Ferd Berfel
Ferd Berfel's JournalThe Worst Political F-Ups of 2015
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/worst-political-f-ups-2015
2) Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The Republicans have held multiple thousands of debates this primary season, all on weeknights, a move that has helped their candidates get heavy media exposure of the sort that will help quite a bit when the general election comes around. But Schulz, the head of the Democratic National Committee, has arranged to hold two of the debates on a Saturday night–one on the weekend that the new “Star Wars” movie came out–which guaranteed lower ratings and reduced media coverage overall.
The common wisdom is that Schultz is doing this to help out Clinton by reducing voter exposure to her main competition, Bernie Sanders. If so, the move is backfiring. Yes, Sanders has done well in the debates, but overall, the debates have served the Clinton campaign the most. It’s not just that Clinton is a good debater, but that Sanders’ inherent geniality has taken the edge off what could have been a much uglier primary season. By hiding the debates, Schultz took away a major opportunity not just for Clinton to show off her chops, but for Clinton and Sanders (and, occasionally, Martin O’Malley) to remind the public at large how much more competent, cooperative and mature the Democrats are compared to the Republicans.
Her job seems to be making sure that the Dem Party remains Corporatist republican-lite. And screw everything else.
Bail-Ins Begin: a Crisis Worse than ISIS? by Ellen Brown
http://ellenbrown.com/2015/12/29/a-crisis-worse-than-isis-bail-ins-begin/While the mainstream media focus on ISIS extremists, a threat that has gone virtually unreported is that your life savings could be wiped out in a massive derivatives collapse. Bank bail-ins have begun in Europe, and the infrastructure is in place in the US. Poverty also kills.
(snip)
At the end of November, an Italian pensioner hanged himself after his entire €100,000 savings were confiscated in a bank “rescue” scheme. He left a suicide note blaming the bank, where he had been a customer for 50 years and had invested in bank-issued bonds. But he might better have blamed the EU and the G20’s Financial Stability Board, which have imposed an “Orderly Resolution” regime that keeps insolvent banks afloat by confiscating the savings of investors and depositors. Some 130,000 shareholders and junior bond holders suffered losses in the “rescue.”
The pensioner’s bank was one of four small regional banks that had been put under special administration over the past two years. The €3.6 billion ($3.83 billion) rescue plan launched by the Italian government uses a newly-formed National Resolution Fund, which is fed by the country’s healthy banks. But before the fund can be tapped, losses must be imposed on investors; and in January, EU rules will require that they also be imposed on depositors. According to a December 10th article on BBC.com:
The rescue was a “bail-in” – meaning bondholders suffered losses – unlike the hugely unpopular bank bailouts during the 2008 financial crisis, which cost ordinary EU taxpayers tens of billions of euros.
Correspondents say [Italian Prime Minister] Renzi acted quickly because in January, the EU is tightening the rules on bank rescues – they will force losses on depositors holding more than €100,000, as well as bank shareholders and bondholders.
. . . [L]etting the four banks fail under those new EU rules next year would have meant “sacrificing the money of one million savers and the jobs of nearly 6,000 people”.
That is what is predicted for 2016: massive sacrifice of savings and jobs to prop up a “systemically risky” global banking scheme.
Bail-in Under Dodd-Frank
That is all happening in the EU. Is there reason for concern in the US?
Keep reading..........THen think about using a Credit Union instead of a bank.
9 Disastrous Ways the TPP Will Affect Your Daily Life
http://economyincrisis.org/content/nine-ways-the-tpp-will-affect-your-daily-life
The White House and corporatists in Congress passed fast track trade authority to railroad the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through Congress. This awoke a sleeping giant of citizens upset about how it passed and what the TPP would do to America, making the TPP and hot topics for the 2016 elections. Why did they need fast track so badly? Because without it, the TPP wouldn’t stand a chance at passing. With history showing how “free trade” agreements have failed us and the devastating effects of the WTO, this comes as no surprise.
