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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Herman Cain is a Tool for the Federal Reserve -- DoGood and the Hound





http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/02/ftn/main20117827.shtml

On October 9th, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich appeared on the ‘Face the Nation.’ Some of you reading this may already know that. You may likewise know parts of the conversation coming from that show. In part, here are some excerpts from the transcript of that show, as broadcast (You can magnify the text below by pressing Ctrl and +):

Schieffer: “…---there are thousands of protesters camped out on Wall Street and around the country. Mr. Cain, you suggested they might be there just because they're jealous of people that have good jobs. Here's a little of what you said:”

"And to be angry at somebody because they're successful is anti-American in my opinion. Secondly, this is a distraction from the failed policies of the Obama administration. Why be made you don't have a job at the bankers on Wall Street? They're the ones that help create the jobs."

Cain: “The proof is quite simply the bankers and the people on Wall Street didn't write these failed policies of the Obama administration. They didn't spend a trillion dollars that didn't work. The administration and the democrats spent a trillion dollars. They're not proposing another 450 billion dollars, the administration is proposing another 450 billion dollars wrapped in different rhetoric so it's a distraction so many people won't focus on the failed policies of this administration. So I stand by that.”

Schieffer: “I don't want to interrupt so you're saying that these people all got together up there to draw attention away from Barack Obama. That's why they're there?”

Cain: “They were encouraged to get together.”

Schieffer: “Who encouraged them?”

Cain: “We know that the unions and certain union related organizations have been behind these protests that are going on on Wall Street and other parts around the country. It's coordinated. To create a distraction so people won't focus on the failed policies of this administration.”

Schieffer: “And why is that anti-American?”

Cain: “It's anti-American because to protest Wall Street and the bankers is basically saying that you're anti-capitalism. The free market system and capitalism are the two things that have allowed this nation and this economy to become the biggest in the world. Even though we have our challenges, I believe the protests are more anti-capitalism and anti-free market than anything else.”

Schieffer: “What's your take Mr. Gingrich?”

Gingrich: “I think the sad thing is, this is the natural product of Obama's class warfare. And Ronald Reagan used to tell the story about the British worker who stood by the road with his sign as a Rolls Royce went by and said someday we're going to get that guy out of that car. And the Americans stood by the road as a Cadillac went by and he said someday you're going to buy that car. Now Reagan represented the real American tradition which is that you and your children have a chance to go out and work hard, the Steve Jobs experience. You can create a better future. You can do something better. We have had a strain of hostility to free enterprise and frankly, a strain of hostility to classic America starting in our academic institutions and spreading across this country and I regard the Wall Street protesters as a natural outcome of a bad education system teaching them really dumb ideas.”

Schieffer: “Well do you agree with Mr. Cain who says they're just jealous of people who have jobs?”

Gingrich: “Well I'm not even sure that the people actually protesting..look, there are a lot of people in America angry. I was with 35 realtors in Buford, South Carolina on Wednesday who are looking at a disaster in housing but they know that it's the Dodd-Frank bill, it's the Obama administration, it's Bernanke and Geithner and they're focusing their anger on the people who are causing them pain. They're not angry about other people being successful, they're angry about an Obama administration stopping them from having the chance to be successful.”

Schieffer: “Well did you really mean that literally, you think they're just jealous? You think that's the driving force? Couldn't it also be that these people don't have a job, they don't know where to turn, they don't see any answers to the problems they have and you think it comes down to jealousy?”

Cain: “Bob, yes I do.”

Schieffer: “Really?”

Cain: “Because it's class warfare. Some of them are there because they don't have a job. Yes. But the fact of the matter is, why aren't there jobs? Go and picket the white house. Demonstrate in front of the white house. The thing that this administration does not get is that the business sector is the engine of economic growth. That's key. They don't get that. So this president and administration wants to continue to try to spend our way to prosperity. Part of it is jealousy. I stand by that. And here's why I don't have a lot of patience for that. My parents, they never played the victim card. My parents never said that we hope the rich people lose something so that we can get something. No. My dad's idea was I want to work hard enough so that I can buy a Cadillac, not take somebody else's. And this is why I don't have a lot of patience for people who want to protest the success of somebody else.”



