Poverty, real unemployment, underemployment, hunger, homelessness, and overall deprivation persists at Depression era levels.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
America is permanently at war. Imperial direct and proxy ones rage out-of-control. New conflicts are planned. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Police state harshness targets whistleblowers, journalists who report their disclosures, and other right over wrong defenders.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Industrial America is being hollowed out. It’s disappearing in plain sight. Offshoring high pay\/good benefit jobs lowers household income. It reduces US tax revenue. It erodes economic growth.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It continues America’s decline. Out-of-control militarism, police state harshness, and corporate favoritism bear full responsibility for today’s deficit. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It approaches $17 trillion. It’s nearly $54,000 for every US citizen. It’s impossible to repay. Fed money printing madness masks a growing debt crisis.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Creating a trillion dollars annually out of thin air debases the currency. It’s the basis of dollar hegemony. It’s why China urges de-Americanizing.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It wants a new world order. It wants out from under beltway banditry. It’s tired of US perniciousness. It wants an entirely new financial architecture. It’s not alone.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
According to Paul Craig Roberts, America’s economy isn’t “salvageable in its present form.” It’s too far gone to be fixed. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Collapse “seems the most likely forecast,” he says. Perhaps rebuilding from ruins will change things, he hopes. Not without entirely changing America’s political process. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Duopoly power subverts responsible governance. It bears full responsibility for crisis conditions. Rogues, crooks and morons run America. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They’re suffocating it. They’re hollowing it out. They’re destroying it. They’re doing it for power, self-enrichment and other benefits they enjoy. They’re doing it at the expense of ordinary Americans. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They’re ruthlessly exploited. The worst is yet to come. What’s emerging is similar to what happened in August 2011 and December 2012.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The debt ceiling was increased in exchange for a $1 trillion in social spending cuts. Another $1.2 trillion in sequestered ones became effective January 2013.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Around $4 trillion of Bush’s $4.6 trillion tax cuts were permanently extended. Bipartisan duplicity agreed on $6.2 trillion irresponsibly. Rich elites benefitted hugely. They did so at the expense of ordinary Americans.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bipartisan double-dealing intends more massive social spending cuts on top of earlier ones.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
At the same time, expect generous corporate tax cuts. They’re agreed on. They’re not discussed. Enacting them under the radar is planned. Don’t expect major media headlines explaining them.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The difference between now and earlier will be enacting more of what corporate America wants. In exchange, the debt ceiling will be increased. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A political armistice will persist through November 2014 mid-term elections. Business as usual will continue.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Cutting Obamacare was a ruse. It was smoke and mirrors. It was red meat rhetoric for Tea Party conservatives. It was never part of resolving things.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Both parties are in lockstep on massive social spending cuts. Details and timing alone separate them. Social Security and Medicare are prime targets.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They’re erroneously called entitlements. They’re insurance programs. They’re funded by worker\/employer payroll tax deductions. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They’re contractual federal obligations. They’re for eligible recipients who qualify. Targeting them reflects grand theft. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Robbing poor Peter to benefit rich Paul is official bipartisan policy. Obama’s as hardline as most Republicans. Public squabbles mask double-dealing complicity.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Social America is being destroyed in plain sight. It’s on the chopping block for elimination. Disadvantaged households are out of luck. So are seniors and retirees.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Washington reform is deform. Neoliberal force-fed austerity reflects it. America is the world’s richest country. It isn’t broke. It misallocates its resources.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Expect much greater misallocation ahead. It’ll be phased in incrementally. It’ll hammer ordinary Americans hugely. They’ll be increasingly on their own. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Millions will be entirely out of luck. A decade from now or earlier, New Deal\/Great Society benefits no longer will exist. Dark age harshness will replace them.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Wall Street crooks demand it. Whatever they want they get. Ripping off ordinary Americans benefits them hugely. Market manipulation lets them use added riches to make more of them.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The dirty game continues. Grand theft America is policy. Venal politicians are in league with corporate crooks. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The more they get, the more they want, the more political Washington obliges. Brinkmanship theatrics mask it. Public pain is real.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Media scoundrels don’t explain. They support business as usual. They’re in lockstep with what demands condemnation. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Union bosses are just as duplicitous. No one represents Main Street. Ordinary Americans are increasingly on their own sink or swim. Harder than ever hard times loom.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanII.html<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.dailycensored.com\/washington-brinksmanship-resolution\/<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
Washington Brinksmanship Resolution<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Beltway theatrics don’t surprise. Ordinary people lose out most often. For sure this time. More on that below.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Late Wednesday, 16 days of government shutdown ended. Denouement came with a whimper, not a bang.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Senate approved reopening government 81 – 18. The House followed suit 285 – 144. Obama signed the measure shortly after midnight. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
HR 2775: Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 authorizes funding through January 15. It raises the debt ceiling through February 7. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It maintains $986.3 billion for five appropriation bills. It includes other unreported provisions. It’s standard Washington sausage-making. It makes the real thing look good by comparison.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Section 122 “(e)xtends authority for activities to counter Lord’s Resistance Army” activities. It’s a Ugandan guerrilla force. It’s waging low intensity war against repressive governance.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Section 123 “<\/span>Extends authorization for construction of Olmsted Locks and Dams included within the President’s FY 14 budget request, FY 14 House-passed and Senate-reported Energy and Water Appropriations bills and similar to language included in the Water Resources Development Act.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Doing so earmarks about $3 billion for Kentucky. It’s Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state. Critics call it the “McConnell Kickback.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They do so for good reason. He and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D. NV) agreed on legislative terms. A few billion for constituents is common Capitol Hill practice. Doing so reflects business as usual.
