spying on American people. [Edited by Don W]

Yes on “ . . Negroponte is getting out . . “ but for one thing. He could have done a Rumsfeld and quit the Washington scene. He has complained about not having enough backing to get his mission accomplished not to steal a phase.

Instead of leaving he is taking the No. 2 spot at State. Ms Rice has proved to be a bust IMO, and but for her skin color, would have been swapped out long ago. Negroponte is of Greek ancestry and reminds me of Zorba! Or John Bolton without his mustache. Besides being taller, Negroponte will overshadow Condi intellectually.

I'd guess Condi is looking for a good paying - $600K to $800K - university presidency to “retire” to. Like TCU. Rice. Baylor. All in Texas and all GOP and religious affiliates. She can then “settle in” and write her memoirs explaining how if Bush43 had followed her advice instead of Wolfowitz and Cheney and Rumsfeld, the Iraq “thing” would have ended on a high note instead of a debacle. Yeah!



[edit on 1/4/2007 by donwhite]

Donwhite you are right as usual I have to laugh at the last part of you post.

Condi writing her memoirs,

She can then “settle in” and write her memoirs explaining how if Bush43 had followed her advice instead of Wolfowitz and Cheney and Rumsfeld, the Iraq “thing” would have ended on a high note instead of a debacle. Yeah!

She has no husband, no children so she can be as religious fundamentalist as they come.

They will love her in the Texas fundamentalist circles.

Praise the lord.

Blame the democrats? Blame Iran? Attack Iran? Release another engineered Ben Laden tape? Create another terrorist attack or a false one like the one in UK in august?

People don't believe the official 9/11 story anymore, they don't trust any party, nor democrats nor republicans. They need to create more fear, don't care, be defeated or declare martial law. That's their choices. 2007 will be interesting.

posted by marg6043

Donwhite you are right as usual I have to laugh at the last part of you post.
Condi writing her memoirs,

Lucky for you Marg that you're a married woman with children or I'd beat a path to Jax International and say Hello San Juan!

Thx

Originally posted by donwhite


Lucky for you Marg that you're a married woman with children or I'd beat a path to Jax International and say Hello San Juan!

Thx

Hey you can always stop for coffee.

I'm not exactly a believer in any grand NWO conspiracy, but I do think the war side of the US is run by hawks far more cynical and ambitious then B43. Things like the PNAC (Project for the New American Century) betray this to some extent. (Ok those rats are starting to jump ship, but nevertheless...)

The dollar is sliding, however in 2005 the US spent nearly $500 BILLION on their military, almost half the global total of an estimated $1 Trillion.

Other than the cold war is there a case in history where that kind of force was built up but never deployed? If the dollar crashes will they just let all the soldiers go home and leave all those $14 billion dollar bases in Iraq to become community centres?

If you look at the global situation:

- Lets instantly discount the polar regions, though no doubt somewhere on this site someone will have 'ABSOLUTE PROOF!' that eskimos are making snowbots.

- I think we can take it for granted that we will not see a major war between Europe/North America/Australia, or what is generally called 'the west'.

- There is nothing militarily in Africa that concerns any of the western nations. The game over there is still coercion, bribery, and WTO/IMF/World Bank style thievery.

- Japan is not a nuclear nation and is very western in its outlook, little chance of a threat arising there in the forseeable future.

- The same goes for India

This leaves the 'subdue the world-ers' with 4 areas of interest:

1) The Middle East. The current battleground. Isreal is the 'safe' point, Palestine and Lebanon are not a serious threat militarily, Iraq has been divided and conquered as a military state. Pakistan has been coerced into submission. The Saudis are in bed with the US. This leaves those two FOX news favorites, Iran and Syria, as two potential flashpoints, and the current favorite targets of war rhetoric.

2) Russia. The wild card. The joint military exercises with China must be a worry to the US. However my gut instinct tells me if TSHTF Russia is more western than eastern looking in its outlook. Though Putin is ambitious I think the recent Polonium-210 incident in UK suggests elements within Russia and Europe are conspiring to make Putin look either weak, out of control, or possibly unhinged. This will most likely be to replace him with a member of the Russian foreign secret service (Putin was domestic) who will play ball better. I dont think Russia is next.