Silence DoGood
I guess that I could have shortened the transcript above by redacting certain parts of the conversation that didn’t support what I want to write about, but that conveys precisely what it is I loathe about what goes on in this City, County, and Country, so I left it all in and gave you the link to read the entire transcript if you so choose.

Herman Cain has spunk, I’ll give him that. Where he’s wrong in entirety, is comporting to the notion that it is “un-American” to protest. It is entirely American to do so. Now, there are certain things you can’t engage in while so assembled, but you have that right to assemble and speak. To pronounce otherwise, as Cain so vehemently does, demonstrates either an ignorance of the Constitution or disdain for what it says. And he is wrong to suggest that one man can change the unemployment situation and then, proposes that people should engage in picketing the White House. Something he is entirely against. Not that I think he is the only one that thinks that way. I’m sure if all candidates were truthful, at any level of government service, it would be shocking how many comport to the notion we have too many rights. Not unlike some employers thinking workers have too many benefits.

Let me go on however. Yes, this President spent one trillion dollars, using the number from the transcript, in true Keynesian economic fashion, to get the economy moving again. It is my rebuttable presumption that money was placed with the financial institutions of this nation to loan, put into circulation, and finance projects, which in turn would serve to put people back to work and thus, get their money back into circulation, allow them to buy things. The big economic wheel goes round and round. From my discussions with others, this isn’t what happened however. The banks either sat on the money or lent it out for things other than what it was intended. Was that the fault of the President? Probably, as a lawyer he should have known better than to give cash to bunch of Wall Street types carte blanche and trust them to do the right thing with it.

Both candidates in their conversation with Bob Schieffer eluded to “class warfare” being waged by the President. I think that a war of sorts is brewing in this country. Whether or not it will be a bullets and bombs affair or merely a social ‘revolution’ remains to be seen. But the fact is, this President didn’t start it. I sometimes wonder if he is even aware of it himself. This class dispute has been brewing for quite some time and for an operative illustration of how class works in this area, I’ll refer you back to ‘The Hickory Hound’ on Monday, October 10th, 2011 about Burke County. This is how it works folks. If a class war is building, it isn’t the fault of this President, or unions, or anything else, it is because those in the under classes are tired of being used and then cast aside as those who reside atop the socioeconomic scale continue to amass wealth, even in this time of severe economic downturn. Right here, let me say this to you if you reside in the upper elevations. I don’t want a thing you have nor am I jealous or envious of you. By the same token, the folks not within the confines of that elite circle are tired of seeing everything they’ve worked and scraped to provide themselves in that capitalistic reflection of you being taken away. Crude oil is down per barrel, but the gas price is still way over $3.00. Right now, gas in Denver, NC is $3.12 a gallon. Look at what it’s selling for in Hickory. Bank of America has added a $5.00 per month fee because the CEO of BOA has a responsibility to the stockholders to provide a dividend. Duke/Progress Energy wants a 17% pay hike to fund future projects. Food has increased by around 30% in the past 18 months. Who pray, tell, is taking from whom? And what the folks in the small business community fail to realize is, they are in the same boat as the blue-collar skilled workers and lower scale white-collar workers.

The Occupy
I like to refer to these parameters as ‘blissful ignorance.’ As long as the under classes could go out to eat every Friday night, had something to do like watch NASCAR or football, and money to make all those installment payments, life, as they say, was good. But that came to a screeching halt, didn't it? People finally began to look around and say, “What the heck is going on here?” They began to question what they had taken no prior interest in. The classic mantra used to be, “if you work hard, you too will succeed.” And in a generalized manner of speaking, that was true. It isn’t true today however. Think about this, I along with others, have talked for months and years, here and elsewhere, about how money buys you access and influence and how political power attracts money. Look at the billions of dollars spent on lobbying and PACs (Political Action Committees) as a means of garnering that influence. Look at how many companies in this City and County alone fled when the door opened to China. Do you think that your legislators were just sitting around one day twiddling their thumbs and one said, “Hey, in the interest of free trade, lets open up trade agreements and allow our companies to off shore jobs and their businesses, because it will be good for everybody.” They didn’t propose the concept and no one ever paused to ask who was within the use of the word ‘everybody’. While the workers here were hardly making a fair wage for what they did, they were left high and dry just as soon as cheaper labor became available after decades of working for less than median wages. So don’t try and hand me this ‘family’ company atmosphere in business for workers. It got penciled, papered, and stamped for the benefit of those other than the common everyday people. We are now living the result.