(snip)
The danger with the TPP though is deals with so much more than just trade. Some of the other dangerous provisions in the TPP include ones that affect:
>The Internet and internet regulations
>Food safety and labeling policies
>Health care, decreasing access and increasing the cost of medicines
>Our environmental policies, lowering our standards
>Workers’ rights and labor standards
>It would devastate financial regulations we have put in place to protect our economy
>Service-sector regulation
>Investments
>Patents and copyrights making goods more expensive and discouraging innovation
________________________________
Bill Clinton sold us out: NAFTA, WTO, GATT, Telecommunications Act, Glass-Stegal, and more
Obama sold us out: TPP,
Hillary will just be more of the Same corporate, DLC, BLue Dog, Republican lite crap.
The only possibility of progress this time around is Bernie.
Single Payer: I had a visit with my Doctor today.
HE said that he and the other doctors he knows all support SINGLE PAYER!
HE said that they are sick of dealing with Insurance Companies.
My doctor and his buddies support Single Payer. Why Doesn't Hillary?
The Federal Reserve Board and the Presidential Candidates
Once again Bernie is the only one standing up against the Oligarchy and for the American People.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-baker/the-federal-reserve-board_b_8858600.html
by Dean Baker
When it comes to the Federal Reserve Board and its importance to the economy, most of the candidates seem to be failing as badly as Donald Trump did on his nuclear triad test.
(snip)
This is important in the context of the presidential campaign because we have a large number of candidates for both parties' nominations, who say they want to increase growth and create more jobs. The Republicans mostly plan to boost growth and create jobs with tax cuts, while the Democrats want to spend more on infrastructure, education, and research and development. But regardless of their route for boosting growth, or the coherence of their strategy, no candidate will be able to accomplish their goal unless the Fed is on board.
This is why the reaction, or lack thereof, to the Fed's rate hike was so striking. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was the only presidential candidate who went on record with a comment on the Fed's action, criticizing the Fed for slowing the economy and preventing people from getting jobs. This raises the obvious question of whether the other candidates understand the importance of the Fed to the economy.
Obama, GOP Leaders May be Plotting TPP Sneak
Just something to be aware of. Obama is still intent on selling us out.
-------------------------------
http://economyincrisis.org/content/obama-gop-leaders-may-be-plotting-tpp-sneak
Firestorm brewing over possible vote in 2016 lame duck.
With a vote on a controversial free trade deal looking increasingly unlikely before the 2016 presidential election, critics warn that congressional leaders may try to push it through after the election but before new leaders take office.
A vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the so-called lame duck sessionwould free lawmakers who have been defeated or are retiring from having to face angry voters.
“I am sure the president would like nothing more than to hold the vote on his 5,554-page plan during the lame duck,” Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala, said in a prepared statement Friday. “But our job is not to help the president to bypass voters, or cement his legacy when no one is looking; our job is to uphold the will of voters and protect their jobs, wages and Constitution.
“Congress, under no circumstances, should vote on this sweeping international accord in a lame duck post-election session of Congress
Ineresting, WHen PEOPLE get to vote, Bernie wins. When the paid Corporate Media crowd
TELLS us who won, it's Hillary: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251928064
When People get to vote:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251926912
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251928296
Here are a few more:
DNC and Hillary need to understand something
Prior to this I would have held my nose and voted for her if that was all there was at the end of the road. But after this shit It's not going to happen. I've had it. You WILL NOT box me in and force me to vote for Clinton or any of your other Corporate stooges based on the lesser of two evils.... The big bad fascist oligarchs or Hillary. It's not going to happen. Understand this.
Hillary, The DNC and the Oligarchy are RUNNING SCARED
This DB crap and the timing prove it.
Cowards.
When Calling the DNC.............
Here's a good tip from a FB poster
"Regarding phone calls to the DNC, call their cash donation line instead. That number is 877-336-7200. Calling this number forces live staff to deal with you, and keeps them from getting a donation call at the same time. You can use the call to tell them why you are refusing to donate. Let them know that you won't donate another dime until they get rid of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz as DNC chair. They will take notes. They guy who took my message even seemed embarrassed and seemed to agree.
Call now, operators standing by."
BTW Debbie, are you keeping our credit card info in this data base?
You're Fired!
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