3) North Korea.The proximity of this to China is probably the main reason that Bush has backed off thus far. Will probably become involved when:

4) China. My opinion is that ultimately all eyes are on China.
And They know it.. What we are seeing at the moment is the preamble to this last great conflict. The setting of the board as it were. It may well be that the war is not fought conventionally, but economically. Just wait for the anti chinese rhetoric to start, then start diggin that bunker.

If the US engages in this before its economy crashes, and wins, then we may see the fruition of some kind of 'New World Order'. If China is allowed to become more dominant than the US then we should be starting the Project for the New Chinese Century.

Just a Guess

Peace.

May I please ask....

What is the significance of the 43 in B43 ?

I know that B is Bush

I am sorry for being so ignorant but would like someone to explain this to me.


thanks


[edit on 4-1-2007 by resistancia]

43rd president of the US. Helps to identify him from his dad, George herbert Walker Bush (B41).

Not to be confused with the B-52 bomber!

As simple as that huh ?


I feel like a total fool now. I stared at that and could not make a connection to the number 43.

thanks Giordano

posted by Giordano Bruno

I'm not a believer in a grand NWO conspiracy, but I do think the war side of the US is run by hawks far more cynical and ambitious then B43. [Edited by Don W]

Cynicism and ambition by themselves are neutral. The president has about 3,000 appointments to make. Plus he designates the service Chief of Staff and influences the choice of Chairman of the Joints Chiefs. Any president mus have advice on who to appoint, for I’d guess there are 10 to 20 people who are on paper, equally qualified for the job. We rarely ever know who advises this president, nor any of his predecessors. Sometimes they make tremendous blunders as in Harriet Meier for Supreme Court justice case. You have to wonder how that one happened. I suspect it was B43 on his own. Supremely arrogant. No informed politico would have suggested her.

I attribute most of what looks conspiratorial to convergence of shared interests or shared goals. Every rich person wants to be richer. Every powerful person wants more power. Money and power are a lot like heroin in the effect on people.

The dollar is sliding, however in 2005 the US spent nearly $500 BILLION on their military, almost half the global total of an estimated $1 Trillion . .

We spent much more than $500 billion. First, the budget was $455 b. then the Iraq and Afghan wars are “off” budget. They have asked for $97 b. and will ask for more before the fiscal year ends on September 30. The Veterans Administration runs $33 b. And, more importantly, because the National Debt is made up 100% of the discretionary budget deficits - the major entitlements Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds are still in the black - the military share of our discretionary budget runs 60%. This puts $180 b. of the interest on debt payment squarely on the military. So, the good ole US of A really spends about $750 b. on what is euphemistically called “defense” which ought to be called war.

As for the “dollar.” The US has about $400 b. in print. Of that, about $260 b. is in circulation here. The remaining $140 b. is used aborad as the world’s currency. If you live in Kenya and want to buy wheat grown in Argentina, then the Argentine may not want your local Kenya currency and you may not have any of Argentine currency, so most commerce around the world is conducted in US dollars. It is not in the interest of any trading nation in the world to let North Korea shelter counterfeiters who are making money 99% as good as ours and 99.5% undetectable by those users in Kenya or Argentina. No country but the US has the economy sufficiently strong to support $400 b. in printed money.

The European Union’s combined economy is equal to or slightly greater than ours, but it is made up of 24 nations. The dollar has been around since the 1800s and the world’s most dependable and strongest currency since 1945. People of means do not jump on the first newbie to come down the pike. The EU is not all that seamless or secure. Note the UK still hesitates about how deep to go. However bad the dollar is managed, it is still the best the world has.