Is that the fault of the wealthy? I read a letter to the editor a couple of years ago written by someone from the Northwest in response to a letter written by a citizen. I don’t recall the exact words but the gist was, my father worked hard and did this, that, and the other and don’t blame me because I’m wealthy. Ok, Daddy worked hard. Others have likewise worked hard and not enjoyed that apparent level of success. The implication that one has not worked hard is like a slap in the face. To be perfectly candid, that is the same attitude that has brought about some of the problems that we face. Conceit and arrogance are not valid replacements for grace, class, and being humble. Luck has a little bit to do with success, along with work ethic. Either way though, your fault or not, that isn’t going to stop you from being blamed.

So while this infernal finger pointing continues, lives continue to falter and deteriorate as well as the status of this nation. People are fed up and the number of protests is growing, if you haven’t noticed. Frankly, I’m not all that interested in assigning fault or blame. I’m interested in right and I’m interested in fix. One man can’t do it. One group alone can’t do it. It will take everyone working together. Business, labor, republican, democrat, I don’t care what label you choose to identify with. We’re all Americans. It’s time we came together as Americans.

The Hound: I agree with a good portion of this. Herman Cain is a tool. He was the head of the Kansas City Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is the Central Bank and the conduit of the Mega Bank Cartel that today rules this country. If you buy into Cain's 9-9-9 tax scheme, then you haven't paid attention. This is just a scheme to get their foot in the door by introducing a Federal (VAT) sales tax.  Can you afford a new tax? Oh, they talk about reducing the income tax and they might reduce it by a few percent, but the goal is to drastically increase the taxes paid by the middle class at the same time they implement their austerity measures. And Cain is a Republican?!?!?

Where I hugely disagree with DoGood is in his assessment of Obama. While he is completely correct about the fact that the Unemployment situation should not be laid at Obama's feet, Obama has been foot to the floorboard on the schemes of the Federal Reserve and the Crony Social Capitalists. Look at his Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner who was the head of the Federal Reserve's largest branch -- New York. He has worked in conjunction with the Fed to print the Monopoly money and continue offshoring our economy. The issue of offshoring has developed for a couple of generations. I, myself, am not against foreign trade. What I am against is the American workforce having to compete against Third World Slave Labor, which is essentially a form of Corporate Mercantilism. The Mega Corporations (Fortune 100) are the only people who have benefitted from this scheme.

Obama is a tool of the Federal Reserve just like recent Presidents. The monies for the Economic Stimulus package of 2009 went to specific packages that were, for the most part, given to local governments and went mostly to Democrat Party cronies as part of the Democrat wave that was elected in 2008. The money was definitely spent. It isn't sitting somewhere in a reserve vault. It was a pay off to cronies, such as Jeffrey Immelt and George Soros. Monies have gone to projects that have allowed GE and GM to increase factory capacity in China, to hand over Chrysler to Fiat, and for offshore exploration of oil in Brazil. How is that operating in the favor of the little people who Obama said he would bring Hope and Change to?

It isn't only the stimulus money, but you had the revolving door of TARP money that was passed during September 2008. I wrote about this in the articles The Federal Government's Ponzi Scheme and Let's Add this up - $1.979 trillion in bailouts and counting. This has gone on and on and on... The money of the citizens of this nation thrown at a black hole. Nothing has changed in the last three years and this went on during George W. Bush's administration, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, and all the way back to 1913. All Democrat and Republican alike. The only President who took any action to rein in the Federal Reserve was John Kennedy and we all know how that ended.

I can't get people to move away from their loyalty to WWE style party politics. Herman Cain is telling people to buy lock, stock, and barrel into Party identity and Politics. It is all about divide and conquer. He's preaching a notion, as Republicans do, that anyone who is struggling is doing so because they are lazy. Tell that to the people who still have factory jobs and are basically making the same wage or less than what they were making years ago. Herman Cain's words show that he doesn't respect the people who are struggling in this economy. As DoGood points out, the prices keep escalating and he wants to 9-9-9 us. Flip that one upside down and that is where these shills are taking us. There is very little difference between the Party Republicans and the Party Democrats. The differences people see are convolutions spinning in their minds related to the frustrations of their personal lives and the corruption and greed they see associated with the marriage of Big Government and Transnational Big Business. Both Parties support and foster that marriage, because it personally empowers them. There is no loyalty towards this nation and its people or founding principles. What I define above should not be mistaken for Capitalism. It is a controlled form of socialist economy.

