Everyone Works For Goldman Sachs? "The Stench of US Economic Decay Grows Stronger"

"How do people on Wall Street sleep at night?" If you had the same agreements with the IRS that these insiders do, you would sleep pretty well too. "What did it cost this nation for this continuing corruption on Wall Street?" "We are watching the burning of Rome, the evisceration of our country." These people got bonuses for raping and pillaging. Goldman Sachs was paid 100 cents on the dollar when they were bankrupt from the bailout money (paid for by the American taxpayer) given to AIG. And both AIG and Goldman Sachs had A+ ratings (before they needed $130 Billion by the Monday after Bush and Paulson (ex-Goldman Sachs CEO and then Bush's Treasury Secretary) appeared on TV in tears-panic mode). So, Goldman Sachs is bigger than the United States of America? No argument. Goldman Sachs' fine amounted to 4% of what they made last quarter. "This is not a recession. It's a destruction of the economy of the United States of America." Listen to Goldman Sachs' non-apologists tell us that we "have to have regulations to stop them from annihilating our economy." No kidding. You may have thought Jesse Ventura was a figure of fun, I guarantee you that if you watch even five minutes of this video you will understand that someone has been giving you the runaround. And it's not Jesse. And here's the answer to the Goldman Sachs asshole saying that "we had to pass laws to stop them" from eviscerating us at the casino table. View the new $2.1 Billon-dollar Goldman Sachs headquarters on New York's harbor which was moved into in the same timeframe that the SEC first charged Goldman Sachs with mortgage fraud. Matt Taibbi joins Jesse Ventura's discussion below. Don't short yourself by failing to read Professor Paul Craig Roberts' dissection of the debt crisis below (emphasis marks added - Ed.):

The Stench of US Economic Decay Grows Stronger

Paul Craig Roberts December 1, 2010 On Thanksgiving eve the English language China Daily and People’s Daily Online reported that Russia and China have concluded an agreement to abandon the use of the US dollar in their bilateral trade and to use their own currencies in its place. The Russians and Chinese said that they had taken this step in order to insulate their economies from the risks that have undermined their confidence in the US dollar as world reserve currency.

This is big news, especially for the news dead Thanksgiving holiday period, but I did not see it reported on Bloomberg, CNN, New York Times or anywhere in the US print or TV media. The ostrich’s head remains in the sand.

Previously, China concluded the same agreement with Brazil.

As China has a large and growing supply of dollars from trade surpluses with which to conduct trade, China is signaling that she prefers Russian rubles and Brazilian reals to more US dollars.

The American financial press finds solace in the episodes when sovereign debt scares in the EU send the dollar up against the euro and UK pound. But these currency movements are just measures of financial players shorting troubled EU-denominated debt. They are not a measure of dollar strength.

The dollar’s role as world reserve currency is one of the main instruments of American financial hegemony. We haven’t been told how much damage Wall Street fraud has inflicted on EU financial institutions, but the EU countries no longer need the US dollar for trade between themselves as they share a common currency. Once the OPEC countries cease to hold the dollars that they are paid for oil, dollar hegemony will have faded away.

Another instrument of American financial hegemony is the IMF. Whenever a country cannot make good on its debts and pay back the American banks, in steps the IMF with an austerity package that squeezes the country’s population with higher taxes and cuts in education, medical and income support programs until the bankers get their money back.

This is now happening to Ireland and is likely to spread to Portugal, Spain, and perhaps even to France. After the American-caused financial crisis, the IMF’s role as a tool of US imperialism is less and less acceptable. The point could come when governments can no longer sell out their people for the sake of the American banks.

There are other signs that some countries are tiring of America’s irresponsible use of power. Turkey’s civilian governments have long been under the thumb of the American influenced Turkish military. However, recently the civilian government moved against two top generals and an admiral suspected of involvement in planning a coup. The civilian government further asserted itself when the prime minister announced on Thanksgiving day that Turkey is prepared to react to any Israeli offensive against Lebanon. Here is an American NATO ally freeing itself from American suzerainty exercised through the Turkish military. Who knows, Germany could be next.

Meanwhile in America the sheeple remain content with, or blind to, their role as sheep to be slaughtered to feed the rich.

The Obama administration has managed to come up with a Deficit Commission whose members want to pay for the multi-trillion dollar wars that are enriching the military/security complex and the multi-trillion dollar bailouts of the financial system by reducing annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security, raising the retirement age to 69, ending the mortgage interest deduction, ending the tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance, imposing a 6.5% federal sales tax, (all) while cutting the top tax rate for the rich.

Even the Federal Reserve’s low interest rates are aimed at helping the banksters.

The low interest rates deprive retirees and those living on their savings of interest income. The low interest rates have also deprived corporate pensions of funding. To fill the gap corporations are issuing billions of dollars in corporate bonds in order to fund their pensions. Corporate debt is increasing, but not plant and equipment that would produce earnings to service the debt. As the economy worsens, servicing the additional debt will be a problem.

In addition, America’s elderly are finding that fewer and fewer doctors will accept them as patients as a 23% cut looms in the already low Medicare payments to doctors.

The American government only has resources for wars of aggression, police state intrusions, and bailouts of rich banksters. The American citizen has become a mere subject to be bled for the ruling oligarchies. The police state attitude of the TSA toward airline travelers is a clear indication that Americans are no longer citizens with rights but subjects without rights. Perhaps the day will come when oppressed Americans will take to the streets like the French, the Greeks, the Irish, and the British.

(Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Mitterrand.)

And then he turned on his masters. The United States of America is on the brink of absolute madness. Senator Bernie Sanders asked Ben Bernanke the following question. You can read his answer below before you view it on the video that follows. "Will you tell the American people to whom you lent $2.2 trillion of their dollars?" "No." Happy Holidays! Suzan P.S. Surprise! The same guys are always involved in the scams. Professor William K. Black explains the intentional "liars loans" and how the major liars were the loan brokers. He states that "this was guaranteed to fail" and "make the senior officers rich." Keep remembering those panic-stricken tears that flowed from Hank Paulson's eyes on the TV that September day in 2008, and Bush's answering "deer-in-the-headlights" blank gaze as he signed the checks. (And then tell me that they didn't choose the right President.) And don't miss the part where we learn that Hankie P met with his Goldman Sachs buddies during the meltdown (in direct disobedience to his pledge not to when he was appointed) in . . . R U S S I A!!!! (I guess no one in blogworld could ever find out about that meeting waaaaayyyy over there!) "JP Morgan Chase manipulates the precious metals markets and they brag about how" they make money doing so. And the whistleblowers are dealt with savagely. Listen to the tales (and see Nomi Prins explain that "this isn't a conspiracy theory, it's a fact"). ____________