There is nothing militarily in Africa that concerns any of the western nations. The game over there is still coercion, bribery, and WTO IMF World Bank style thievery.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have long been recognized as agents provocateur of the United States. Endowed with lofty titles, their purpose never rose to its popular promise. Both have always been used to assure the rich nations that the poor nations pay their debts out of the blood and sweat of the poor. Unbelievably poor. It is the product of the two WB and IMF that together with Dole and United Fruit Company give us bananas at 39 or 49 cents a pound. The same price I’ve paid for 10 years. What’s that say about the guy who lives in Nicaragua or Honduras who works the banana plantations? Yes, if we treated the other people on this planet as Jesus said was the Second Commandment, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” our food would cost double what we pay now. Hmm? Maybe so many Americans would not be so overweight?

Japan is not a nuclear nation - The same goes for India . .

The Non Proliferation Treaty. A weak effort at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons. We don’t know when Israel first got nuclear weapons. There is one Israeli citizen still in an Israeli prison for revealing their program to the public 40 years ago. He gave his life that the world might know. The Israelis are taking it from him one day at a time. I have seen 20 and I’ve seen 500 as the number of bombs Israel has. Based on what it seem likely they would need - laugh laugh on the word need - and the high cost of maintaining a nuclear stockpile, I’d think Israel wold not have more than 50 nuclear bombs. India - 1 b. people - and Pakistan - 200 m. people - struggle over Kashmir, the nicest 40,000 square miles in the area. India became the first non-NPT country to detonate a device. They call it a device rather than a bomb. Devices are much easier to make than deliverable bombs. Pakistan believed it needed a nuclear weapon as a deterrent to India’s aspirations vis a vis Kashmir. The US could have sent over 5 or 10 nuclear weapons to Pakistan and they would not have had to develop their own manufacturing capability. But no, we did noting. So Pakistan joined the nuclear club.

North Korea resents and perhaps fears the presence of 38,000 US soldiers in South Korea. Maybe with Bush43 popping off, they have good cause to fear us. At least until January 20, 2009. Pres. Clinton had made a deal with Pyongyang to supply 3 nuclear power plants of the “safe” kind and a few hundred million dollars and a considerable amount of food to NK. In exchange they would allow the IAEA in without restrictions. For reasons best known to himself, Bush43 renounced the agreement. Under Clinton the NK had enough fissionable material for 2 bombs. Now, the NK has enough fissionable material for 10 bombs. Plus they have detonated one nuclear device. Maybe not a bomb, but a device. No one knows why we are dealing with NK as we are.

Iran. Under the NPT the US primarily has allowed its lap dog Israel to have many nuclear bombs. We have allowed and recently blessed India to have the bomb. We have allowed and have maintained close relations with Pakistan which has the bomb and maybe sold the technology to NK and Iran to make their own bombs. So where is our moral imperative to ask Iran not to develop its own bomb, al the more when our President has declared Iran to be in the Axis of Evil and has assented the right to order preemptive strikes on his own authority? B43 must stand for Bumbler43.

4) China. My opinion is that ultimately all eyes are on China. And They know it. What we are seeing at the moment is the preamble to this last great conflict. It may well be that the war is not fought conventionally, but economically. If the US engages in this before its economy crashes, and wins, then we may see some kind of 'New World Order.' If China is allowed to become more dominant than the US, then we should be starting the Project for the New Chinese Century. Just a Guess Peace. [Edited by Don W]

First, China has no aggressive armed forces. The PLA is primarily used to keep the Communist Party in power. Internal order. It has become one of the major players in the post 1977 Chinese economic expansion. Except for the Taiwan problem, the PRC has no expansionist plans. The PRC covered its eastern flank decades ago when they took Tibet. The UK and Portugal gave up Hong Kong and Macao under political pressure and maybe only a thinly veiled military threat. Taiwan will be harder because unlike the other 2 places, Taiwan is 120 miles off the coast. The US 7th Fleet has been guarding Taiwan since 1949. We will have lots of notice when the time comes to resolve the problem. The PRC will have to build enough ships to transport 200,000 soldiers across the Straits. That wold be about 20 troop carriers of 30,000 tons size. Those ships would have to be protected from both air and sea interdiction. China has always taken the position the island of Taiwan - old Formosa - is part of China politically. Japan took Taiwan in 1897. It was returned in 1945. Although Taiwan may have been under the suzerainty of China, it was sort of a send me your taxes once a year and I’ll leave you alone type of arrangement. But China must stabilize itself before it can look at Taiwan.