It is time to make our representatives prove themselves. It is time to start voting FOR candidates, instead of AGAINST others. It is time for some real choices. I am a Republican, but I am not considered a Republican by the establishment. You Democrats aren't considered a part of the Democrat Party establishment, so at the end of the day the decision makers aren't listening to you. TARP should have proven that. TARP proved who the politicians are working for. The reappointment of Ben Bernanke, after years of colossal failure, proved who the politicians are working for. The Presidential Nominees who have been marketed by the Parties show what the Parties are all about. Smaller Government, Cutting Spending, and Lower taxes are lip service issues for the Republicans and ending the wars and investing in the Middle Class are lip service issues for the Democrats. The governmental leadership in this nation does not identify with Registered Voting members of their respective parties. They are only loyal to those who give them campaign contributions and the lobbyists that pay for their perks and privileges.

These people who are today in positions of power are Vampires looking to suck the life force out of us. They aren't looking to empower the people. They are looking to empower themselves through us. They will spend our energy and once they are through with us, then they will discard us, because we have no value to them. People need to take the blinders off and understand what is happening all around them.

8 comments:

Silence DoGood said...

No, this President isn't blameless. But as was pointed out, we saw what happened to the last President that stood up to the true power brokers and The Fed. And very few were better connected politically or socially than JFK. Lessens and cheapens that office, doesn't it? Basically, the President (generic here) gets to fly around, look pretty, and talk much, someone or some entity make the really important decisions behind the curtain. I'm all for voting for people of substance, we just don't seem to have any of those available. Those people tend to shy away from politics because of the muck raking and microscopic examination of every atom of your existence under public perview. In the void, the vampires are sucking and the blood bank is almost dry.

harryhipps said...

Class warfare only works when the government is responsible for individuals welfare, rather than just be custodians of our national structure. The idea of limited government is that a just framework is provided for people to operate under, not that the government does, or directs, all the operating. We have allowed the feds to regulate wages, working conditions, prices, corporate governance, even what gasses we can release and what is even worse, we privatize the gains that accrue and frequently socialize the losses.
When we became a nation of men and not of laws, it was inevitable that the powerful, rich and connected would gain and game the system. When the government can control the market, the laws, the money, the schools, and true freedom shrinks to people's private thoughts, and maybe churches and civic groups, what do we expect? Gaming the rules becomes more important than initiative, hard work, brains, and the things that really bring progress.
Why work hard when your income can be taken away? Why get a second job if you can't afford your mortgage if you can get bailed out? Why buy long term care insurance if the government will pay for you? Why save money when the interest rate is almost zero and there is "no inflation" - right. Why am I working 50 hours a week when my neighbor drinks and gets a check because "his nerves are bad"?
The problem is not tax rates, or even the budget per se. The problem is the constant manipulation of every facet of our lives by an overgrown leviathan. Until we get the Constitution back the rest is fiddling with symptoms.
As far as the candidates go, it's obvious that we don't have a George Washington or Jefferson running. I will not vote for Obama so probably any of the dwarfs that gets the nomination will get my vote. Cain may not be the salvation of the country but in comparison to the liberal waffler Romney, the robotic Bachman, Ron, edge of senility Paul, Gary Who?, Newt the baggage carrier Grinch, or the cock of the walk, Rick, big hat, Perry, or 2% Sanitorium, he has as good a chance of being some improvement over what we have.

James Thomas Shell said...

Ta dah da dah... Time to trot out Hillary and watch the sheeple fall all over themselves to support her.

Can you imagine all the talk about the "Good Ole Days."

The Republicans made this bed and now they are going to have to lie in it.

It is time to open up the Republican Party to truly new ideas or send it on with the Whigs. I want the party that I believed in back.

Everything shouldn't be geared towards the country clubbers,
WE CAN BUILD COMMERCE WHILE SUPPORTING A MIDDLE CLASS!!!