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Section 126 provides $26 million in judiciary funding. Other sections provide additional funding for Interior Department and Forest Service firefighting.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Section 146 provides Senator Frank Lautenberg’s widow a $174,000 gratuity. Numerous other sections include other add-ons.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Note: Five versions of HR 2775 were introduced:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“1. To condition the provision of premium and cost-sharing subsidies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act upon a certification (to) program to verify household income… (Introduced in House).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
2. No Subsidies Without Verification Act (Engrossed in House) (Passed House).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
3. No Subsidies Without Verification Act (Placed on Calendar Senate – PCS).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
4. Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 (Engrossed Amendment Senate – EAS).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
(5) Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 (Enrolled Bill) (Passed House and Senate).”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In three months, high drama repeats. On Thursday, federal employees went back to work.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Shutdown theatrics left America more than ever discredited. Brinksmanship masked what’s going on. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Real crisis conditions persist. They aren’t addressed. Venal politicians ignore them. So do media scoundrels.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Poverty, real unemployment, underemployment, hunger, homelessness, and overall deprivation persists at Depression era levels.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
America is permanently at war. Imperial direct and proxy ones rage out-of-control. New conflicts are planned. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Police state harshness targets whistleblowers, journalists who report their disclosures, and other right over wrong defenders.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Industrial America is being hollowed out. It’s disappearing in plain sight. Offshoring high pay\/good benefit jobs lowers household income. It reduces US tax revenue. It erodes economic growth.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It continues America’s decline. Out-of-control militarism, police state harshness, and corporate favoritism bear full responsibility for today’s deficit. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It approaches $17 trillion. It’s nearly $54,000 for every US citizen. It’s impossible to repay. Fed money printing madness masks a growing debt crisis.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Creating a trillion dollars annually out of thin air debases the currency. It’s the basis of dollar hegemony. It’s why China urges de-Americanizing.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It wants a new world order. It wants out from under beltway banditry. It’s tired of US perniciousness. It wants an entirely new financial architecture. It’s not alone.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
According to Paul Craig Roberts, America’s economy isn’t “salvageable in its present form.” It’s too far gone to be fixed. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Collapse “seems the most likely forecast,” he says. Perhaps rebuilding from ruins will change things, he hopes. Not without entirely changing America’s political process. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Duopoly power subverts responsible governance. It bears full responsibility for crisis conditions. Rogues, crooks and morons run America. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They’re suffocating it. They’re hollowing it out. They’re destroying it. They’re doing it for power, self-enrichment and other benefits they enjoy. They’re doing it at the expense of ordinary Americans. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They’re ruthlessly exploited. The worst is yet to come. What’s emerging is similar to what happened in August 2011 and December 2012.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The debt ceiling was increased in exchange for a $1 trillion in social spending cuts. Another $1.2 trillion in sequestered ones became effective January 2013.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Around $4 trillion of Bush’s $4.6 trillion tax cuts were permanently extended. Bipartisan duplicity agreed on $6.2 trillion irresponsibly. Rich elites benefitted hugely. They did so at the expense of ordinary Americans.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bipartisan double-dealing intends more massive social spending cuts on top of earlier ones.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
At the same time, expect generous corporate tax cuts. They’re agreed on. They’re not discussed. Enacting them under the radar is planned. Don’t expect major media headlines explaining them.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The difference between now and earlier will be enacting more of what corporate America wants. In exchange, the debt ceiling will be increased. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A political armistice will persist through November 2014 mid-term elections. Business as usual will continue.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Cutting Obamacare was a ruse. It was smoke and mirrors. It was red meat rhetoric for Tea Party conservatives. It was never part of resolving things.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Both parties are in lockstep on massive social spending cuts. Details and timing alone separate them. Social Security and Medicare are prime targets.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They’re erroneously called entitlements. They’re insurance programs. They’re funded by worker\/employer payroll tax deductions. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They’re contractual federal obligations. They’re for eligible recipients who qualify. Targeting them reflects grand theft. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Robbing poor Peter to benefit rich Paul is official bipartisan policy. Obama’s as hardline as most Republicans. Public squabbles mask double-dealing complicity.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Social America is being destroyed in plain sight. It’s on the chopping block for elimination. Disadvantaged households are out of luck. So are seniors and retirees.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Washington reform is deform. Neoliberal force-fed austerity reflects it. America is the world’s richest country. It isn’t broke. It misallocates its resources.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Expect much greater misallocation ahead. It’ll be phased in incrementally. It’ll hammer ordinary Americans hugely. They’ll be increasingly on their own. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Millions will be entirely out of luck. A decade from now or earlier, New Deal\/Great Society benefits no longer will exist. Dark age harshness will replace them.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Wall Street crooks demand it. Whatever they want they get. Ripping off ordinary Americans benefits them hugely. Market manipulation lets them use added riches to make more of them.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The dirty game continues. Grand theft America is policy. Venal politicians are in league with corporate crooks. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The more they get, the more they want, the more political Washington obliges. Brinkmanship theatrics mask it. Public pain is real.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Media scoundrels don’t explain. They support business as usual. They’re in lockstep with what demands condemnation. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Union bosses are just as duplicitous. No one represents Main Street. Ordinary Americans are increasingly on their own sink or swim. Harder than ever hard times loom.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanII.html<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour<\/div>\n