obama received a $101,332 bonus from aig from examiner: Senator Barack Obama received a $101,332 bonus from American International Group in the form of political contributions according to Opensecrets.org. The two biggest Congressional recipients of bonuses from the A.I.G. are - Senators Chris Dodd and Senator Barack Obama. The A.I.G. Financial Products affiliate of A.I.G. gave out $136,928, the most of any AIG affiliate, in the 2008 cycle. I would note that A.I.G.’s financial products division is the unit that wrote trillions of dollars’ worth of credit-default swaps and "misjudged" the risk. The Washington Post reports a "mob effect" at A.I.G financial products division... With the anger and rage that is being exhibited against A.I.G., perhaps the bonuses Obama received from A.I.G. explain Obama's A.I.G crocodile tears. Now that the Wall street Journal has revealed that A.I.G. paid bonuses of $1 million or more to 73 employees, it's time to ask if recipients of A.I.G. "bonuses," including President Obama, will give what now ought to be taxpayer money back?
misdirected 'bailout rage' sets stage for new financial world order from steve watson: A so called "bailout backlash", a huge rise in public antagonism toward banks and Wall Street, is set to provide the Obama administration and the governments of the G20 nations a pretext to usher in a new era of international centralization and control over financial practices and institutions. The backlash or "bailout rage" as others have dubbed it, has been further heightened by revelations regarding AIG’s squandering of almost $100 billion in taxpayer rescue funding - which it siphoned off to Goldman Sachs and a number of European banks - in addition to the company’s plan to continue issuing massive bonuses to the people in the very division that were responsible for it’s spiraling derivative-driven downturn. The intention to use such practices to push for increased authoritative regulation is clear. "Mr. Obama’s advisers argued that to at least some extent, this was a sentiment they could tap to push through his measures in Congress," reported The New York Times yesterday. However, the Times article also highlights the fine line that Obama and other heads of state must tread in utilizing such backlash for their own gain. "The danger, aides said, is that if he were to become identified as an advocate for the banks and Wall Street, people could take out their anger on him." This is the stumbling block that must be overcome in order to uncover the real solutions to the induced global financial collapse. While the practices of those at AIG, Goldman Sachs and their ilk are abhorrent, they represent a mere drop in the ocean compared to the actions of our governments and their central bank bedfellows, who have provided for such circumstances in the first instance anyway.
kremlin to pitch new currency at g20 from moscow times: The Kremlin published its priorities Monday for an upcoming meeting of the G20, calling for the creation of a supranational reserve currency to be issued by international institutions as part of a reform of the global financial system. The International Monetary Fund should investigate the possible creation of a new reserve currency, widening the list of reserve currencies or using its already existing Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, as a "superreserve currency accepted by the whole of the international community," the Kremlin said in a statement issued on its web site.
obama vows to continue to invest in military from reuters: President-elect Barack Obama vowed on Monday to continue to invest to strengthen the U.S. military, increase ground forces and ensure success against al Qaeda and the Taliban. Announcing his national security team, Obama said Defense Secretary Robert Gates had agreed to remain in office, and reiterated his intention to announce a new mission as soon as he took office to end the war in Iraq. "We will also ensure that we have the strategy - and resources - to succeed against al Qaeda and the Taliban," Obama told a news conference. "And going forward, we will continue to make the investments necessary to strengthen our military and increase our ground forces to defeat the threats of the 21st century."
meet the new boss... from danger room: As predicted, Robert Gates will be staying on as Defense Secretary in the new Obama administration. Count me as psyched. I've been of fan of Gates', for quite some time.