1) Get rid of the Federal Reserve
2) Get rid of the Lobbyists
3) Level the Global playing field
4) Reign in the Mega Corporations
5) Strengthen the Dollar
6) Bring governance back to the local level.
7) Prosecute Financial Fraud
8) Flat Income Tax
9) Streamline the Bureaucracy
10) Buildout Modern Infrastructure

Silence DoGood said...

Class warfare, in that useage, is simply a means of divide and conquer. I've heard that term used several times now and it fits nicely into this paradox. It's like when the Koch brothers' economic guru, who was also a Swiss national was sick. They encouraged him to use Social Security since he was 'entitled' to draw benefits to combat some malady he had. But yet, they lobby and spend money in an effort to thwart you and I from having the same benefit.

I disagree however about Government and their ability to regulate, in part. I think they should regulate wages, working conditions, and what is discharged into the atmosphere. I think that some egghead goes too far however and finds a way to impose their own personal views and will upon others through asinine regulation. I dunno, maybe if Monsanto had hired them out of college instead of 'drunk college buddy' and they were making the 7 digit salary, they wouldn't be quite so frustrated. Maybe we would have had a better brand of genetically modified corn. Nah, churches aren't an expression of freedom. Right now, well, every Sunday, you are likely to encounter a sermon tainted with political speak. Now, where politicians should not dictate religion, likewise, religion should not dictate politics. If the myriad churches that do so want to enter the political arena, I'm game. Surrender that 501(c)(3) status and stump all you please. In fact, please do, we need the extra revenues from all the real property you hold. And too, we are no longer a nation of laws. Haven't been in a long time.

I vehemently concur that we do tend to privatize the gains and socialize the losses. That being said though, it isn't government's business to turn a profit. Doesn't mean they should eat the losses though or fund the research that allows someone in the private sector to gain monetarily.

Thom: I'm not an economist so I don't know the intricities of the Federal Reserve System well enough to advocate wholly for their demise, but the rest of that list, I agree with, although I'm torn on #6. With regard to something Harry said, I think the local level is where politics started to shift from a "nation of laws to a nation of men." I'm very distrustful of how local politicans conduct business. You see the machinations of that first hand right here. However, you could have went another 10,000 words and not mentioned Hillary. Bad Kharma.

James Thomas Shell said...

>>>Thom: I'm not an economist so I don't know the intricities of the Federal Reserve System well enough to advocate wholly for their demise, but the rest of that list, I agree with, although I'm torn on #6. With regard to something Harry said, I think the local level is where politics started to shift from a "nation of laws to a nation of men."<<<

How are people in Washington accountable to the people at the local level, when they are so far removed from the scene?

Look at how our local Congressional scene has been divided up. The only ability that we have to make a difference is on the local level. Do people take advantage of that opportunity? Nope, they sit on their hands and constantly complain about Raleigh and Washington.

I go to City Council Meetings and there aren't 50 people there on most nights. How easy it is to obtain the votes to change a City Council versus changing a congressional district?

The local level IS where we can make a difference and from there we can make a difference in Raleigh and Washington. That is what grass roots is all about. It is impossible to change things from the top down when so many people at the top of our chain of governance are out of touch.

Silence DoGood said...

I think we can honestly and sincerely say that people just don't take advantage period. When their candidate doesn't win, they throw in the towel. Apathy and cynicism take over and thwarts the next election cycle. There is no notion of try and try again. Poor Larry Pope has lost runs for office, but he doesn't give up. You have to admire that. These people take one shot at the apple and if they don't get it, resign themselves and curse the process.

Now, the McHenry campaign... well oiled and well funded. I don't think he could be unseated if everybody in this county voted against him. He's somebody's darling and outside influence won't allow that to happen. Like I was once told, "you can run a corpse in this county and as long as people recognized the name and it had an 'R' behind it, they'd win." Now that's a true statement.

I think we need to limit how long they can spend in Washington. I recognize that can cut both ways, but it beats the 'professional politician entitlement, we deserve special benefits and treatment because we are' complex. It's like once the hit Washington, they become political Aristocrats. But I genuinely think they learn that sense of entitlement and networking with the 'right' people at the local level. They need the electorate to get where they are going, but once there, it's those connections that anchor them in political perpetuity.

James Thomas Shell said...

Yes. That fits in with my agenda also and I hope you will agree.

1) Term Limits
2) No Retirement Benefits for Elected Officials
3) They have to live under the same laws they pass.

Silence DoGood said...

Yes, completely.