China is into manufacturing and we’re into service. I see no direct conflict there. When we get rid of Bush43 and get someone in office who has a vision of the World we can endorse, the 21st century looks to be one of peace and progress amongst the great and rich powers. OTOH, the century offers little hope for the poor and distraught of the planet, more war, more rape, more pillage, more disease, more starvation, more depravation, but what the hey, we’re rich and they’re poor. It must be God’s will?


[edit on 1/5/2007 by donwhite]

You have voted donwhite for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have one more vote left for this month.

Insightful post. Thanks.

On the 'conspratorial' appearance of shared goals, I couldn't agree more.

Regarding US military budget, I just used the first source I came across, no doubt it is astronomically more than stated. I assume the entire NSA budget is off the books for starters. Whether its 500 billion or 10 trillion, there are two major points of import. Firstly that it is a gargantuan figure, and secondly that it outstrips anybody else many times over. With it being such a powerful and shrouded set of institutions, I hope it's well centralised and under control, otherwise it might not be B43 who makes the next US military move...

I agree mostly with your analysis of the global situation of the dollar. The finances of nations are not gambled on temporary situations, and the military force just discussed is the best guarantee that even if it slides it is not going to go into freefall. The Euro is strong but does not have the institutional strength of the dollar, too many different parties with divergent interests. It's still too much of a risk for most. Paper money essentially represents confidence, so in time, if the Euro remains stable, we may see a gradual shift. The UK doesn't want in for various reasons, but mainly because the City of London (The one square mile of international finance) makes at least 20% of the UK's GDP. The Euro would decimate that.

Africa/Future of the poor = Spot on. Depressing. Nuff said.

Fair point about nukes being a major difference between India and Japan, I was making the comparison of relations with the west. I guess when we look at international stability between the superpowers we are really looking at nuclear powers. As sad and destructive as the other conflicts are, they represent a scuffle compared to the apocalypse of throwing fusion bombs at each other.

India/Pakistan and Israel/Palestine are ugly leftovers mainly of British colonialism in the area (No time for the Israel discussion here!). In the case of India the British took over by bribery and setting the various native factions against each other, ultimately resulting in a majority Hindu south and a majority Muslim north. The stand-off over Kashmir looks like remaining so for the forseeable future. Neither want to back down but neither want to be setting off nukes on their doorstep. A worse situation is Israel/Syria/Iran. I worry that the west is backing Syria/Iran into a corner and they may lash out foolishly. Same goes for Pakistan to a lesser extent. Hopefully there's enough dialogue behind the scenes to prevent this angry isolation.

In the case of NK I have a feeling the international situation with them is a case of saying "China, they're on your doorstep, if you want to be considered an international player, keep them under control". US backing off is more of a polite nod at the Chinese.

Coming to the Chinese, I can completely see your point about their force being so heavily directed inwards that to direct it outwards would trigger internal weakness and revolution (Germany in WWI had a similar problem). However through this century as they get economically stronger and can start quelling unrest with western tactics (pseudodemocracy, shiny trinkets and garments, celebrity culture etc.) they may find themselves in a position to compete US militarily in force size, expenditure and tech. By then, if the US is in a period of recession we could have a cold war in Chinas strategic favour. If not economy then the advantages the US has are: better international relations, a happier populace and a superior military. Thats why I worry that they are in a rush to do what they can, to prevent entering into a losing cold war with the Chinese. As to what they can do, well, I hope the war politics forum is the wrong place for these thoughts!

posted by golddragnet

“(1) . . On the subject of your taxes, I guess you have seen the thread about the Federal Reserve being a private bank, your income tax goes to them, not to the US government . . on the point you make, I agree, (2) the US Government is working against the American people. This is probably part of the process towards creating one super-state with Mexico and Canada, a process which is more advanced than the average American realizes. (3) Something should be done about it [illegal border crossings], but the answer is not to shoot the Mexicans. [Edited by Don W]