obama to be next neocon US president? from presstv: The next US government might not be able to keep its promise on 'Change' and might turn into a war-oriented administration, a prominent historian says. President-elect Barack Obama, who inspired Americans during his presidential campaign, defeated his Republican rival John McCain thanks to the new slogans in a historic election last month. During his transition time, Obama has been trying to name his administration among American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists, foreign relation advisers, and congressmen. Selecting Joe Biden as vice president who supported the Iraq war before it became unpopular was a surprising decision when Obama himself opposed the war. "He [Biden] is a strong supporter of Israel. He even made a statement 'I am a Zionist'," Stephen Sniegoski, US historian and author, told Press TV correspondent in Washington.
obama picks former fed chair to head economic advisory panel from washington post: Barack Obama's appointment yesterday of former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker to the growing team advising him on the nation's deepening financial crisis only heightens a central leadership challenge the president-elect will face: how to manage a stable packed with big brains and bigger personalities - and how to make decisions when those high-powered experts disagree. Volcker, as chairman of Obama's new Economic Recovery Advisory Board, will join New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy F. Geithner, who will lead the Treasury Department, and former Treasury secretary Lawrence H. Summers, who will run the White House's National Economic Council. The appointment of Volcker, who led the fight to rejuvenate the U.S. economy after the stagflation of the 1970s, is part of Obama's effort to seek "the best minds in America" to deal with the current crisis, as the president-elect put it this week.
obama’s unusual transition: already a co-president from mcclatchy: America has never seen anything quite like this: The president and president-elect acting like co-presidents, consulting and cooperating on the day's biggest crises. "It's pretty unusual," said George Edwards, a presidential expert at Texas A&M University, in College Station.
obamccain camps coordinated on staff rosters for next govt from the washington note: A senior Obama campaign official shared with The Washington Note that in July 2008, the McCain and Obama camps began to work secretly behind the scenes to assemble large rosters of potential personnel for the administration that only one of the candidates would lead. Lists comprised of Democrats and Republicans were assembled, sorted into areas of policy expertise, so that the roster could be called on after the election by either the Obama or McCain transition teams. This kind of out-of-sight coordination is rare between battling presidential camps and provides some indication that both Obama and McCain intended to draw expertise into their governments from both sides of the aisle - or at least they wanted to appear interested in doing so if the information leaked out about the list development process. Fascinating tidbit on cooperation behind battle lines.
obama tells disappointed supporters: 'i am the change." from gateway pundit: Oh, brother... Barack Obama told his disappointed supporters who voted for him on the promise of change only to find him appoint old Clintonites and Bush cabinet members not to be upset - 'I am the change.' McClatchy reported: "President-elect Barack Obama essentially said Wednesday that he is the change, striving to assure Americans that he'll shake up Washington despite filling his administration with old hands from the Clinton administration and the capital's corridors of power. "Understand where the vision for change comes from, first and foremost," Obama said. "It comes from me. That's my job, is to provide a vision in terms of where we are going, and to make sure, then, that my team is implementing." Halleluiah.
from first coast news: A massive crowd gathered outside the Jacksonville Landing Saturday, as part of a national rally to end the Federal Reserve. There is a Federal Reserve office near The Landing at 800 W. Water Street. JSO officers are filtered throughout the area, to make sure it remains a peaceful protest. The national protest was organized by bloggers. Their ultimate goal is to end the existence of The Federal Reserve System. They believe the Fed is to blame for the current economic crisis. Protestors say if the Federal Reserve continues at the current rate of spending and credit regulation, it will be the fall of America. Protestors blame the Federal Reserve for the Great Depression and say America will face even harder economic times if the fed remains in place. The protest is happening in 39 cities across America today. According to their website, endthefed.us, the "End the Fed" organization has some notable supporters, including former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul and Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura.
and with scant national coverage, russia today again gives good coverage:
americans protest against US fed policy from russia today: While leaders in Peru grapple with the financial fallout, Americans angry at the multi-billion dollar bailout plans are protesting in Washington. They say the U.S. Federal Reserve, far from helping solve the financial crisis, is taking money out of their pockets. Today is National End The Fed day, and a number of U.S. citizens concerned with the country’s fiscal policy have gathered in 39 cities nationwide at each Federal Reserve building saying that they are sick and tired of being robbed.