1) The Federal Reserve System was created on December 23,1913. After Andrew Jackson had plunged our country into financial chaos in 1836 by abandoning the Second National Bank of the United States, we had rollicked along from boom to bust, still on the gold standard which sharply limited the supply of money. Good for the owners of gold, bad for all the rest. In 1913, the country was divided into 12 Bank Districts, and a Federal Reserve Bank was established in each district. The banks were owned by other private banks, but this bank was different, it was a banker’s bank.

Through the Reserve District bank, one bank could borrow from the others, at an overnight interest rate set by the Federal Reserve to carry into effect the fiscal polices it had agreed on. Cheap money to inflate the economy, costly money to deflate or retard the economy and inflation. Simple, eh? Empirically speaking, it seems inflating the economy at around 1.5% to 2% with productivity growing at 2.5% or 3% is good for everyone. We’re running inflation at about 3.5% now - mostly due to Federal deficit spending - but productivity is growing faster, which is “make it all good” as lovers like to intone.

Ordinary people did not deal with the Federal Reserve System banks. When the money supply runs low in one district, or in a bank, a quick call to the others for cash has stabilized the entire nation’s banks. No longer would a temporary short-fall of cash jeopardize the very existence of a bank. This in turn had the beneficial effect of protecting savers and investors in smaller banks, which before 1913 had failed too often only because of a run on the bank for cash. A panic. Many times the banks were solvent, but not liquid. In the 1913 era banks did not keep more than 5% of assets on hand as cash. Cash in the tellers drawer or in the bank's vault is not earning money. Today, the rule is less than 1% cash on hand. Successful banks are not depositories. I could go on but I hope this is enough to show the Fed system serves a very useful purpose and if we did not have one today we would have to create one.

2) From July 4, 1776, onward, the United States has stood for free trade. It is written into our Constitution, which forbids export tariffs. Import tariffs OTOH, are a form of tax on consumption and have no direct effect on free trade. The one is ok, the other is not.

In the late 1970s, partly in response to illegal crossings of workers into the US, the Malaquella plan was tried. A zone about 100 miles deep into Mexico along the southern US border was set aside as a special economic zone. Wages were to be higher, close to the US minimum wage. Factories' output was cleared for the US and a Customs seal affixed to each trailer before departure. The pre-cleared trucks were permitted to cross the border unimpeded (2 - 3 days delay at the border were common) and went directly to their destination for unloading. The plan is still in operation but the low wages still paid in the zone and the lack of adequate infrastructure to serve the workers keep jobs in the US more attractive. The plan did not fail, it was never seriously funded or implemented.

3) Case in point. Three weeks ago, at five meat packing plants owned by Swift and Company, Number 2 in America,1,400 undocumented workers mostly from Mexico or Central America, were “rousted” or arrested as the ICE called it, in a sweep supposedly aimed at catching some illegals who had bought stolen social security numbers (identities). It was boasted by ICE that 70 suspects were found in the sweep but the others were “in plain sight” and were arrested for lack of proper papers. The ICE raid was a terrorist act! Done only to intimidate undocumented workers around the US. Shame! (If you don’t like $3 hamburger, send the Mexicans home and see how you like $5 hamburger.)

Proof? Not one managerial employee of Swift, not one shareholder of Swift and not one member of the well paid Board of Directors of Swift was arrested or summoned to court. I though it took 2 to tango? Or did those illegals hire themselves? Surely the CFO who must have signed the payroll checks could have been arrested? Surely the 5 plants which were engaged in law braking could have been shut down on the spot, and seizure orders commenced? I mean, if you are caught hauling 10 pounds of weed in your car, the DEA takes your car! What’s up here? Do we have one law fo the rich and another law for the poor. Who was it that wrote Les Miserable?


[edit on 1/5/2007 by donwhite]