end the wall street bankster rule from webster tarpley: The November 22 End the Fed rallies raise a vital issue: it is past time to abolish the unconstitutional, illegal, and failed institution known as the Federal Reserve System, the privately owned central bank which has been looting and wrecking the US economy for almost a hundred years. We must end a system where unelected, unaccountable cliques of bankers and financiers loyal to names like Morgan, Rockefeller, and Mellon set interest rates and money supply behind closed doors, leading to de-industrialization, mass impoverishment, and a world economic and financial depression of incalculable severity. The Fed helped cause the crash of 1929, did nothing to stop the banking panic of 1932-33, and is the main cause of the $1.5 QUADRILLION derivatives crisis which is devastating the world. The Federal Reserve System is Wall Street’s murder weapon against the United States, and the Fed must be stopped.
The purpose of abolishing the Fed is to get re-industrialization, economic modernization, full employment, and rising standards of living for all the people. Contrary to monetarist fetishes, the value and soundness of currency in the modern world are determined by the ability of a national economy to produce physical commodities that the rest of the world wants to buy. The decline of the dollar has its roots in the wanton destruction of the US industrial base initiated by the Trilateral administration of Jimmy Carter and Feds boss Paul Adolph Volcker with his 22% prime rate. Over the past forty years, the US standard of living has declined by two thirds, and the country has become a post-industrial rubble field, a moonscape monument to the folly of a post-industrial service economy. If you want to go back to sound money, you must gear up modern industrial production so that the world will need dollars to buy goods manufactured in this country. No amount of gold will do the trick.
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from examiner: Senator Barack Obama received a $101,332 bonus from American International Group in the form of political contributions according to Opensecrets.org. The two biggest Congressional recipients of bonuses from the A.I.G. are - Senators Chris Dodd and Senator Barack Obama. The A.I.G. Financial Products affiliate of A.I.G. gave out $136,928, the most of any AIG affiliate, in the 2008 cycle. I would note that A.I.G.’s financial products division is the unit that wrote trillions of dollars’ worth of credit-default swaps and "misjudged" the risk. The Washington Post reports a "mob effect" at A.I.G financial products division... With the anger and rage that is being exhibited against A.I.G., perhaps the bonuses Obama received from A.I.G. explain Obama's A.I.G crocodile tears. Now that the Wall street Journal has revealed that A.I.G. paid bonuses of $1 million or more to 73 employees, it's time to ask if recipients of A.I.G. "bonuses," including President Obama, will give what now ought to be taxpayer money back?
from steve watson: A so called "bailout backlash", a huge rise in public antagonism toward banks and Wall Street, is set to provide the Obama administration and the governments of the G20 nations a pretext to usher in a new era of international centralization and control over financial practices and institutions. The backlash or "bailout rage" as others have dubbed it, has been further heightened by revelations regarding AIG’s squandering of almost $100 billion in taxpayer rescue funding - which it siphoned off to Goldman Sachs and a number of European banks - in addition to the company’s plan to continue issuing massive bonuses to the people in the very division that were responsible for it’s spiraling derivative-driven downturn. The intention to use such practices to push for increased authoritative regulation is clear. "Mr. Obama’s advisers argued that to at least some extent, this was a sentiment they could tap to push through his measures in Congress," reported The New York Times yesterday. However, the Times article also highlights the fine line that Obama and other heads of state must tread in utilizing such backlash for their own gain. "The danger, aides said, is that if he were to become identified as an advocate for the banks and Wall Street, people could take out their anger on him." This is the stumbling block that must be overcome in order to uncover the real solutions to the induced global financial collapse. While the practices of those at AIG, Goldman Sachs and their ilk are abhorrent, they represent a mere drop in the ocean compared to the actions of our governments and their central bank bedfellows, who have provided for such circumstances in the first instance anyway.
